(male) English form of the name of the best-known of all Christ's apostles, traditionally regarded as the founder of the Christian Church. The name derives, via Latin, from Greek petros ‘stone, rock’. This is used as a translation of the Aramaic byname Cephas, given to the apostle Simon son of Jona, to distinguish him from another of the same name (Simon Zelotes). ‘When Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone’ (John 1:42). According to Matthew 16:17–18, Christ says more explicitly, ‘Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona … thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church’. The name has been in continuous use since the Middle Ages.
Short form: Pete.
Cognates: Gaelic: Peadar. Welsh: Pedr. German: Peter. Dutch: Piet, Pieter. Scandinavian: Peter (learned form); Per (vernacular form). Swedish: Petter; Pär (vernacular forms). French: Pierre. Spanish, Portuguese: Pedro. Catalan: Pere. Italian: Pietro, Piero. Russian: Pyotr. Polish: Piotr. Czech: Petr. Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian: Petar. Slovenian: Peter. Finnish: Pekka; Pietari (learned form). Hungarian: Péter. Latvian: Pēteris. Lithuanian: Petras.
Chinese 张: variant of Zhang 1.
Chinese 常: The emperor Huang Di (2697–2595 BC) had two advisers whose names contained this character; descendants of both of them are believed to have adopted Chang as their surname. Additionally, in the state of Wei during the Zhou dynasty (1122–221 BC) there existed a fief named Chang, the name of which was adopted by descendants of its ruling class. The Chinese character also has the meanings ‘often’ and ‘ordinary’.
Chinese 章: variant of Zhang 2.
Chinese 昌: a rare name whose Chinese character also means ‘prosperous, flourishing’. This name is said to have originated 4500 years ago with Chang Yi, son of the legendary emperor Huang Di and father of emperor Zhuan Xu.
Korean: there are 33 Chang clans in Korea, all but three of which use the same Chinese character for their surname. All of the Korean Chang clans had their origins in China, and, apart from the Tŏksu Chang clan and the Chŏlgang Chang clan, they all originated from a single founding ancestor, Chang Chŏn-p'il. He was born in China in 888 AD and fled to Korea with his father during a tumultuous period of Chinese history. The Tŏksu Chang clan's founding ancestor, Chang Sul-long, stayed in Korea, having escorted Koryŏ King Ch'ungyŏl's queen-to-be from China to Korea in 1275. Most of the founding ancestors of the other Chang clans arrived in Korea from Yŭan China during the Koryŏ period (AD 918– 1392) or during the early Chosŏn period.
