Pietro
Masculine · “rock”
Pietro is Peter in Italian, and Peter is a nickname — the one Jesus gave Simon, meaning a rock. It was not a name before that; it was a description, and it became a name because of one man.
How old is the name Pietro?
Pietro first appears in US birth records in 1909 — 116 years ago. The typical Pietro alive today was born around 1988, making them about 37 years old. About 1,900 people named Pietro are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pietro most popular?
Pietro peaked in 1974, reaching #1135 nationally. Today it ranks #3036, 1,901 places below that high. See the whole 1974 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From kepha to Pietro
The story of Pietro
Simon the fisherman is renamed in all four gospels, and the wordplay in Matthew — you are Peter and on this rock I will build — has carried an enormous amount of theological weight ever since. The name spread into every Christian language: Pierre, Pedro, Piotr, Pyotr, Peder, Petros. Italian made Pietro, and it has been among the most-given Italian men's names for a thousand years. It reaches United States records with Italian families and has stayed close to them.
Meaning
rock, stone
Greek petros means a stone or a rock, and it translates the Aramaic kepha, which is what Simon was actually called — the gospels preserve both, and Cephas appears in Paul's letters. Petros was not used as a personal name in Greek before this; it was coined as a byname and became one of the most-given names in the world. The reading is documented and undisputed.
How the name formed
- kepha
- Petros
- Petrus
- Pietro
Related forms: Peter · Pedro · Pierre · Pyotr · Piotr
Pronouncing Pietro
PYEH-troh
Two syllables in Italian, the first a single glide — pyeh rather than pee-eh. English speakers usually make three, pee-EH-troh, which is understood everywhere but is not the Italian rhythm.
Nicknames for Pietro
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1909
- Most boys named
- 197547 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1135reached in 1974
- Change vs 2023
- −2.4%40 in 2025, from 41
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Pietro in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Peter in English — same name
- Pedro in Spanish — same name
- Pierre in French — same name
- Pyotr in Russian — same name
- Piotr in Polish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Massachusetts, New York.
Pietros among us
people named Pietro are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 42,702 born in 2025 was named Pietro
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Phyllis test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Pietro's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Phyllis climbed just as high around 1940, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Phyllis's path sketches the road Pietro is walking now.
Pietro sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Pietro is headed
Pietro should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Pietro beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Pietro in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One of the most widely used names in the world, recognized in every Christian language.
- Pete is a ready English short form and Piero a formal Italian alternative.
- A documented origin with an unusually clear account of how the name came to exist.
- English speakers add a syllable at the front, which changes the Italian rhythm.
- Peter is the English form and this name will be translated to it constantly.
- Pietro, Piero and Pierro all circulate and get confused.
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What they receive
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Pietro
Masculine · #3036 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Pietros are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Pietro are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pietro in 2025?
- Pietro ranks #3036 among US boy names in 2025, with 40 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Pietro?
- About 1 in every 42,702 US boys born in 2025 was named Pietro — 40 in all.
- Will my child share the name Pietro with classmates?
- Pietro will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Pietro
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Loren#3036 · Williams#3036 · Collier#3036 · Amadou#3036 · Kavion#3036 · Sheppard#3036 · Koi#3036 · Claude#3036
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Pietro? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Pietro and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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