Pere (name)

Pere
Pere el Catòlic as depicted by Manuel Aguirre y Monsalbe (portrait c.1850s)
GenderMasculine
LanguageCatalan
Other gender
FemininePetra (from Latin)
Origin
LanguageGreek
Word/namepetra
Meaning(as strong as a) rock, stone
Other names
Variant formsPeire, Peyre
Pet formsPeret, Perot
CognatesList; including Peter, Pedro, Pierre, Per
Related namesPerez

Pere is a Catalan given name and, separately, a Polynesian given name and surname. It is the Catalan rendering of Peter, while usage across Polynesia has both local and borrowed origins.

Origins and etymology

Catalan

The Catalan given name Pere (pronounced ['pɛɾːə]) derives directly from Saint Peter (in Catalan, Sant Pere). Like other cognate variants of Peter, this comes from Aramaic Kefa through Greek transliteration to petra – both meaning "stone, rock" – and its masculine name invention Πέτρος, Petros, given to Saint Peter as an apostle. It is an origin of the common surname Perez (son of Pere/Pero), and has led to other given names and surnames, particularly composite names which would have begun as "Pere de [name]". The Occitan, and medieval Catalan, spelling of the given name is traditionally Peire or Peyre, though it is through Occitan that Pere (without diacritics) became a surname in France (rather than as a modification of Père).

Pere is rarely found as a surname in American English contexts; when it is, it typically descends from the Catalan Pere or French Père (honorific Father) and Péré (pear tree or Peter), old Hungarian Pere (also Peter), or as an alternative spelling of English pear.

Polynesia

The name Pere in Polynesian contexts (pronounced /pe.ɾe/) can be an alternative spelling of the name Perry or a transliteration of the English name Bell, as one sense of Māori pere is ringing bells. The name is unrelated to Māori common nouns based on pere meaning arrow.

People

Given name

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B

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F

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H

J

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L

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Surname

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Sellarés, Luis Almerich (1968). Origen i definició dels cognoms catalans (in Catalan). Editorial Millà. p. 170. ISBN 978-84-7304-006-8.
  2. ↑ "Peter | Origin and meaning of the name peter by Online Etymology Dictionary".
  3. ↑ Hanks, Patrick (1991). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
  4. ↑ Candi, Francesch Carreras y (1895). Lo Cervantisme á Barcelona (in Catalan). Estampa "La catalana" de J. Puigventós. p. 55.
  5. ↑ Heráldica de apellidos (2024). "Origen del apellido Pérez". Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  6. ↑ Antroponímia: història dels nostres prenoms, cognoms i renoms Enric Moreu-Rey, http://books.google.cat/books?id=pix3t-xAiToC&pg=PA92&dq=moreu+antropon%C3%ADmia&hl=ca&ei=rM-lTsKkA9Drsgbn1dSJAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=peire&f=false
  7. ↑ Michel Grosclaude (2003), (in French), Orthez: Per Noste, page 208
  8. ↑ Hanks, Patrick (2003-05-08). Dictionary of American Family Names: 3-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-19-977169-1.
  9. ↑ "pere - entries". Te Aka Māori Dictionary. Retrieved 2026-04-02.
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