Petra
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Ancient Greek, masculine equivalent Peter, equivalent to English Petra.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Petra (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Petra has been fairly steady 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 | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 50 |
| 1999 | 34 |
| 2000 | 31 |
| 2001 | 27 |
| 2002 | 21 |
| 2003 | 21 |
| 2004 | 25 |
| 2005 | 18 |
| 2006 | 13 |
| 2007 | 12 |
| 2008 | 8 |
| 2009 | 12 |
| 2010 | 14 |
| 2011 | 7 |
| 2012 | 8 |
| 2013 | 5 |
| 2014 | 7 |
| 2015 | 10 |
| 2016 | 4 |
| 2017 | 4 |
| 2018 | 9 |
| 2019 | 5 |
| 2020 | 10 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 7 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 10,877 |
| 2000 | 10,911 |
| 2001 | 10,932 |
| 2002 | 10,943 |
| 2003 | 10,961 |
| 2004 | 10,986 |
| 2005 | 10,976 |
| 2006 | 10,979 |
| 2007 | 10,989 |
| 2008 | 11,017 |
| 2009 | 11,037 |
| 2010 | 11,028 |
| 2011 | 11,018 |
| 2012 | 11,018 |
| 2013 | 11,008 |
| 2014 | 10,991 |
| 2015 | 10,999 |
| 2016 | 11,015 |
| 2017 | 11,024 |
| 2018 | 11,034 |
| 2019 | 11,035 |
| 2020 | 11,048 |
Petra in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Petra.Hi! My name is Petra.
- Petra ringde och sa att hon blir lite sen.Petra called and said she'll be a bit late.
- Petra har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Petra has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Petras mamma är lärare.Petra's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Petras mamma is Petra's mum.
More names
Questions about Petra
How do you pronounce Petra in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Petra from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Petra mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Ancient Greek, masculine equivalent Peter, equivalent to English Petra.
How popular is Petra in Sweden?
7 babies were named Petra in 2022. In 2020, 11,048 people in Sweden had Petra as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady 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.