PernafJudeo-Italian, Judeo-Greek Derived from Greek pernas "to pass", this name was historically given to a girl with older sisters whose parents desperately hoped for a son. They "were literally praying for the curse of daughters to pass".
PerniefAmerican (South) This appears sporadically outside the U.S. Top 1000 and was found mainly in Southern States. My speculation is that it is an offshoot of Calpurnia, but I cannot verify if this is the source of the name.
PerpetuusmLate Roman Masculine form of Perpetua. The 6th-century saint Perpetuus was a bishop of Tours in France.
PerpugilliamfPopular Culture This is the full first name of Peri Brown, a companion to the Fifth and Sixth Doctors in 'Doctor Who'. The character claims that her name means "she who lives in the hills", though the accuracy of this is unknown as she does not specify the name's language or origin.
PerriafAlbanian Mythology Perria is a fairy-like mountain figure in Albanian mythology and folklore. The origin and meaning of her name are debated; theories include a derivation from Albanian përrua "brook" and a derivation from Old Albanian përruo, ultimately derived from Bulgarian порой (poroj) “torrent”.
Perrief & mEnglish (Rare) Variant of Perry and Perri. It can also be used as a diminutive of names that begin with Per- and have the 'per' sound within the name and at the ending of the name... [more]
PersenetfAncient Egyptian From Egyptian pr-snt meaning "a sister comes forth", derived from pr "to come forth, emerge, escape" combined with snt "sister".
PerseverancefEnglish (Puritan) From the English word meaning "steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success", referring to persevering through the trials and tribulations that may come as a believer of Christ.
PerseverandafHistory (Ecclesiastical), Spanish (Rare, Archaic) From Latin persevērāns meaning "enduring, persevering". This is the name of a Spanish 8th century saint who journeyed to Poitiers (France) to found a convent, dying of exhaustation along the way while escaping from pirates.
PershingmEnglish (American) Most likely used as a first name due to John Joseph Pershing, General of the Armies for the United States at the end of World War I. His paternal ancestors were of German descent, and the original spelling was likely Pfoersching... [more]
PersiafEnglish (Rare) From the name of the Middle Eastern country Persia, now referred to as Iran. Its name is derived from Avestan Parsa, the ancient tribal name of the people ruled by Cyrus the Great.... [more]
PersidafSerbian, Croatian, Romanian, Slovene Serbian, Croatian, and Romanian form of Persis. This was the name of the wife of Alexander Karadordevic, Prince of Serbia and ancestor to the monarchs of Yugoslavia.
Persimmonm & fEnglish (Rare) From the name of the Persimmon, a brightly colored fruit. The word persimmon is derived from Powhatan, an Algonquian language of the eastern United States, meaning "a dry fruit".... [more]
PersinettefLiterature, Theatre "Persinette" is a 1698 French fairy-tale by novelist Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force adapted from earlier 'Petrosinella' by Giambattista Basil and later adapted by the Grimms brothers to become 'Rapunzel'... [more]
PersinnafHistory, Literature Possibly derived from Greek Περσίς (Persis) meaning "Persian woman" or περσέα (persea), the Greek name for a type of tree (species Mimusops kummel)... [more]
Perssonm & fGerman Likely from the common Swedish surname Persson and/or the word person (German: Person), which is used as a gender neutral title by some nonbinary people.
PertinaxmAncient Roman, History, Literature Derived from Latin pertinax "persistent, stubborn." This name was borne by a Roman Emperor from the 2nd century AD.... [more]
PertundafRoman Mythology Pertunda enabled sexual penetration. Pertunda is the female personification of the verb pertundere, "to penetrate", and seems to be a name for invoking a divine power specific to this function.
PeseshetfAncient Egyptian From Egyptian psš.t, derived from psš meaning "to divide, split, spread out" or "ritual instrument (for Opening of the Mouth ceremony)" combined with the suffix t. Peseshet was the earliest recorded female physician, titled the Lady Overseer of the Female Physicians in Fourth Dynasty ancient Egypt (ca... [more]
PeshafYiddish Related to Pesach (Passover). Alternately, a Yiddish diminutive of Batya.
PeshkopmAlbanian It means bishop in albanian, also the city of Peshkopi comes from this name, it was a monastery around it.
PesselinefMedieval Jewish, Judeo-French Diminutive of Pesse (compare Pessel) recorded in the border region between modern-day France and modern-day Germany in the 14th century.
PessimLiterature From the Finnish fairy tale Pessi and Illusia by Yrjo Kokko, published in 1944. ... [more]
PetamComanche Peta Nocona (d. 1864) was a chief of the Comanche band Noconi. He led his tribe during the extensive Indian Wars in Texas from the 1830s to 1860. He was the son of the Comanche chief Iron Jacket and father of chief Quanah Parker with Nadua... [more]
PetalafBrazilian Are constituent parts of the flower, located at its most protective whorl. They are normally membranous structures, broad, colorful and have many functions, among them the attraction of pollinators.
PetcomBulgarian (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Petko borne by Mr Petco Slabenoff, a Bulgarian passenger aboard the Titanic who died during the sinking of the ship in 1912.
PetermannmMedieval German Medieval German pet form of Peter, as the Germanic element man has been used as a suffix for pet forms of both masculine and feminine names since the 7th century AD.
PethuelmBiblical, Hebrew Apparently means "God's opening" or "persuasion of God" in Hebrew, derived from Hebrew pathah "to open, to allure, to persuade" combined with el "God". In the bible, this was the name of the father of the prophet Joel.
Petjam & fFinnish, Slovene, Bulgarian Finnish form and Bulgarian variant transcription of Petya and Slovene diminutive of Petra (used as a given name in its own right).
PetraeafGreek Mythology (Latinized) Latinized form of Greek Πετραία (Petraia) meaning "of a rock" as well as "rocky" and "living among the rocks", a derivative of πέτρα (petra)... [more]
PetrakismGreek Modern Greek diminutive of Petros, as it contains the modern Greek diminutive suffix -άκης (-akis). This name is typically only used informally, meaning: it does not appear on birth certificates.... [more]
PetraqmAlbanian Albanian form of Petrakis. Unlike the original Greek name, the Albanian form is used as an official name on birth certificates.... [more]
PetratishkovnafPopular Culture Full name of the character Tish from the early 2000s show The Weekenders. It was said to mean "girl with one nose", but the elements of the name could come from other names such as Petra (meaning of "stone") or Tish (from Letitia, meaning of "joy, happiness")... [more]
PetrėfLithuanian Feminine form of Petras. In other words, this name is the Lithuanian equivalent of Petra.
PétremandmFrench (Archaic) Gallicized form of Petermann, a German diminutive of Peter. This name was found in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region up until the late 1600s.
PetrichorfObscure From the English word petrichor that denotes the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil, which was coined by Australian mineralogist and biochemist Richard Grenfell Thomas in 1964 from Greek πέτρα (petra) meaning "rock" or πέτρος (petros) "stone" and ἰχώρ (ichor) "the juice, not blood, that flows in the veins of gods in Greek mythology".... [more]
PetrinolafGreek A rare Greek given name, found mostly on the island Naxos of Cyclades where it probably originated. It is possibly a derivative form of the Latin name Petronilla, since Naxos and most of Cyclades were occupied, as the Duchy of Naxos, by the Republic of Venice from 1207 to 1579 A.D.
PetrislavmCroatian, Serbian, History Croatian and Serbian form of Petroslav. Known bearers of this name were Serbian rulers Petrislav of Duklja and Petrislav of Rascia, who both lived in the 11th century AD.
PetromirmBulgarian This name is Christian in origin. The first element is derived from Petros (see Peter) and refers to Saint Peter, who was one of Jesus' twelve apostles and went on to become the first Pope of the Catholic Church... [more]