How common is the name Peter?

464,396 people in the United States have the first name Peter, about 1 in 650. It ranks #99 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

PETER

#99

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
464,396
About
1 in 650
This common or more
30.1%
Who bears it

Of the 464,396 people named Peter, 80.9% reported their origin as White, 6.5% as Asian or Pacific Islander and 6.5% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Peter peaked in 1957, when 11,628 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1957
Births that year
11,628
In 2025*
1,954 ▼83%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 591,531 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Peter by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1950s, when it ranked #74. The largest share of babies named Peter, 31.4%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#1104,662
1890s#1684,034
1900s#2024,381
1910s#12025,039
1920s#14134,270
1930s#12535,980
1940s#8469,513
1950s#74102,931
1960s#8792,686
1970s#10062,649
1980s#11457,071
1990s#17442,501
2000s#28926,160
2010s#38218,725
2020s#37310,929
Before 19011.5%
Greatest Generation 1901–279.6%
Silent Generation 1928–4513.5%
Baby boom 1946–6431.4%
Generation X 1965–8018.8%
Millennials 1981–9614%
Generation Z 1997–127.2%
2013 and later4.1%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Peter is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Peter has been most common in Connecticut (3.3×), Rhode Island (3.1×), and Massachusetts (3.1×), and least common in Arkansas (0.15×).

575,936 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Peter

#97 Julie · 467,484#98 Debra · 465,857#100 Victoria · 452,646#101 Jordan · 452,330

Spelled almost the same

4 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Peter, most common first.

#7,064 Petr · 2,193#8,749 Petar · 1,641#16,403 Peder · 688#24,979 Petter · 382

Also a last name

As a last name, Peter ranks #3,738 of 156,621, with 9,240 people. See Peter as a last name

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