Find out how popular the last name Petroff is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Petroff.

Petroff, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Petroff surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Petroff in America

Petroff is the 14724th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Petroff surname appeared 2,018 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Petroff.

We can also compare 2010 data for Petroff to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Petroff

The surname Petroff originated in Russia and is a patronymic derived from the Russian male given name Petr, which is the Russian form of the name Peter. The name Peter itself comes from the Greek word "petros," meaning "rock" or "stone." The suffix "-off" or "-ov" in Russian surnames indicates a patronymic, meaning "son of." Therefore, Petroff means "son of Petr."

The earliest known records of the surname Petroff date back to the 16th century in Russia. During this time, the practice of using patronymics as surnames became more common among the Russian nobility and upper classes. The name Petroff was likely first adopted by the sons or descendants of men named Petr.

One of the earliest known references to the Petroff surname can be found in the Velvet Book, a Russian genealogical document from the 16th century. This book recorded the lineages of noble families, and it is possible that some Petroff families were mentioned in this record.

In the 17th century, the Petroff surname appeared in various Russian historical documents and records. For instance, Andrei Petroff was a Russian diplomat and ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in the late 17th century, serving during the reign of Tsar Alexis I.

Another notable figure with the Petroff surname was Ivan Petroff, a Russian explorer and cartographer who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is best known for his explorations and mapping of the Alaskan coast and the Aleutian Islands while working for the Russian-American Company.

In the 19th century, the Petroff surname became more widespread in Russia and other parts of the Russian Empire. One prominent individual with this name was Nikolai Petroff, a Russian military officer and statesman who served as the Governor-General of Turkestan (present-day Central Asia) in the late 19th century.

Another individual of note was Nikolai Petroff-Sokolov, a Russian Orientalist and scholar who lived from 1836 to 1908. He made significant contributions to the study of Central Asian languages and cultures.

Finally, Vasily Petroff was a Russian artist and painter who lived from 1834 to 1889. He is known for his landscape paintings depicting scenes from rural Russia and is considered one of the leading artists of the Peredvizhniki movement in the late 19th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Petroff

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Petroff.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Petroff was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Petroff has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Petroff was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Petroff, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!