Greek form of Peter, meaning 'rock' or 'stone'.
Petros is the original Greek form of the name that the world knows primarily through its Latin translation, *Petrus* — anglicized as Peter. The name was famously bestowed by Jesus upon Simon bar Jonah, saying in the Gospel of Matthew, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church" — the Aramaic *Kephas* and Greek *Petros* both meaning "rock" or "stone." This moment of naming made Petros one of the most consequential acts of nomenclature in Western history, as it anchored the name of the first pope, the Vatican itself (built above Peter's presumed tomb), and an entire apostolic tradition.
While Peter became the dominant form across Latin-rooted and Germanic languages, Petros survived and thrived in the Greek-speaking world. In Greece and Cyprus today, Petros is a common masculine name with exactly the same cultural weight that Peter carries in England or Pedro carries in Spain — a name of saints and grandfathers, sturdy and reliable, with an ecclesiastical backbone. Notable Greek bearers include Petros Mavromichalis, the Maniot chieftain who proclaimed the Greek War of Independence in 1821, making the name deeply woven into modern Greek national identity.
For families of Greek Orthodox heritage or those with roots in Cyprus, Greece, or the Greek diaspora in Australia, the United States, and Canada, Petros is often a deliberate ancestral choice — honoring a grandfather or great-grandfather while maintaining the original Greek form rather than translating to the English Peter. In a non-Greek context, Petros reads as distinguished and classical, offering parents a way to access the deep history of the name while retaining a Mediterranean specificity that Peter no longer carries. It is a name that sounds exactly as ancient as it is.