Petrit
A masculine Albanian name derived from the Latin root "Petrus" meaning "rock."
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Petrit. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Petrit today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Petrit births was 1982 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Petrit. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Petrit with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Petrit. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1982
5 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1982 SSA rank
#7,098
Tracked since 1982
Census
Petrit in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 350 people with the first name Petrit, which placed it at #26,543 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
#26,543
National first-name rank
People counted
350
350 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
100.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Petrit
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Petrit is White at 100.0%. 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 Petrit 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 Petrit at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White100.0% · 350
Popularity
Petrit: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Petrit 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 Petrit during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Petrit
The name Petrit is of Albanian origin and is derived from the Latin name Petrus, meaning "rock" or "stone." The name is believed to have originated in the ancient Illyrian region, which is now part of modern-day Albania, Kosovo, and parts of neighboring countries.
In early Christian times, the name became associated with St. Peter, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ and the first Pope of the Catholic Church. The name gained popularity among Christians in the region, particularly after the adoption of Christianity as the official religion in the 4th century AD.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Petrit can be found in the "History of the Albanians" by Marin Barleti, a 15th-century Albanian historian and writer. He mentions a notable figure named Petrit Dukagjini, a prince and military leader who ruled over the Dukagjini region in northern Albania during the 14th century.
Another historical figure with the name Petrit was Petrit Vukaj, an Albanian Catholic clergyman who lived in the 18th century and played a significant role in promoting education and cultural development in the region.
In more recent history, Petrit Bushi (1915-1990) was an Albanian actor and director who made significant contributions to the development of Albanian theater. He is remembered for his performances in several classic plays and his efforts in establishing professional theater companies in Albania.
Petrit Selimi (1926-2007) was a renowned Albanian writer, poet, and translator. He is considered one of the most important figures in modern Albanian literature and is best known for his translations of works by renowned authors such as Shakespeare, Goethe, and Pushkin.
Petrit Camaj (1944-1987) was an Albanian-American poet and writer who spent much of his life in exile after fleeing Albania's communist regime. His works, written in both Albanian and English, explored themes of identity, displacement, and the human condition.
While the name Petrit is more commonly found in Albania and among Albanian diaspora communities, it has also been adopted in other cultures and languages, particularly those with historical ties to the region or Christian influences.
People
Petrit + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Petrit 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
Petrit: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Petrit?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Petrit 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Petrit a common name?
We classify Petrit as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Petrit most popular?
The single biggest year for Petrit was 1982, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Petrit is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Petrit in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 350 people with the name Petrit, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,543 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 Petrit 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 Petrit?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Petrit appears almost entirely male. Of the 359 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Petrit?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Petrit is White at 100.0%. 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 Petrit most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Petrit in the 2020 Census, accounting for 100.0% (350 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 Petrit in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Petrit a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Petrit 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.
Is Petrit still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Petrit 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 Petrit 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 people are called Petrit?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.