Pierre
A French masculine name derived from the Greek "Petros" meaning "rock".
Name Census estimates that about 15,889 living Americans carry the first name Pierre. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Pierre today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pierre births was 1988 (482 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pierre. 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
- • Although Pierre is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 74 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
16K
~ 1 in 21,572 Americans
Peak year
1988
482 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,253
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Pierre
Out of the 18,982 babies given the name Pierre since 1880, 99.6% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Pierre as a male name
- Ranked #1,253 in 2024
- 158 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1988 (475 births)
Pierre as a female name
- Ranked #11,053 in 1990
- 7 female births in 1990
- Peak: 1985 (12 births)
Popularity
Pierre: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pierre from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 4,094 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pierre 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 Pierre during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pierres live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. New York, Illinois, California recorded the most babies named Pierre, while Arkansas, Washington, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 448 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Pierre
The name Pierre is a French masculine name derived from the Greek name Petros, meaning "rock" or "stone." This name has its origins in the Bible, specifically referring to the apostle Simon, whom Jesus renamed as Peter (Petros in Greek, Petrus in Latin).
The earliest recorded use of the name Pierre can be traced back to the 5th century in France, where it became a popular name among the Franks. It gained widespread popularity throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in areas influenced by French culture and language.
One of the earliest and most famous bearers of the name Pierre was Pierre Abélard, a French philosopher and theologian (1079-1142) known for his tragic love affair with Héloïse and his contributions to scholastic philosophy.
Another notable Pierre was Pierre de Fermat (1601-1665), a French mathematician who made significant contributions to the fields of optics, probability theory, and analytic geometry. He is best known for Fermat's Last Theorem, which remained unsolved for over three centuries.
Pierre Curie (1859-1906), a French physicist, is renowned for his pioneering work on radioactivity, for which he and his wife, Marie Curie, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. Their joint research laid the foundation for modern nuclear physics and chemistry.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) was a renowned French Impressionist painter known for his vibrant depictions of modern life, particularly his portraits and scenes of Parisian leisure and beauty. His masterpieces, such as "Luncheon of the Boating Party" and "Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette," are celebrated for their vivid colors and brushwork.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was a French philosopher, paleontologist, and Jesuit priest known for his pioneering work in combining scientific theories with religious thought. His ideas on the synthesis of science and religion, particularly his concept of the "Omega Point," influenced many scholars and thinkers of the 20th century.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Pierre
People
Pierre + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pierre 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
Pierre: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pierre?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,889 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pierre 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 21,572 US residents.
Is Pierre a common name?
We classify Pierre as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 18,982 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pierre most popular?
The single biggest year for Pierre was 1988, when 482 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pierre is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Pierre a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Pierre 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.