Petra
Petra was given to 161 girls in 2025, #1,372 among girls’ names; 14,626 Americans have been recorded with it since 1881 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 8,990 Americans named Petra and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (62% of everyone recorded); the median is 40 years old and half are between 16 and 62.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Petra by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Petra mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Petra is “a female given name from Ancient Greek, masculine equivalent Peter; variant form Peta.”
Feminine form of Peter. Derived from petra (“stone”), from Ancient Greek πέτρα (pétra, “rock”). The name came into regular use in the 19th century.
/ˈpɛ.tɹə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Petra?
#1,372 among girls’ names, 2025
Petra fell from #1,351 in 2015 to #1,372 in 2025 among girls’ names, although its share of girls born held at 0.10 per 1,000.
205 babies in 1927, the peak
Petra peaked in 1927, when 205 babies were given it (197 girls, #499 among girls’ names). The 161 births of 2025 are 79% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 161 | #1,372 | 0.10 |
| 2024 | 147 | #1,490 | 0.09 |
| 2023 | 149 | #1,473 | 0.09 |
| 2022 | 140 | #1,537 | 0.09 |
| 2021 | 151 | #1,430 | 0.09 |
| 2020 | 175 | #1,278 | 0.11 |
| 2019 | 172 | #1,330 | 0.10 |
| 2018 | 144 | #1,518 | 0.08 |
| 2017 | 165 | #1,398 | 0.10 |
| 2016 | 158 | #1,463 | 0.09 |
Every recorded year (145)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 176 | #1,351 | 0.10 |
| 2014 | 145 | #1,518 | 0.08 |
| 2013 | 134 | #1,613 | 0.08 |
| 2012 | 122 | #1,713 | 0.07 |
| 2011 | 118 | #1,746 | 0.07 |
| 2010 | 99 | #2,025 | 0.06 |
| 2009 | 135 | #1,655 | 0.07 |
| 2008 | 133 | #1,682 | 0.07 |
| 2007 | 124 | #1,749 | 0.06 |
| 2006 | 101 | #1,985 | 0.05 |
| 2005 | 122 | #1,643 | 0.07 |
| 2004 | 89 | #2,060 | 0.05 |
| 2003 | 80 | #2,179 | 0.04 |
| 2002 | 80 | #2,119 | 0.04 |
| 2001 | 91 | #1,916 | 0.05 |
| 2000 | 91 | #1,877 | 0.05 |
| 1999 | 70 | #2,172 | 0.04 |
| 1998 | 78 | #1,947 | 0.04 |
| 1997 | 84 | #1,795 | 0.05 |
| 1996 | 85 | #1,762 | 0.05 |
| 1995 | 81 | #1,779 | 0.05 |
| 1994 | 94 | #1,616 | 0.05 |
| 1993 | 90 | #1,673 | 0.05 |
| 1992 | 87 | #1,724 | 0.05 |
| 1991 | 78 | #1,824 | 0.04 |
| 1990 | 76 | #1,869 | 0.04 |
| 1989 | 73 | #1,827 | 0.04 |
| 1988 | 79 | #1,657 | 0.04 |
| 1987 | 111 | #1,271 | 0.06 |
| 1986 | 75 | #1,598 | 0.04 |
| 1985 | 91 | #1,406 | 0.05 |
| 1984 | 89 | #1,354 | 0.05 |
| 1983 | 96 | #1,282 | 0.06 |
| 1982 | 67 | #1,698 | 0.04 |
| 1981 | 86 | #1,429 | 0.05 |
| 1980 | 116 | #1,166 | 0.07 |
| 1979 | 101 | #1,266 | 0.06 |
| 1978 | 120 | #1,095 | 0.08 |
| 1977 | 101 | #1,211 | 0.07 |
| 1976 | 123 | #1,020 | 0.08 |
| 1975 | 101 | #1,152 | 0.07 |
| 1974 | 120 | #1,006 | 0.08 |
| 1973 | 122 | #978 | 0.08 |
| 1972 | 117 | #1,009 | 0.08 |
| 1971 | 130 | #978 | 0.08 |
| 1970 | 130 | #973 | 0.07 |
| 1969 | 113 | #1,029 | 0.07 |
| 1968 | 134 | #892 | 0.08 |
| 1967 | 124 | #922 | 0.08 |
| 1966 | 130 | #884 | 0.08 |
| 1965 | 156 | #791 | 0.09 |
| 1964 | 138 | #886 | 0.07 |
| 1963 | 113 | #1,006 | 0.06 |
| 1962 | 116 | #1,000 | 0.06 |
| 1961 | 99 | #1,107 | 0.05 |
| 1960 | 137 | #902 | 0.07 |
| 1959 | 106 | #1,032 | 0.05 |
| 1958 | 92 | #1,100 | 0.05 |
| 1957 | 109 | #998 | 0.05 |
| 1956 | 118 | #931 | 0.06 |
| 1955 | 100 | #999 | 0.05 |
| 1954 | 103 | #954 | 0.05 |
| 1953 | 115 | #879 | 0.06 |
| 1952 | 88 | #1,005 | 0.05 |
| 1951 | 98 | #935 | 0.05 |
| 1950 | 130 | #759 | 0.08 |
| 1949 | 113 | #831 | 0.07 |
| 1948 | 131 | #738 | 0.08 |
| 1947 | 115 | #818 | 0.06 |
| 1946 | 116 | #765 | 0.07 |
| 1945 | 93 | #777 | 0.07 |
| 1944 | 103 | #756 | 0.08 |
| 1943 | 103 | #766 | 0.07 |
| 1942 | 97 | #771 | 0.07 |
| 1941 | 81 | #806 | 0.07 |
| 1940 | 108 | #666 | 0.09 |
| 1939 | 106 | #663 | 0.10 |
| 1938 | 117 | #637 | 0.11 |
| 1937 | 121 | #612 | 0.11 |
| 1936 | 115 | #618 | 0.11 |
| 1935 | 106 | #633 | 0.10 |
| 1934 | 139 | #548 | 0.13 |
| 1933 | 120 | #591 | 0.12 |
| 1932 | 141 | #550 | 0.13 |
| 1931 | 168 | #498 | 0.16 |
| 1930 | 176 | #505 | 0.16 |
| 1929 | 187 | #492 | 0.17 |
| 1928 | 182 | #514 | 0.16 |
| 1927 | 197 | #499 | 0.17 |
| 1926 | 174 | #532 | 0.15 |
| 1925 | 189 | #512 | 0.16 |
| 1924 | 187 | #525 | 0.15 |
| 1923 | 168 | #558 | 0.14 |
| 1922 | 189 | #507 | 0.16 |
| 1921 | 166 | #552 | 0.13 |
| 1920 | 152 | #582 | 0.13 |
| 1919 | 145 | #580 | 0.13 |
| 1918 | 134 | #610 | 0.12 |
| 1917 | 123 | #619 | 0.11 |
| 1916 | 99 | #690 | 0.09 |
| 1915 | 120 | #597 | 0.12 |
| 1914 | 111 | #530 | 0.15 |
| 1913 | 85 | #557 | 0.14 |
| 1912 | 63 | #629 | 0.11 |
| 1911 | 62 | #534 | 0.15 |
| 1910 | 65 | #510 | 0.16 |
| 1909 | 50 | #539 | 0.14 |
| 1908 | 40 | #601 | 0.12 |
| 1907 | 51 | #506 | 0.16 |
| 1906 | 40 | #561 | 0.14 |
| 1905 | 43 | #526 | 0.15 |
| 1904 | 43 | #505 | 0.16 |
| 1903 | 26 | #663 | 0.10 |
| 1902 | 37 | #534 | 0.14 |
| 1901 | 37 | #505 | 0.15 |
| 1900 | 40 | #537 | 0.13 |
| 1899 | 22 | #675 | 0.09 |
| 1898 | 26 | #648 | 0.10 |
| 1897 | 24 | #640 | 0.10 |
| 1896 | 33 | #525 | 0.14 |
| 1895 | 27 | #589 | 0.12 |
| 1894 | 42 | #435 | 0.19 |
| 1893 | 23 | #611 | 0.11 |
| 1892 | 24 | #575 | 0.11 |
| 1891 | 18 | #639 | 0.10 |
| 1890 | 18 | #639 | 0.09 |
| 1889 | 24 | #528 | 0.13 |
| 1888 | 24 | #522 | 0.13 |
| 1887 | 17 | #556 | 0.12 |
| 1886 | 19 | #523 | 0.13 |
| 1885 | 15 | #571 | 0.11 |
| 1884 | 9 | #781 | 0.07 |
| 1883 | 9 | #682 | 0.08 |
| 1882 | 9 | #667 | 0.08 |
| 1881 | 10 | #574 | 0.11 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Petra a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Petra has been given almost only to girls: 67 boys in 145 years of records.
Girls and boys named Petra: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Petra, and how old are they?
8,990 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 62% of the 14,626 Americans ever recorded as Petra. The median Petra alive today is 40 years old; half are between 16 and 62.
The 2020 Census counted 22,965 people named Petra (22,874 women and girls, 91 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 8,839 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.6 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 586 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,660 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,800 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,330 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,600 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 2,010 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Petra born?
The states with the most babies named Petra are Texas, California and New York, with 81% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 5,236 | #2,348 | 5.2× |
| California | 2,082 | #1,217 | 1.7× |
| New York | 627 | #1,018 | 0.6× |
| Arizona | 317 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Illinois | 272 | #1,209 | 0.4× |
| New Mexico | 270 | not ranked | 3.2× |
| Florida | 201 | #1,044 | 0.5× |
| Washington | 150 | #721 | 0.7× |
| Pennsylvania | 93 | #1,354 | 0.1× |
| Oregon | 75 | #609 | 0.6× |
Where Petra is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Petra is most over-represented in Texas: since 1910 it was given 5.2 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Petra with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 14,689 babies since 1880, Petra is the most given (100% of them). In 2025 it was given to 161 of their 161 babies (100%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Petra
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Petra and names like it
- Compare Petra and PetreaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sPetra peaked in 1927.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Petra since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Petra: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1927The year the most babies were named Petra.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Petra alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with PMost given first.