Peterson surname meaning

Peterson means “son of Peter.” It belongs to the same patronymic family as Peters, Petersen, and Petersson: a father’s or male ancestor’s given name became the household identifier and eventually a fixed surname.

Peter comes from Greek petros, “rock” or “stone,” but that word-level gloss is secondary to the surname’s structure. Peterson appears in English, Scottish, German, and Scandinavian contexts, with local spelling habits producing Petersen or Petersson. In US records, related forms may have been standardized or respelled after immigration. Type parent's name is clear, and the two-part reading is more useful than treating Peterson as a literal description of a person’s character.