Explore the Family Name Petre

The meaning of Petre

1. English: variant of Peter. 2. Americanized form of German Petri. 3. Swedish (mainly Petré): shortened form of Petraeus, a Latinized patronymic from the personal name Per, Pär (see Peter). 4. Slovenian: from an old pet form of the personal name Peter. 5. Romanian: from the personal name Petre, a variant of Petru ‘Peter’. 6. French (also Pêtre): variant of Pestre, an occupational name for a baker or pastry cook, from an agent derivative of Old French pester ‘to knead’. Compare 8 below. 7. French: from Petre, a regional variant of the personal name Pierre ‘Peter’. 8. Altered form of French Pitre, a cognate of 6 above.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Petre in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Petre in the United States has slightly decreased between 2000 and 2010. The rank of this surname dropped from 17,170th in 2000 to 18,478th in 2010, a change of approximately -7.62 percent. Concurrently, the total count of individuals with this surname also reduced from 1,522 in 2000 to 1,496 in 2010, marking a slight decline of -1.71 percent. Furthermore, the proportion per 100k population bearing the surname Petre saw an almost 9% decrease in the same period.

20002010Change
Rank#17,170#18,478-7.62%
Count1,5221,496-1.71%
Proportion per 100k0.560.51-8.93%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Petre

As for ethnic identity associated with the surname Petre, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that in both 2000 and 2010, the majority of individuals with this surname identified as White, with a minor increase of 0.05 percent over the decade. There was a notable increase in the Hispanic population carrying this surname, which grew by 50.33 percent from 2000 to 2010. On the other hand, there was a complete absence of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native in 2010, while there were some reported in 2000. Those identifying as Black or belonging to two or more races experienced a slight decrease during this ten-year period.

20002010Change
White94.74%94.79%0.05%
Hispanic1.51%2.27%50.33%
Black1.12%1.07%-4.46%
Two or More Races1.05%0.87%-17.14%
Asian/Pacific Islander1.12%0%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.46%0%0%