Peter

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Peter

Gender: Masculine
Language: English
Etymology:
Peter is the English form of a Greek name, Petros. Petros was, itself, a translation from Aramaic name Cephas. Originally it meant “Rock.”

History:
The first recorded instance of Peter (Petrus) in England is in 1086 after it had been introduced by the Norman conquerors. St. Peter was a favorite apostle and his name was one of the most popular in medieval Europe. In England, initially, the French form Piers was the most common form of the name. The spelling p-e-t-e-r was first made common about the 14th century.

Pronunciation: pee-terr

Diminutives:
English: Pete, Petie
French: Pierrot.
Spanish: Perico.
Swedish: Pelle.

Alternates: Pierce.
Arabic: Butrus.
Aramaic: Cephas, Kephas.
Basque: Kepa.
Breton: Per.
Catalan: Pere.
Cornish: Piran, Perran, Peder.
Czech: Petr.
Danish: Pedar, Peder, Per.
Dutch: Piet, Pieter, Petrus.
English (Middle): Peers, Piers.
Finnish: Pekka, Pietari.
Flemish: Piet.
French: Pierre, Perry.
French (Old): Pier.
German: Peter.
German (Low): Piet.
Hawaiian: Pika, Pekelo.
Hungarian: Peterke, Péter.
Irish Gaelic: Peader, Perce, Perse, Piaras.
Italian: Piero, Pietro.
Norwegian: Per, Peer.
Polish: Pieter, Pietr, Piotr, Piotyr.
Portuguese: Pedro.
Russian: Pëtr, Pyotr.
Scandinavian: Per, Peter.
Scottish: Peader.
Spanish: Pedro.
Spanish (Old): Pero.
Swedish: Pär, Per, Petter.
Ukrainian: Petro, Petruso.
Welsh: Pedr, Pyrs, Pedran, Petran, Pyrs.

Surnames:
Czech: Petrov.
English: Pearce, Peers, Perkes, Perkins, Peters, Peterson, Pierce, Pierson, Porkins, Purkiss.
French: Depierre, Parrot, Perot.
Hungarian: Petöfi.
Polish: Petrowski, Pietrowski.
Russian: Petrovich (male), Petrovna (female).
Scottish: Petrie.
Swedish: Pettersson.
Welsh: Peters, Peterson.

Feminine Forms:
Danish: Pedrine, Petrine.
English: Peta, Petra, Peterina, Peternella.
French: Perrine, Pierrette.
Italian: Piera, Pierina.
Latin: Petra.
Scandinavian: Perla.

See also: Pedro, Perry, Pete.

Famous Bearers:
Artists and Authors:
Petr Parler (1330-1399)
German mason.
Peter Chelcick (1390-1460)
Czech writer.
Piero Della Francesca (1420-1492)
Italian painter.
Pietro Nardini (1722-1793)
Italian violinist and composer.
Peter Andreas Heiberg (1758-1841)
Danish playwright.
Peter De Wint (1784-1849)
English painter.
Peter Rosegger (1843-1918)
Austrian novelist.
Peter Carl Fabergé (1846-1920)
Russian goldsmith. Creator of Fabergé eggs. Originally named Karl Gustavich Fabergé.
Peter Benoit (1848-1901)
Belgian composer. Caused a revival of Flemish music.
Petr Bezruc (1867-1958)
Czech poet.
Pierre Louÿs (1870-1925)
French novelist and poet.
Peter Hurd (1904-1984)
American painter.
Peter Taylor (1917-1994)
American author and playwright.
Peter Abrahams (1919-)
South African writer.
Peter Seeberg (1925-)
Danish novelist.
Peter Mennin (Mennini) (1932-1983)
American composer
Peter Carey (1943-)
Australian writer.
Peter Serkin (1947-)
American pianist.

Educators, Scholars, and Social Workers:
Peter Andreas Munch (1810-1863)
Norwegian professor and historian.

Fictional Characters:
Piers Plowman (14th century)
Famous medieval English narrative poem.
Peter Rabbit (1893)
Created by Beatrix Potter.

Miscellaneous:
Peter Schöffer (1425-1502)
German printer. Assistant to Johannes Gutenberg.
Peter Bales (Balesius) (1547-1610)
English calligrapher. Developed shorthand.
Pietro Verri (1728-1797)
Italian political economist.
Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869)
Created Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words.
Pierre Chouteau, Jr. (1789-1865)
American entrepreneur.
Butrus al- Bustani (1819-1883)
Arabic scholar.
Peter A.B. Widener (1834-1915)
American transportation magnate.
Peter Jackson (1861-1901)
American boxer.
Peter Ludwig (1925-1996)
A German chocolate maker.
Peter Frederick Bronfman (1928-1996)
Canadian business tycoon.
Peter George Snell (1938-)
A New Zealand middle-distance runner

Other:
Blue Peter (born 1936)
A famous English thoroughbred.

Places:
Peter the Great Bay (Zaliv Petra Velikogo)
Sea of Japan
Petropolis
Brazil. Named for King Pedro II of Brazil.
Pierre (1880)
Capital of North Dakota .
Saint Peter Port (Saint-Pierre Port) (began 1506)
Capital of Guernsey, Channel Islands.
Saint Peter's Basilica (began 1506)
Rome
St. Petersburg
Russia. Renamed Leningrad during Soviet rule.
Saint Peter's College (established 1872)
Jersey City, New Jersey.
Sainte Pierre
Capital of Saint-Pierre Island.
Sainte Pierre (founded 1635)
City located on Martinique.
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon islands
A French island of of Newfoundland.

Political Figures:
Peter Ochs (1752-1821)
Swiss revolutionary.
Peter V. Daniel (1784-1860)
American Supreme Court justice.

Religious Figures:
Saint Peter the Apostle (?-circa 64 A.D):
Originally a fisherman named Simon. The leader of the disciples.
Saint Peter Chrysologus (400-450):
An archbishop of Ravenna. Called the Golden Orator (Chrysologus).
Saint Peter Damian (Italian: San Pier Damiani) (1007-1072):
A reform-minded cardinal.
Peter the Hermit (1050-1115):
Helped launch the first crusade.
Peter the Venerable (French: Pierre le Venérable) (1092-1156):
A French abbot also known as Blessed Peter of Montboissier
Saint Peter Nolasco (1182-1249):
Founder of the order of Our Lady of Ransom.
Saint Peter Martyr (Italian: San Pietro Martire) (1205-1252):
Peter of Verona.
Saint Peter Of Alcántara (Spanish: San Pedro de Alacántara)(1499-1562):
Original name was Pedro Garavito. Founded the Alcantarines.
Peter Faber (French: Pierre Lefevre)(1506-1546):
Co-founder of the Society of Jesus,.
Saint Peter Claver (Spanish: San Pedro Claver)(1581-1654):
Did missionary work in South America.

Royalty:
Peter I of Aragon (1068-1104):
Little is known of him.
Peter II of Aragon (1174-1213):
Peter the Catholic (Spanish: Pedro el Católico).
Peter I of Brittany (Peter of Dreux, Peter Mauclerc) (1190-12150)
A French prince who died from wounds incurred in battle.
Emperor Peter (Pierre de Courtenay) (?-1219)
Briefly emperor of Constantinople. Assassinated.
King Peter III of Aragon () (1239-1285)
Called Peter the Great (Spanish: Pedro el Grande)
King Peter IV of Aragon (1319-1387)
Peter the Ceremonious, Spanish: Pedro el Ceremonioso, Peter the Cruel.
King Peter (Pedro) I of Portugal (1320-1367)
Also known as Peter the Just ( Portuguese: Pedro o Justiceiro) and Peter the Cruel (Portuguese: Pedro o Cruel). Noted for his tragic romance with Inês de Castro.
King Peter of Castile and Leon (1334-1369)
Called Peter the Cruel. Assassinated.
Duke Peter II of Brittany (1648-1706)
Son of John V of Brittany.
King Peter II of Portugal (?-1457)
Grew wealthy from Brazil.
Tsar Peter I of Russia (Russian: Pyotr Alekseyevich) (1672-1725)
Called Peter the Great. Attempted to Westernize his country.
Tsar Peter II of Russia (Russian: Pyotr Alekseyevich) (1715-1730)
Grandson of Peter the Great. Died of smallpox.
King Peter III of Portugal (1717-1786)
He married his nice, Queen Maria I.
Tsar Peter III of Russia (Pyotr Fyodorovich) (1738-1762)
Assassinated with the help of his queen, Catherine the Great.
Peter I of Montenegro (Petar Petrovic Njegos) (1747-1830)
Fought against the Turks. Also a bishop.
King Pedro I of Brazil (Peter IV of Portugal) (1798-1834)
Eventually returned to Portugal.
Peter II of Montenegro (Petar Petrovic Njegos) (1813-1851)
Originally named Rado. Also a poet.
King Pedro II of Brazil (1825-1891)
A wise, generous, conscientious ruler. Forced to abdicated in 1889.
King Peter V of Portugal (1837-1861)
Conscientious and intelligent. Died of Typhoid Fever.
King Peter I of Serbia (1844-1921)
Later, the first king of Yugoslavia.
King Peter II of Yugoslavia (1923-1970)
Deposed. Died in Los Angeles.

Scientists:
Peter Peregrinus of Maricourt (French: Pierre Pélerin de Maricourt (13th century)
Wrote a treatise on magnets.
Peter Chamberlen, The Elder (1560-1631)
A French-English obstetrician.
Peter Dolland (1730-1820)
British optician.
Peter Simon Pallas (1741-188)
German naturalist.
Peter Barlow (1776-1862)
English mathematician and optician.
Peter Andreas Hansen (1785-1874)
Danish astronomer.
Pierre Curie (1859-1906)
French chemist. Husband to Marie Curie.
Sir Peter Henry Buck (1880-1874)
New Zealand anthropologist. Originally Te Rangi Hiroa.
Peter Debye (Dutch: Petrus Debij) (1884-1966)
Dutch chemist. Winner of the 1936 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Peter Jacob Hjelm (1746-1813)
Swedish chemist who discovered molybdenum in 1782.
Peter Cooper Hewitt (1861-1921)
American electrical engineer.
Pyotr Nikolayevich Lebedev(1866-1912)
Russian physicist.
Pyotr Petrovich Lazarev (1878-1942)
Soviet physicist and biophysicist.
Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa (1894-1984)
Soviet physicist. Winner of the 1978 Nobel Prize for Physics.

Singers and Entertainers:
Peter Lorre (László Loewenstein) (1904-1964)
American actor.
Peter O’Toole (1944-)
British actor.
Peter Yarrow (1938-)
American songwriter/singer. Part of the group Peter, Paul, and Mary.
Peter Tosh (Winston Hubert Macintosh) (1944-)
Jamaican songwriter/singer.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
0.381 % named Peter
0.103 % named Pedro
0.032 % named Pete
0.016 % named Pierre

Popularity of Peter
Popularity (for newborns):
In England...
ca. 1250: 13th most popular.
ca. 1565: 24th most popular.
ca. 1700: 18th most popular.
ca. 1800: 15th most popular.
ca. 1875: 29th most popular.
ca. 1925: 18th most popular.
ca. 1950: 3rd most popular.
ca. 1965: 11th most popular.
ca. 1981: 26th most popular.

In the United States...
1800: 12th most popular.
1850: 11th most popular.
1875: 19th most popular.
1900-1910: 46th most popular.
1910-1920: 48th most popular.
1920-1930: 59th most popular.
1930-1940: 59th most popular.
1940-1950: 42nd most popular.
1950-1960: 14th most popular.
1960-1970: 42nd most popular.
1970-1980: 55th most popular.
1980-1990: 63rd most popular.
1990: 74th most popular.
1991: 78th most popular.
1992: 82nd most popular.
1993: 84th most popular.
1994: 89th most popular.
1995: 91st most popular.
1996: 94th most popular.
1997: 102nd most popular.
1998: 110th most popular.
1999: 106th most popular.
2000: 124th most popular.
2001: 136th most popular.
2002: 136th most popular.
2003: 148th most popular.

In Ireland...
1998: 44th most popular.
1999: 48th most popular.
2000: 53rd most popular.
2001: 48th most popular.
2002: 51st most popular.
2003: 50th most popular.

Popularity of Pierre:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1900-1910: 724th most popular.
1910-1920: 991st most popular.
1920-1930: 747th most popular.
1930-1940: 913th most popular.
1940-1950: 704th most popular.
1950-1960: 575th most popular.
1960-1970: 549th most popular.
1970-1980: 610th most popular.
1980-1990: 443th most popular.
1990: 495th most popular.
1991: 508th most popular.
1992: 596th most popular.
1993: 647th most popular.
1994: 715th most popular.
1995: 810th most popular.
1996: 817th most popular.
1997: 763rd most popular.
1998: 799th most popular.
1999: 934th most popular.
2000: 906th most popular.
2001: 958th most popular.
2002: 949th most popular.
2003: 931st most popular.

In France...
1900: 5th most popular.
1910: 3rd most popular.
1920: 3rd most popular.
1930: 3rd most popular.
1940: 5th most popular.
1950: 11th most popular.
1960: 16th most popular.
1970: 31st most popular.
1980: 26th most popular.
1990: 14th most popular.
2000: 18th most popular.