Peter

Peter meaning

Peter is a Christian and international boy's name of Greek origin.

A rock, a piece of rock

Peter comes from the Greek Petros, "a rock" or "a piece of rock", a word related to petra, a rock mass or cliff. In the Gospels Jesus gives this name to Simon, a fisherman's son from Bethsaida and the brother of Andrew. John 1:42 pairs it with the Aramaic Kēphas, Cephas in English Bibles, which has the same meaning, and Matthew 16:18 plays on the word when Jesus speaks of building his church on this rock. Peter went on to lead the early church in Jerusalem, and tradition holds that he died by crucifixion. The name has spread into many languages as Pierre, Pietro, Pedro and Piotr.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, G4074 · entry Petros · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Strong's G4074, Petros, with Thayer's Greek Lexicon

Famous namesakes

• Saint Peter, apostle of Jesus

Popularity abroad

• #187 United States, boys 2025 (up 5 from 192 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #287 England and Wales, boys 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

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