Peterson

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Peterson is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish surname156K records spelled Peterson5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala

  Also written Pętęrson, Petersón, Peterşön, Péterson

• a separate surname118K records spelled Peterson5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Peters-On, Peṭerson, Péterson, Petėrson

• Russian surname19K records spelled Peterson33 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Russia, Poland, Czechia

  Languages: Russian, Polish, Slovak

  Also written Петерсон, Питерсон, Петерсоне, Pettersson, Пітерсон

72 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Peterson is also recorded in 3 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, A patrilineal surname transferred from the given name.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, ‘Son of Peter’.

  as a name·Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history]

• In German, Patronym zu Peter ‘Sohn des Peter’; Typ mit -son. Bearer count: 588.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 3: Morphologie der Familiennamen

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 66 years between 1950–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Dorothy Petersonb. 1897USactress (1897-1979)
• Oscar Petersonb. 1925CACanadian jazz pianist (1925–2007)
• Peter George Petersonb. 1926USAmerican businessman, investment banker, philanthropist, and author (1926-2018)
• Ronnie Petersonb. 1944SESwedish racing driver (1944-1978)
• Collin Petersonb. 1944USAmerican politician
• Cassandra Petersonb. 1951USAmerican actress
• Bob Petersonb. 1961USAmerican actor, writer, and director
• Jordan Petersonb. 1962CACanadian clinical psychologist, author, and political commentator and manosphere activist (1962-)
• Frank Petersonb. 1963DEGerman music producer
• Amanda Petersonb. 1971USAmerican actress (1971-2015)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 248 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Peterson?

We estimate roughly 282 thousand people bear Peterson (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does Peterson have the most bearers?

We estimate about 278 thousand people bear Peterson in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled peterson.

How common is Peterson compared with other names?

In the United States, Peterson is the 56th most common surname of 7,257,200 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Peterson mean?

Recorded meaning: son of Peter; first attested John Peterson 1375 LoPleas