Peter
2025 SSA
About Peter
Peter is derived from the Greek Petros, meaning "rock" or "stone." One of the most important figures in the Christian hagiography is Saint Peter, keeper of the Gates of Heaven. Born Simon bar Jonah, he was given the nickname Peter by Jesus, to signify that he would be the rock on which Christ would build Christianity. Centuries later, there was Peter the Great, the czar who developed Russia as a major European power.
For generations, there have been pleasant childhood associations with this classic New Testament name, what with Peter Rabbit, Peter Pan, et al. But as user-friendly as this makes the name, it has a solid, traditional side as well.
Never as widely used as some of the more traditional Anglo-Saxon stalwarts, Peter retains an enduring appeal to parents seeking a less-used classic, with those nice childhood associations. Peter also has some interesting derivatives: The Brits like Piers; the Irish, Pierce and Pearse; the Italians, Piero and Pietro; the Spanish, Pedro; the French, Pierre; and the Dutch, Piet.
One potential problem: in some parts of the world, "peter" can be a slang term for "penis".
Pronounced PEE-tur.
As of October 2026, Peter ranked #187 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #31 in 1880, Nameberry popularity #90.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #204 | 1,923 | 1,001.1 |
| 2015 | #205 | 1,938 | 1,011.1 |
| 2016 | #207 | 1,926 | 1,014.9 |
| 2017 | #214 | 1,792 | 968.1 |
| 2018 | #211 | 1,826 | 1,005.4 |
| 2019 | #212 | 1,819 | 1,013.8 |
| 2020 | #215 | 1,762 | 1,020.8 |
| 2021 | #215 | 1,785 | 1,020.3 |
| 2022 | #213 | 1,773 | 1,015.5 |
| 2023 | #210 | 1,749 | 1,022.5 |
| 2024 | #192 | 1,889 | 1,096.4 |
| 2025 | #187 | 1,954 | 1,144 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Peter.
- Edward
- Philip
- Charles
- John
- Louis
- Patrick
- George
- Joseph
- Harry
- Paul
- Timothy
- Thomas
- Robert
- Simon
- David
- Frederick
- Martin
- Christopher
- Nicholas
- Samuel
Peter on lists
Famous Peters
- Saint Peter Martyr of Verona
Italian martyr
- Peter I aka Peter the Great (born Peter Alekseyevich)
Russian Emperor
- Peter II Alexeyevich
Russian Emperor
- Peter III (born Karl Peter Ulrich)
Russian Emperor
- Peter I
King of Serbia
- Peter II
last King of Yugoslavia
- Peter I and II
Kings of Portugal
- Peter I and II
Kings of Cyprus
- Peter I and II
Emperors of Bulgaria
- Peter I
III, Kings of Aragon
- Peter I
VII, Popes of Alexandria
- Peter
Prince of Greece and Denmark
- Peter Seamus O'Toole
British actor
- Richard Henry "Peter" Sellers
English actor
- Pyotr Alexeyevich "Peter" Kropotkin
Russian revolutionary
- Peter James Crouch
English footballer
- Peter Wilton Cushing
English actor
- Peter Press "Pete" Maravich
American basketball player
- Peter 'Pete' O'Hanlon
bassist from Irish band The Strypes
- Peter Andreas Thiel
American billionaire founder of PayPal
- Peter Michael Falk
American Actor
- Peter Facinelli
American actor
- (John) Peter Sarsgaard
American actor
- Peter Gene Hernandez
birth name of Bruno Mars, American pop singer
- Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townsend
English musician of The Who
- Peter Robert Jackson
New Zealand film director/producer/screenwriter
- Peter Brian Gabriel
English musician
- Peter Bogdanovich
American film director
- Peter Lawrence Boyle
American actor
- Peter Szymon Serafinowicz
British actor
- Peter Kenneth Frampton
English,American musician
- Peter Hayden Dinklage
American actor
- Peter Henry Fonda
American actor
- Peter Onorati
American actor
- Peter Alexander Ustinov
English actor
- Peter Alexis Shukoff aka Nice Peter
Youtube personality of "Epic Rap Battles of History"
- Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings
Canadian,American TV journalist
- Peter Lewis Kingston "Pete" Wentz III
American bassist for Fall Out Boy
- Peter Lorre (born László Löwenstein)
Slovakian,American actor
- Peter Tosh (born Winston Hubert McIntosh)
Jamaican reggae musician
- Peter Soyer Beagle
American novelist
- Peter Dougan Capaldi
Scottish Actor
- Peter Jacobson
American actor
- Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet
German mathematician
- Peter Tait
Scottish mathematical physicist
- Peter Yarrow
American singer,songwriter of Peter, Paul and Mary
- Peter Tork
stage name of Peter Halsten Thorkelson, American musician of The Monkees
- Peter Joseph William Debye
Dutch,American physicist & chemist
- (Randolph) Peter "Pete" Best
English original drummer for The Beatles
- Peter Van Pels aka Peter Van Daan
German,Dutch boy who appeared in The Diary of Anne Frank
- Peter Andrew Furler
Australian Former lead singer of Newsboys
- Peter DaCunha
Canadian actor
- Peter Ognibene
American child model; twin brother of Caroline
- Peter "Pete" Zamperini
brother of WWII POW Louis Zamperini
- Peter Arne Jöback
Swedish musician
- Peter Colbert
son of Stephen Colbert & Evelyn McGee,Colbert
- Peter Gilyard
son of former American actor Clarence Gilyard
- Peter Cunnah
Irish musician of the group D,Ream
- Peter Mark Andrew Phillips
British royal, son of Princess Anne
- Peter Allen
Australian musician
- Peter Riegert
American actor
- Peter Connelly (b. 2006)
1 year old British boy who died from child abuse in 2007
Peter in pop culture
- Peter Pan
fictional character created by J. M. Barrie
- "Peter Rabbit
" children's book by Beatrix Potter
- Peter Parker
also known as Spider,Man, character in the Marvel Universe
- Peter “Pete” Brockman
character in British sitcom “Outnumbered”
- Peter Jason Quill
also known as Star,Lord, character in the Marvel Universe
- Peter Pevensie
from C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia" series
- Peter "Wormtail" Pettigrew
character from the "Harry Potter" series
- "Peter
Peter Pumpkin Eater," nursery rhyme
- Peter Brady
middle son on "The Brady Bunch"
- Peter
main character in "First Light," a novel by Rebecca Stead
- Peter “Pete” Beale
father of Ian Beale in British soap opera “Eastenders”
- Peter Beale
son of Ian Beale in British soap opera “Eastenders”
- Peter Barlow
character from British soap opera "Coronation Street"
- Peter Bishop
character on TV show "Fringe"
- Peter Clarkson
antagonist in novel "Ten Things I Hate About Me"
- Peter "Pete" Brockman
Dad in British Comedy "Outnumbered"
- Peter Joseph "Peejoe" Bullis
character from movie "Crazy in Alabama"
- Peter Florrick
character on "The Good Wife"
- Peter Griffin
main character on TV's "Family Guy"
- Peter Hale
character from MTV's "Teen Wolf"
- Peter Hayes
character in "Divergent" series
- Peter Grant Kavinsky
main character from "To All the Boys I've Loved Before," "P.S. I Still Love You" and "Always and Forever, Lara Jean" by Jenny Han
- Peter Garcia
character in "Sims" series
- Peter Burke
character on TV's "White Collar"
- Peter Graham
chatacter in "Hereditary"
- Peter Kirkland
personification of Sealand in anime "Axis Powers: Hetalia"
- Peter Malboro
character in Quebec parody show "Le coeur a ses raisons"
- Peter Mills
character on TV's "Chicago Fire"
- Peter van Daan
pseudonym for Peter van Pels in "The Diary of Anne Frank"
- Police Sargent Peter Noakes
character on series "Call the Midwife"
- Peter Port
professor voiced by Ryan Haywood in web series RWBY
- Peter Prentice
character from series "The Mindy Project"
- Peter Maximoff
also known as Quicksilver, character in Marvel Universe
- Peter Porker
also known as Spider,Ham, character in Marvel Universe
- Peter Petrelli
character on TV show "Heroes"
- Peter Hastings
Spencer Hastings' father in "Pretty Little Liars"
- Peter Shepherd
boy character in "Jumanji"
- Peter the Panda
Dr. Doofenshmirtz's ex nemesis in "Phineas and Ferb"
- Peter Bishop
character on JJ Abrams TV series "Fringe"
- Peter Nureyev
character on "The Penumbra Podcast"
- Peter Jerome
character on the ABC Sitcom "Soul Man"
- Peter Lukas
character on "The Magnus Archives"
- Peter Ratri
main antagonist in the manga/anime series "The Promised Neverland"
- "Peter"
Song by Taylor Swift featured in "The Tortured Poets Department"