Peter
Meaning and origin
From Old Norse Pétr, from Latin Petrus, from Ancient Greek Πέτρος (Pétros), from πέτρος (pétros, “stone, rock”), related to πέτρα (pétra). Later reinforced by the German Peter.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Peter (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Peter has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1998. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 54 |
| 1999 | 52 |
| 2000 | 42 |
| 2001 | 40 |
| 2002 | 41 |
| 2003 | 34 |
| 2004 | 21 |
| 2005 | 24 |
| 2006 | 23 |
| 2007 | 33 |
| 2008 | 21 |
| 2009 | 20 |
| 2010 | 19 |
| 2011 | 14 |
| 2012 | 14 |
| 2013 | 14 |
| 2014 | 18 |
| 2015 | 13 |
| 2016 | 17 |
| 2017 | 24 |
| 2018 | 6 |
| 2019 | 12 |
| 2020 | 13 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2022 | 9 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 60,619 |
| 2000 | 61,002 |
| 2001 | 61,450 |
| 2002 | 61,847 |
| 2003 | 62,485 |
| 2004 | 62,836 |
| 2005 | 62,709 |
| 2006 | 62,846 |
| 2007 | 62,878 |
| 2008 | 63,161 |
| 2009 | 63,115 |
| 2010 | 62,987 |
| 2011 | 62,859 |
| 2012 | 62,761 |
| 2013 | 62,718 |
| 2014 | 62,596 |
| 2015 | 62,449 |
| 2016 | 62,279 |
| 2017 | 62,157 |
| 2018 | 61,970 |
| 2019 | 61,773 |
| 2020 | 61,624 |
Peter in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Peter.Hi! My name is Peter.
- Peter bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Peter lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Peter har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Peter has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Peters mamma är lärare.Peter's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Peters mamma is Peter's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Peter
How do you pronounce Peter in Swedish?
In IPA, Peter is /ˈpeːtɛr/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Peter mean?
From Old Norse Pétr, from Latin Petrus, from Ancient Greek Πέτρος (Pétros), from πέτρος (pétros, “stone, rock”), related to πέτρα (pétra). Later reinforced by the German Peter.
How popular is Peter in Sweden?
9 babies were named Peter in 2022. In 2020, 61,624 people in Sweden had Peter as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 1998 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.