Peja
An Albanian name meaning "rainbow" or "arc of colors".
Name Census estimates that about 83 living Americans carry the first name Peja. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 72.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Peja today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Peja births was 2002 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Peja. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Peja. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
83
~ 1 in 4,129,570 Americans
Peak year
2002
20 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2006 SSA rank
#13,499
Tracked since 2002
Gender
Gender distribution for Peja
Peja is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 84 total registrations, 23 (27.4%) were male and 61 (72.6%) were female.
Peja as a male name
- Ranked #13,499 in 2006
- 5 male births in 2006
- Peak: 2003 (8 births)
Peja as a female name
- Ranked #19,143 in 2010
- 5 female births in 2010
- Peak: 2002 (15 births)
Popularity
Peja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Peja from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 79 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Peja by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Peja during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Peja
The name Peja is believed to have originated from the Albanian language. It is derived from the Albanian word "pejë," which means "forest" or "woodland." The name is thought to have its roots in the ancient Illyrian culture, which inhabited the western Balkans, including present-day Albania, Kosovo, and parts of neighboring countries.
The name Peja can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when it was commonly used among the Albanian population living in the region of Kosovo. During this time, the city of Peja (also known as Pec or Ipek) was an important cultural and economic center in the region. The name may have been influenced by the city's name or vice versa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Peja can be found in the 15th century, with a figure named Peja Gjon Kastrioti, who was a member of the prominent Kastrioti family and a military commander in the service of the Albanian nobleman Skanderbeg. Skanderbeg himself, whose full name was Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu (c. 1405-1468), is considered a national hero in Albania for his resistance against the Ottoman Empire.
In the 16th century, another notable figure with the name Peja was Peja Bajraktari, a prominent Albanian chieftain and leader of the Kelmendi tribe in the northern Albanian Alps. He played a significant role in the resistance against the Ottoman rule in the region.
During the 17th century, Peja Pashko Vasa Pllana (c. 1634-1699) was a renowned Albanian writer, scholar, and poet. He is considered one of the most important figures in the development of Albanian literature and language during the Ottoman period.
In more recent history, Peja Milosavljević (1892-1976) was a Serbian painter and illustrator known for his works depicting scenes from Serbian folklore and rural life. He was born in the town of Peja (Pec) in present-day Kosovo, which may have influenced his given name.
Another noteworthy figure with the name Peja was Peja Avraamović (1884-1975), a Serbian actor and theater director who made significant contributions to the development of Serbian theater in the early 20th century.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Peja
People
Peja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Peja as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Peja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Peja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 83 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Peja going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 4,129,570 US residents.
Is Peja a common name?
We classify Peja as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 84 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Peja most popular?
The single biggest year for Peja was 2002, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Peja is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Peja a female name?
Yes, 72.6% of people registered as Peja in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.