Petrina
A feminine form of Peter, derived from the Greek "petros" meaning "rock".
Name Census estimates that about 1,496 living Americans carry the first name Petrina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Petrina today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Petrina births was 1971 (99 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Petrina. 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
1.5K
~ 1 in 229,114 Americans
Peak year
1971
99 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2011 SSA rank
#11,933
Tracked since 1900
Popularity
Petrina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Petrina from the 1900s through to the 2010s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 746 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Petrina 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 Petrina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Petrinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. New York, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Petrina, while Missouri, Indiana, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 37 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Petrina
The name Petrina is derived from the Latin name Petrus, which itself originated from the Greek word "petros" meaning "rock" or "stone". The name gained popularity during the early Christian era when it was borne by Saint Peter, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ and considered the first Pope of the Catholic Church.
Petrina is the feminine form of the name Petrus, and it first appeared in various Romance languages such as Italian, Spanish, and French. In these languages, the name took on variations like Petrina, Petronila, and Pernette.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Petrina can be found in the 12th century, when a woman named Petrina de Rosignano was mentioned in a document from the Italian city of Pisa. Another early bearer of the name was Petrina de Porcellets, a noblewoman from the Kingdom of Aragon in Spain, who lived in the 13th century.
In the realm of literature, the name Petrina appeared in the 16th century work "Il Decamerone" by the Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio. One of the characters in the book is named Petrina.
Among the notable historical figures who bore the name Petrina was Petrina de Stutt (1465-1521), a German abbess and writer who authored several religious works. Another famous Petrina was Petrina Zorn (1528-1575), a German painter and printmaker who was one of the few female artists of the Renaissance period.
In the 17th century, Petrina Samuelsdotter (1636-1692) was a Swedish businesswoman and landowner who became one of the wealthiest individuals in Stockholm during her lifetime.
Moving into the 18th century, Petrina Massard (1723-1787) was a French actress and playwright who performed in several comedies and tragedies at the Comédie-Française in Paris.
Lastly, in the 19th century, Petrina Frederica van Vloten (1835-1904) was a Dutch writer and feminist who advocated for women's rights and education.
People
Petrina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Petrina 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
Petrina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Petrina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,496 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Petrina 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 229,114 US residents.
Is Petrina a common name?
We classify Petrina as "Rare". It ranks above 92.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,107 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Petrina most popular?
The single biggest year for Petrina was 1971, when 99 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Petrina is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Petrina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Petrina 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.