Peter

What Peter means

Means “stone, rock”

From Middle English Peter, from Old English Petrus, from Latin Petrus, from Ancient Greek Πέτρος (Pétros), from πέτρος (pétros, “stone, rock”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Peter” (revision 94542550), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Peter?

US: Steady: #205 in 2015, #187 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #177 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1957, when 11,603 boys got the name (#37 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 874 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,721 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,786 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DC (6.33 per 1,000 boys), VT (4.95 per 1,000 boys), WY (4.59 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Peter is #187 in the US and #287 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Peter were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Petar14 US · 5 E&W
• Petru0 US · 11 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Peter

Boys

• Thomas#34“twin”^*
• Philip#527“fond of horses”^*
• Eugene#943“well born”^*
• James#6“May He Heel”^*
• Mark#244Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 58,727 babies; 1,416 in 2025
• Stephen#383“crown, wreath”^*

For a sister

• Martha#712“mistress”^*
• Deborah#862“bee”^*
• Mary#125Same root as Miriam, possibly meaning “bitter”^*
• Teresa#908Editor’s note Down from #664 in 2015 to #908 in 2025 in the US
• Veronica#427Form of Berenice, meaning “bringer of victory”^*
• Cassandra#630Editor’s note Down from #512 in 2015 to #630 in 2025 in the US

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Peter’s. Rank is US 2025.