Petra
From Greek, and it means exactly what it looks like: "rock, stone". Only about 320 women in Poland carry it, so most people here will go a lifetime without meeting a Petra.
Petra Pronunciation
Petra is pronounced PET-rah (/ˈpɛtra/).
What Petra means
Where Petra comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Petra comes from the Greek word petra, meaning rock or stone. It is the feminine counterpart to Petros, the same root that gave Latin its Petrus and, further down, the boy's name Peter. Where those masculine forms scattered across Europe, Petra kept its plain sense: skała.
The name found its strongest home in German-speaking countries. In West Germany through the 1950s and 1960s, Petra ranked among the most popular names given to newborn girls. A whole generation of women grew up answering to a Greek word for stone.
There is an older Petra too. The ancient city in what is now Jordan took its name from the same root, its facades cut straight into rose-coloured rock. Anyone named Petra shares the word with that place.
Petra is short. It ends where it begins, on a hard consonant, and asks for no diminutive to soften it. The meaning stays near the surface: rock, stone, skała.
How many people are named Petra
1 in 70230 women in Poland is named Petra. 321 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1685 among female names.
Petra's popularity over time
2 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #1784 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2021. Still the #1685 name among living women, even as it slips to #1784 among newborns.
Where Petra is most popular
Petra is most popular in Pomeranian, 389% above the national average (3 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+171%) and Lesser Poland (+112%).
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Pomeranian3 girls born+389%
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Masovian4 girls born+171%
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Lesser Poland2 girls born+112%
Petra as a middle name
Petra is a first name for 321 women in Poland and a middle name for another 118, a 73/27 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 606th, between Gabrielle (118) and Camille (117).
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#604 Felicyta118
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#605 Gabrielle118
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#606 Petra118
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#607 Camille117
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#608 Kordula117