Pieter

Pieter is a male given name, the Dutch form of Peter. The name has been one of the most common names in the Netherlands for centuries, but since the mid-twentieth century its popularity has dropped steadily, from almost 3000 per year in 1947 to about 100 a year in 2016.

Some of the better known people with this name are below. See for a longer list.


 * Pieter de Coninck (?-1332), Flemish revolutionary
 * Pieter van der Moere (c. 1480–1572), Flemish Franciscan missionary in Mexico known as "Pedro de Gante"
 * Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502–1550), Flemish artist, architect, and author
 * Pieter Aertsen (1508–1575), Dutch Mannerist painter
 * Pieter Pourbus (1523–1584), Netherlandish painter, sculptor, draftsman and cartographer
 * Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c 1525–1569), Netherlandish painter
 * Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser (1540–1596), Dutch navigator who mapped the southern sky
 * Pieter Platevoet (1552–1622), Dutch-Flemish astronomer and cartographer better known as "Petrus Plancius"
 * Pieter Pauw (1564–1617), Dutch botanist
 * Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564–1633), Netherlandish painter
 * Pieter Both (1568–1615), first Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
 * Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft (1581–1647), Dutch historian, poet and playwright
 * Pieter Lastman (1583–1633), Dutch painter of historical and biblical scenes
 * Pieter de Carpentier (1586–1659), Dutch Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies 1623–27
 * Pieter Nuyts (1598–1655), Dutch explorer, diplomat, and politician
 * Pieter Claesz (1597–1660), Dutch still life painter
 * Pieter Jansz Saenredam (1597–1665), Dutch painter of interiors
 * Pieter van Laer (1599–1642), Dutch painter and printmaker
 * Pieter de Grebber (c.1600–1653), Dutch Golden Age painter
 * Pieter Post (1608–1669), Dutch architect
 * Pieter Stuyvesant (later Peter) (c.1611–1672), Dutch Director-General of New Netherland 1647–64
 * Pieter van der Faes (1618–1680), Dutch portrait painter in England known as "Peter Lely"
 * Pieter Boel (1626–1674), Flemish still life and animal painter
 * Pieter de Hooch (1629–1684), Dutch genre painter
 * Pieter Leermans (1635-1706), Dutch painter
 * Pieter van der Aa (1659–1733), Dutch publisher of maps and atlases
 * Pieter Burmann the Elder (1668–1741), Dutch classical scholar
 * Pieter van Musschenbroek (1692–1761), Dutch scientist and inventor
 * Pieter Teyler van der Hulst (1702–1778), Dutch merchant and banker (of Teyler's Museum)
 * Pieter Burmann the Younger (1714–1778), Dutch philologist
 * Pieter Hellendaal (1721–1799), Dutch composer, organist and violinist
 * Pieter van Maldere (1729–1768), South-Netherlandish violinist and composer
 * Pieter Boddaert (1730–1795), Dutch physician and naturalist
 * Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten (1755–1801), Governor-general of the Dutch East Indies 1796–1801
 * Pieter Maurits Retief (1780–1838), South African Voortrekker leader
 * Pieter Harting (1812–1885), Dutch biologist and naturalist
 * Pieter de Decker (1812–1891), Prime Minister of Belgium 1855–57
 * Pieter Bleeker (1819–1878), Dutch medical doctor, ichthyologist, and herpetologist
 * Pieter Oyens (1842–1894), Dutch painter
 * Pieter Cort van der Linden (1846–1935), Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1913–18
 * Pieter Jelles Troelstra (1860–1930), Dutch socialist politician and republican
 * Pieter Zeeman (1865–1943), Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate
 * Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (1872–1944), Dutch abstract painter
 * Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (1885–1961), Prime Minister of the Netherlands in exile, 1940–45
 * Pieter Geyl (1887–1966), Dutch historian
 * Pieter Willem Botha (1916–2006), President of South Africa 1978–89
 * Pieter Kooijmans (1933–2013), Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs (1973–77, 1993–94)
 * Pieter van Vollenhoven (born 1939), the husband of princess Margriet of The Netherlands
 * Pieter Aspe (1953–2021), Belgian crime fiction writer
 * Pieter Hoekstra (born 1953), Dutch-American politician and diplomat
 * Pieter De Crem (born 1962), Belgian Minister of Defence 2007–14
 * Pieter Wispelwey (born 1962), Dutch cellist
 * Pieter Smit (1963–2018), Dutch politician
 * Pieter Timmermans, Belgian businessman
 * Pieter Huistra (born 1967), Dutch footballer and football coach
 * Pieter van den Hoogenband (born 1978), Dutch freestyle swimmer
 * Pieter Weening (born 1981), Dutch road bicycle racer
 * Pieter Timmers (born 1988), Belgian freestyle swimmer