Browse Names

Pascal m French, German, Dutch
From the Late Latin name Paschalis, which meant "relating to Easter" from Latin Pascha "Easter", which was in turn from Hebrew פֶּסַח (pesaḥ) meaning "Passover". Passover is the ancient Hebrew holiday celebrating the liberation from Egypt. Because it coincided closely with the later Christian holiday of Easter, the same Latin word was used for both. The name Pascal can also function as a surname, as in the case of Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), the French philosopher, mathematician and inventor.

Patrice 1 m French
French form of Patricius (see Patrick).

Patrick m Irish, English, French, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
From the Latin name Patricius, which meant "nobleman". This name was adopted in the 5th-century by Saint Patrick, whose birth name was Sucat. He was a Romanized Briton who was captured and enslaved in his youth by Irish raiders. After six years of servitude he escaped home, but he eventually became a bishop and went back to Ireland as a missionary. He is traditionally credited with Christianizing the island, and is regarded as Ireland's patron saint. He is called Pádraig in Irish.... [more]

Paul m English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Romanian, Biblical
From the Roman family name Paulus, which meant "small" or "humble" in Latin. Paul was an important leader of the early Christian church. According to Acts in the New Testament, he was a Jewish Roman citizen who converted to Christianity after the resurrected Jesus appeared to him. After this he travelled the eastern Mediterranean as a missionary. His original Hebrew name was Saul. Many of the epistles in the New Testament were authored by him.... [more]

Pépin m French
French form of Pepin.

Philbert m French (Rare)
Variant of Philibert.

Philémon m French
French form of Philemon.

Philibert m French, Germanic
Early variant of Filibert altered by association with Greek φίλος (philos) meaning "friend, lover". A famous bearer was Philibert de l'Orme (1510-1570), a French Renaissance architect.

Philippe m French
French form of Philip.

Pièrre m Norman
Norman form of Peter.

Pierre m French, Swedish
French form of Peter. This name has been consistently popular in France since the 13th century, but fell out of the top 100 names in 2017. It was borne by the philosopher and theologian Pierre Abélard (1079-1142), the scholar Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827), the impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), and Pierre Curie (1859-1906), a physicist who discovered radioactivity with his wife Marie.

Pierrick m Breton, French
Breton diminutive of Pierre.

Pierrot m French
Diminutive of Pierre. In traditional French and Italian theatre this is the name of a stock character.

Placide m & f French
French masculine and feminine form of Placidus (see Placido).

Polycarpe m French
French form of Polycarp.

Pons m French (Rare)
French form of Pontius.

Prosper m French, English
From the Latin name Prosperus, which meant "fortunate, successful". This was the name of a 5th-century saint, a supporter of Saint Augustine. It has never been common as an English name, though the Puritans used it, partly because it is identical to the English word prosper.

Prudence f & m English, French
Medieval English form of Prudentia, the feminine form of Prudentius. In France it is both the feminine form and a rare masculine form. In England it was used during the Middle Ages and was revived in the 17th century by the Puritans, in part from the English word prudence, ultimately of the same source.