UkrainianGreek rootApostle
Meaning: stone, rock.
Petro
Petro is a rock in Greek and a Cossack hetman in Ukrainian. It is the Ukrainian form of Peter, and it shows off one of the clearest structural differences between Ukrainian and Russian: Ukrainian says Petro where Russian says Pyotr.
| Origin | Ukrainian form of Greek Petros, the name Jesus gave Simon |
|---|---|
| Meaning | "Stone, rock", from Greek petra, itself a translation of the Aramaic nickname Kephas |
| Pronunciation | PET-ro (two syllables, stress on the first) |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100; a traditional Ukrainian name, still ordinary among adults though less given to babies now |
| Variants | Peter, Pyotr (Russian), Piotr (Polish), Pedro, Pietro |
| Nicknames | Petryk, Petrus, Petrunio |
| Patronymic | Petrovych for a son, Petrivna for a daughter — the system is set out on Andriy |
History & meaning
Simon the fisherman was given an Aramaic nickname, Kephas, meaning a rock, and the Greek gospels translated it as Petros. The apostle took the translation with him, and the name spread with the church. Ukrainian's version shows a habit worth noticing: a whole class of Ukrainian men's names ends in -o where the Russian equivalents end in a consonant — Petro against Pyotr, Pavlo against Pavel, Danylo against Daniil, Mykhailo against Mikhail. The ending is native Ukrainian morphology, not a diminutive and not a foreign borrowing, and it is one of the quickest ways to tell which language a name is being said in.
Two Petros stand out of the Cossack centuries. Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny, hetman of the Zaporozhian Host, led the Cossacks at Khotyn in 1621 against an Ottoman army, enrolled the entire Host in the Kyiv brotherhood and funded its school, and survives in the marching song Oy na hori ta y zhentsi zhnut. Petro Mohyla, metropolitan of Kyiv from 1633, founded the college that became the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the first higher school in eastern Europe teaching in the Latin curriculum, and was canonised in 1996. The university in Kyiv still carries his name.
Why parents choose it
Short, firm, front-stressed, with an apostle and two national figures behind it. It also gives a family the patronymic Petrovych, one of the most common in the country.
Middle names for Petro
A first name of two syllables ending in a vowel pairs neatly with something longer and consonant-led. Petro Bohdan and Petro Oleksandr keep it Ukrainian; Petro Nathaniel and Petro Julian suit an English surname. The middle names guide has more.
Famous Petros
Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny led the Zaporozhian Cossacks through their most successful decade. Petro Mohyla reformed Orthodox education and founded the academy that bears his name. Petro Doroshenko was hetman of Right-Bank Ukraine in the 1660s, and Petro Poroshenko served as president from 2014 to 2019.
Consider instead
Peter is the English form of the same apostle. Pavlo is the name Petro shares a feast day with. Mykola matches its age and its saint-day warmth.