Petra
Petra is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 147 births. Its best rank was 435th, in 1894.
- Rank in 2024
- —outside the top 1,000
- Births in 2024
- 1470.01% of girls
- Peak year
- 1927197 births
- Best rank
- #435in 1894
- Since 1881
- 14,398people given the name
The story in the numbers
14,398 girls have been named Petra in the United States since 1881, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1927, with 197 births.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1961, and the 1920s alone account for 12%. It has spent 86 of 145 years in the top 1,000.
Rank among girls, year by year
By decade
| Decade | girls named Petra | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 136 | |
| 1890s | 257 | |
| 1900s | 407 | |
| 1910s | 1,007 | |
| 1920s | 1,791 | |
| 1930s | 1,309 | |
| 1940s | 1,060 | |
| 1950s | 1,059 | |
| 1960s | 1,260 | |
| 1970s | 1,165 | |
| 1980s | 883 | |
| 1990s | 823 | |
| 2000s | 1,046 | |
| 2010s | 1,433 | |
| 2020s | 762 |
In 1927, its biggest year
Petra was the 499th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1927 were Mary, Dorothy, Betty, Helen and Margaret. See all of 1927.
Names that rose and fell with Petra
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Matildepeak 1927
- Zenobiapeak 1923
- Esterpeak 1925
- Rafaelapeak 2011
- Manuelapeak 1924
- Millicentpeak 1927
- Adelapeak 2015
- Franciscapeak 1928
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.