Explore the Family Name Petter

The meaning of Petter

1. German, Dutch, and English: variant of Peter. 2. South German: relationship name or nickname from Middle High German pfetter ‘godfather’ or ‘uncle’ (from Late Latin patrinus, a derivative of pater ‘father’).

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

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

The surname Petter is not as widely used in the United States, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2000, this surname ranked 33,020 in popularity, but by 2010 it had slipped to 38,050, marking a decrease of approximately 15.23%. The number of individuals bearing the Petter surname also saw a reduction from 654 in 2000 to 583 in 2010, a drop of nearly 10.86%. The proportion of people with this surname per 100,000 population decreased by 16.67%, moving from 0.24 in 2000 to 0.2 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#33,020	#38,050	-15.23%
Count	654	583	-10.86%
Proportion per 100k	0.24	0.2	-16.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Petter

The ethnic identity associated with the Petter surname is predominantly White, as indicated by the Decennial U.S. Census data. In both 2000 and 2010, those identifying as White made up over 88% of the bearers of this surname. There was a slight increase in this category from 88.23% in 2000 to 88.34% in 2010. Though small, the Black community experienced a rise of 24.73% with this surname, increasing from 5.5% in 2000 to 6.86% in 2010. On the other hand, those who identify as Hispanic saw a drop of about 14.66%, decreasing from 3.82% in 2000 to 3.26% in 2010. The categories of Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native showed no change or were suppressed for privacy reasons, while the "two or more races" category dropped entirely.

	2000	2010	Change
White	88.23%	88.34%	0.12%
Black	5.5%	6.86%	24.73%
Hispanic	3.82%	3.26%	-14.66%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	1.07%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%