Pet
A diminutive of affection, often for a cherished companion or animal.
Name Census estimates that about 2 living Americans carry the first name Pet. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 50.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Pet today is around 83 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pet births was 1900 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pet. 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
- • The typical person named Pet is about 83 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Pets were born before 1953.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Pet. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
2
~ 1 in 171,377,169 Americans
Peak year
1900
10 babies that year
Average age
83
years old
1938 SSA rank
#3,915
Tracked since 1900
Census
Pet in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 518 people with the first name Pet, which placed it at #20,076 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#20,076
National first-name rank
People counted
518
518 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
37.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pet
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pet is White at 37.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.7%) and Black (16.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Pet described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Pet at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White37.3% · 193
- Hispanic or Latino29.7% · 154
- Black or African American16.2% · 84
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.5% · 75
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 7
- Two or more races1.0% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Pet
Pet is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 20 total registrations, 10 (50.0%) were male and 10 (50.0%) were female.
Pet as a male name
- Ranked #3,915 in 1938
- 5 male births in 1938
- Peak: 1900 (5 births)
Pet as a female name
- Ranked #5,604 in 1920
- 5 female births in 1920
- Peak: 1900 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Pet on both sides of the split. Of the 507 people counted with this name, 276 were male (54.4%) and 231 were female (45.6%).
Popularity
Pet: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pet from the 1900s through to the 1930s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1900s, with 10 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1900s peak, Pet remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pet 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 Pet 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 Pet
Pet is a given name that has its roots in the Greek language. The name is derived from the Greek word "petra," which means "rock" or "stone." This association with rocks and stones is believed to have been a symbolic representation of strength and resilience.
The earliest recorded use of the name Pet can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was primarily used as a masculine name. It is thought to have been particularly popular among Greek communities in the Mediterranean region during the classical period, which spanned from the 5th to the 4th century BCE.
One of the earliest known references to the name Pet can be found in the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. In his dialogues, Plato mentions a character named Pet, though it is unclear whether this was a real person or a fictional character created for the purpose of philosophical discourse.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Pet. One of the most famous was Pet Petrović, a Serbian ruler and military leader who lived from 1648 to 1718. He played a significant role in the Serbian resistance against the Ottoman Empire and is celebrated as a hero in Serbian history.
Another prominent figure was Pet Šegedin, a Croatian Renaissance humanist and poet who lived from 1504 to 1567. He was known for his mastery of Latin and his contributions to the literary and intellectual culture of the time.
In the realm of sports, Pet Sampras, an American tennis player born in 1971, achieved great success. He won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Moving into the modern era, Pet Metheny, an American jazz guitarist and composer born in 1954, has made a significant impact on the world of music. He is renowned for his innovative approach to jazz and has won numerous Grammy Awards throughout his career.
While the name Pet is not as common today as it was in ancient times, it still holds a unique and intriguing history that spans across cultures and eras, reflecting the resilience and strength associated with its meaning.
People
Pet + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pet 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
Pet: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pet?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pet 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 171,377,169 US residents.
Is Pet a common name?
We classify Pet as "Very Rare". It ranks above 4.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 20 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pet most popular?
The single biggest year for Pet was 1900, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pet is about 83 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pet in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 518 people with the name Pet, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,076 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Pet in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Pet?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Pet on both sides of the split. Of the 507 people counted with this name, 276 were male (54.4%) and 231 were female (45.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Pet?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pet is White at 37.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.7%) and Black (16.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Pet most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Pet in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.3% (193 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Pet in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pet a female name?
Yes, 50.0% of people registered as Pet 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.
Is Pet still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pet in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Pet can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Pet?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Pet at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.