Peter

Greek

"rock, stone"

Peter Origin and Meaning

The name Peter is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "rock, stone".

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".

Peter Rank in US Top 1000

# 210 in the US

Peter Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 135 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Peter

• 210 US 2023
• 135 Nameberry 2025
• 196 Canada 2023
• 264 Future 2028
• 250 England 2023
• 185 Scotland 2024
• 86 Ireland 2018
• 245 Germany 2016
• 88 Slovenia 2021

20 Names Similar to Peter

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Peter.

• Edward
• Charles
• Philip
• John
• Louis
• Joseph
• Patrick
• Harry
• George
• Paul
• Robert
• Timothy
• Thomas
• Martin
• David
• Simon
• Frederick
• Christopher
• Samuel
• Nicholas

Famous People Named Peter

• 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

The name 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"