Petrov or Petroff (Russian: Петров; pronounced [p] or [pʲɪˈtrof]; masculine) or Petrova (Russian: Петрова; pronounced [pʲɪˈtrovə]; feminine), is one of the most common surnames in Russia and Bulgaria. The surname is derived from the first name Pyotr (Пётр, Russian) or Petar (Петър, Bulgarian) (Slavic forms of the Greek name of the Christian apostle, in English Peter) and literally means Pyotr's or Petar's.

Notable people

It is the last name of, among many others, the following people:

• Alexander Petrov
  • Alexander Petrov (chess player) (1794–1867), Russian chess player, after whom the following is named:
    • Petrov's Defence, an opening
  • Aleksandr Petrov (animator) (born 1957), Russian animator
• Alexey Petrov
  • Aleksei Aleksandrovich Petrov (born 1974), Russian weightlifter
  • Aleksei Zinovyevich Petrov (1910–1972), Russian mathematician
  • Aleksey Petrov (ice hockey), Russian ice hockey player with SKA St. Petersburg
  • Aleksei Petrov (cycling), Soviet cyclist who won bronze medal at the 1960 Olympics
  • Alexey A Petrov (born 1971), American physicist
  • Alyaksey Pyatrow (born 1991), Belarusian footballer
• Andrey Petrov (1930–2006), Russian composer
• Antonina Petrova (1915–1941) partisan and Heroine of the Soviet Union
• Boris Petrov
• Borislava Petrova, Bulgarian curler
• Božo Petrov (born 1979), Croatian politician
• Daniel Petrov (born 1971), Bulgarian boxer
• Dmitry Petrov
  • Dmitry Petrov (translator) (born 1958), multilingual Russian interpreter, translator, methodologist in foreign language teaching, Polyglot TV show teacher
  • Dmitry Petrov (sprinter), a Russian sprinter
  • Dzmitry Pyatrow, a Belarusian footballer
• Dušan Petrov, Serbian political and human rights activist
• Evdokia Petrova (1915–2002), Soviet spy, wife of the Soviet diplomat who defected to Australia
• Galina Petrova (1920–1943), medic and Heroine of the Soviet Union
• Georgi Petrov, several people
  • Gjorche Petrov (1864/1865–1921), Bulgarian revolutionary
• Grigory Spiridonovich Petrov (1866–1925), Russian priest and publicist
• Igor Petrov
  • Igor Petrov (1933–2020), Soviet and Russian naval officer
  • Ihor Petrov (born 1964), Soviet and Ukrainian football player and coach
• Ivailo Petrov (1923–2005), Bulgarian writer
• Ivan Petrov
  • Ivan Petrov (baritone) (1899–1963), opera singer (baritone) of Bulgarian descent
  • Ivan Atanassov Petrov (born 1947), Bulgarian neurologist
  • Ivan Ivanovich Petrov (1920–2003), Russian bass opera singer
  • Ivan Yefimovich Petrov (1896–1958), Soviet general
• Ivanka Petrova (1951–2007), Bulgarian shot putter
• Kamelia Petrova (born 2006), Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast
• Kirill Petrov (born 1990), Russian ice hockey player
• Konstantin Petrov, Ukrainian physicist
• Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin (1878–1939), Russian/Soviet painter
• Kyrylo Petrov (born 1990), Ukrainian footballer
• Lyudmila Petrova (born 1968), Russian long-distance runner
• Maya Petrova (born 1982), Russian Olympic champion in handball
• Maria Petrova
  • Maria Petrova (rhythmic gymnast) (born 1975), Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast
  • Maria Petrova (figure skater) (born 1977), Russian figure skater
• Martin Petrov (born 1979), Bulgarian footballer
• Mikhail Petrovich Petrov
  • Mikhail Petrovich Petrov (general) (1898–1941), Soviet general
  • Mikhail Petrovich Petrov (colonel), Hero of the Soviet Union
• Nadia Petrova (born 1982), Russian professional tennis player
• Nikolay Petrov, multiple people
• Nina Petrova (1893–1945), female Red Army sniper credited with 122 kills
• Oleg Petrov
  • Oleg Petrov (born 1971), Russian hockey player
  • Oleg Petrov (footballer) (born 1968), retired Russian professional footballer
• Oleh Petrov (1960–2023), Ukrainian politician
• Olga Petrova (1884–1977), stage name of Muriel Harding, an English-born American vaudeville performer
• Osip Petrov (1806–1878), Russian opera singer
• Petar Petrov, several people
• Pyotr Nikolayevich Petrov (1827–1891), Russian historian and writer
• Pyotr Mikhailovich Petrov (1910–1941), Soviet flying ace
• Serhiy Petrov (born 1997), Ukrainian footballer
• Stanislav Petrov (1939–2017), Russian colonel who averted a potential nuclear exchange
• Stefka Petrova (born 1950), Bulgarian nutritionist
• Stiliyan Petrov (born 1979), Bulgarian footballer
• Tetiana Petrova
  • Tatiana Petrova (born 1973), Russian water polo player
  • Tatyana Petrova (born 1983), Russian runner
• Todor Petrov (born 1960), Macedonian politician
• Tonka Petrova, Bulgarian middle-distance runner
• Totka Petrova (born 1956), Bulgarian middle-distance runner
• Tudor Petrov-Popa (born 1963), Moldovan Romanian politician
• Vadim Petrov (1932–2020), Czech composer
• Vadym Petrov (born 1995), Ukrainian football player
• Valeri Petrov (1920–2014), Bulgarian poet
• Valeriy Petrov, (1955–2022) Ukrainian football coach
• Vasily Petrov, multiple people
• Vasil Petrov (born 1986), Bulgarian football manager
• Victor Petrov, Soviet spy, Ukrainian emigrant activist, writer, philosopher and historian
• Vitaliy Petrov
  • Vitaly Petrov, Russian auto racing driver
  • Vitaly Petrov, Ukrainian athletics coach
• Vladimir Petrov, multiple people
• Vyacheslav Petrov (born 1969), Russian politician
• Yevgeny Petrov, multiple people

Fictional characters

• Viktor Petrov, the fictional President of Russia in the Netflix series House of Cards.
• Katerina Petrova, (1473–2012) character from the television series The Vampire Diaries
• Nadia Petrova, (1490–2012) character from the television series The Vampire Diaries
• Guardian Alberta Petrov, character from the book series Vampire Academy
• Katya Petrova, character from the television series Melrose Place
• Petrova Fossil, character from the novel Ballet Shoes (novel) by Noel Streatfeild

See also

• Petrov (disambiguation)