Petr
Of Greek origin, meaning "rock" or "stone".
Name Census estimates that about 107 living Americans carry the first name Petr. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Petr today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Petr births was 2014 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Petr. 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.
People living today
107
~ 1 in 3,203,312 Americans
Peak year
2014
12 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,623
Tracked since 1975
Popularity
Petr: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Petr from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 48 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Petr 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 Petr during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Petrs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Petr
The name Petr is a masculine given name of Greek origin, derived from the word "petros" meaning "rock" or "stone." It has been widely used across various cultures and time periods, particularly in Eastern Europe and Russia.
The name gained significant popularity in the early days of Christianity, as it was the name given to the Apostle Peter, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. The Bible mentions Peter as one of the closest companions of Jesus and a prominent figure in the early Christian Church.
Petr has been a common name among Slavic populations since the introduction of Christianity in the region. It was widely adopted in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other Slavic countries, often with variations in spelling and pronunciation, such as Piotr or Pyotr.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Primary Chronicle, an early East Slavic chronicle dating back to the 12th century, which mentions several Kievan princes with the name Petr.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Petr. One of the most famous was Peter the Great (1672-1725), the Tsar of Russia who led the country's modernization and expansion, transforming it into a major European power.
Another prominent figure was Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), the renowned Russian composer who wrote some of the most celebrated works in classical music, including the ballets "Swan Lake" and "The Nutcracker."
The name Petr has also been associated with several religious figures, such as Petr Mogila (1596-1646), a Metropolitan of Kyiv who played a significant role in the development of Eastern Orthodox theology and education in Ukraine.
Petr Kropotkin (1842-1921), a Russian philosopher and revolutionary, was a prominent figure in the anarchist movement and advocated for a decentralized, non-hierarchical society based on mutual aid and cooperation.
Another notable bearer of the name was Petr Kapitsa (1894-1984), a Soviet physicist who made significant contributions to the field of low-temperature physics and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1978.
These are just a few examples of the many influential individuals who have carried the name Petr throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence and significance across various cultures and disciplines.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Petr
People
Petr + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Petr 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
Petr: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Petr?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 107 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Petr 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 3,203,312 US residents.
Is Petr a common name?
We classify Petr as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 109 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Petr most popular?
The single biggest year for Petr was 2014, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Petr is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Petr a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Petr in the SSA data are male. 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.