Chapter LXII: Section V: Petros

Great is the controversy that hangs on the form of Πέτρος, the surname divinely bestowed upon the faithful disciple Simon Barjona, when he made his great confession of faith in the Godhead and Messiahship of his Master.

“Thou art _Petros_ (a stone), and on this _Petra_ (a rock) I will build my Church,” are the words.

The apostle was sometimes called in his own lifetime by the Hebrew or Syriac equivalent Κηφᾶς, or Cephas; but Petros, or Petrus, being both Greek and Latin words, he went down to posterity thus distinguished. Many a Pietro was called after him in Italy, to be cut down into Piero or Pier, and amplified into Pietruccio, or Petruccio and Petraccio. The devout Spaniards caught up the name, and had many a Pedro, nay, three Pedros at once were reigning at a time in three Peninsular kingdoms, and the frequency of Perez as a surname shows how full Spain is of the sons of Pedro. France had many a Pierre, Pierrot, or, in Brittany, Perronnik. Perrault, a common surname, may be a derivation from it, as is St. Pierre, one of the territorial designations. Before the Revolution, La Pierre and La France were the unvarying designations of the two lackeys that every family of any pretension always kept in those days of display.

England had Peter, which Peter-pence, perhaps, hindered from being a favourite, and borrowed from the French, Piers and Pierce. Feories is the Irish version of Pierce. Pedder or Peer are both much used in the North, and Peter in Germany; while the great Muscovite made Petr notable in his empire. The Irish, regardless of the true history of Patricius, want to make St. Patrick a namesake of St. Peter, and therefore the Paddys own not only their national apostle, but the prince of apostles, for their patrons. The feminines of Peter are Petronilla, said to have been his daughter, and whence has come Petronilla in Spanish, Petronille shortened into Nille in Norway, Pernel or Parnel, once exceeding common, though now forgotten, in England; but other female names have been made direct from that of the saint, Peronetta in Italy, Perretta in France, and even Petrina in Scotland and Sweden.

┌───────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┬─────────────────┐
│ English. │ French. │ Swedish. │ Danish. │
│Peter │Pierre │Per │Peder │
│Piers │Pierrot │ │ │
│Pierce │Perrin │ │ │
│ │Peire │ │ │
├───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┼─────────────────┤
│ Dutch. │ Italian. │ Spanish. │ Portuguese. │
│Pieter │Pietro │Pedro │Pedro │
│Piet │Piero │ │Pedrinho │
│ │Pier │ │ │
│ │Pietruccio │ │ │
├───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┼─────────────────┤
│ Russian. │ Polish. │ Illyrian. │ Lusatian. │
│Petr │Picti │Petai │Pjeti │
│Petruscha │Pies │Pero │Petsch │
│Petrinka │ │Petrica │Peto │
│ │ │Pejo │ │
├───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┼─────────────────┤
│ Bulgarian. │ Lett. │ Esthonian. │ Kelt. │
│Petur │Peteris │Pedo │Pétar } _Erse_ │
│Petko │ │Pet │Feoris } │
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │Per } _Breton_│
│ │ │ │Petrik } │
├───────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────┴─────────────────┤
│ FEMININE. │
├───────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┬─────────────────┤
│ English. │ French. │ Italian. │ Portuguese. │
│Petrina │Perette │Petronilla │Petronilha │
│Petronella │Petronelle │ ———————————— │ ———————————— │
│Pernel │Petrine │ German. │ llyrian. │
│ │ │Petronille │Petra │
│ │ │Nelle │Petrija │
│ │ │Nillel │Petrusa │
└───────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────┴─────────────────┘