Petter
A Scandinavian name derived from the name Peter, meaning "rock" or "stone".
Name Census estimates that about 42 living Americans carry the first name Petter. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Petter today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Petter births was 1918 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Petter. 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 Petter. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
42
~ 1 in 8,160,818 Americans
Peak year
1918
7 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,553
Tracked since 1918
Census
Petter in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 377 people with the first name Petter, which placed it at #25,213 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
#25,213
National first-name rank
People counted
377
377 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Petter
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Petter is White at 59.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.8%). 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 Petter 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 Petter at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.2% · 223
- Hispanic or Latino22.8% · 86
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.8% · 37
- Black or African American7.2% · 27
- Two or more races0.8% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Petter: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Petter from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 17 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
Petter 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 Petter 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 Petter
The name Petter is a masculine given name of Germanic origin, derived from the ancient Greek name Petros, which means "rock" or "stone." It is a variant of the name Peter, which has been widely used across Europe and beyond for centuries.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled as Petrus or Petre in Latin and Petros in Greek. It gained popularity during the spread of Christianity, as it was the name given to one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, Simon Peter, who is considered the first Pope and a key figure in the establishment of the Christian Church.
The name Petter is particularly common in Scandinavian countries, where it has been used since the Middle Ages. It is believed to have been introduced to the region during the Christianization of Scandinavia in the 9th and 10th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Petter can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of literary works from the 13th century. The name appears in the Saga of Burnt Njal, where a character named Petter Aurauðsson is mentioned.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Petter. One of the most famous was Petter Dass (1647-1707), a Norwegian poet and clergyman who is considered one of the founders of Norwegian literature. His works, such as "The Trumpet of Nordland," are still widely read and celebrated in Norway.
Another renowned figure was Petter Tordenskjold (1691-1720), a Norwegian naval hero who played a significant role in the Great Northern War against Sweden. He is remembered for his daring exploits and his victory at the Battle of Dynekil in 1716.
In the realm of science, Petter Wessel Tordenskjold (1819-1893), a Norwegian mathematician, made important contributions to the field of complex analysis and is known for the Wessel-Vough formula.
In the arts, Petter Sevaldsen (1909-1974) was a prominent Norwegian painter and printmaker, renowned for his vibrant landscapes and depictions of rural life in Norway.
Lastly, Petter Solberg (born 1974) is a Norwegian former professional rally driver, who won the World Rally Championship in 2003 and is considered one of the most successful rally drivers in Norwegian history.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Petter throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence and significance across various fields and cultures.
People
Petter + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Petter 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
Petter: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Petter?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 42 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Petter 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 8,160,818 US residents.
Is Petter a common name?
We classify Petter as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 60 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Petter most popular?
The single biggest year for Petter was 1918, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Petter is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Petter in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 377 people with the name Petter, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,213 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 Petter 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 Petter?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Petter leans strongly male. 375 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 7 female bearers (1.8%). 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 Petter?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Petter is White at 59.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.8%). 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 Petter most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Petter in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.2% (223 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 Petter in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Petter a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Petter 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 Petter still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Petter 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 Petter 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 Petter?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.