Peoria: Name Meaning, Origin & Popularity

At a Glance: Name: Peoria – Meaning: he comes carrying a pack on his back – Origin: Miami-Illinois (place name) – Gender: Unisex – Pronunciation: pee-OR-ee-uh


Peoria is a Miami-Illinois (place name) unisex name meaning “he comes carrying a pack on his back”. It appears in 2 of our baby name lists.

Meaning & Origin of Peoria

Meaning: He comes carrying a pack on his back.

Origin: Miami-Illinois (place name).

A common claim: Widely explained on travel and naming sites as meaning "place of the portage" or "great carrying place." Actually: The name traces to a personal/clan epithet meaning roughly "(he) comes carrying a pack on his back," not literally a description of a portage site — though the underlying 'carrying' imagery is genuine.

Source: Wiktionary.

How to Pronounce Peoria

Phonetic: pee-OR-ee-uh   IPA: /piˈɔːriə/

Popularity of Peoria

Peoria doesn’t appear in U.S. Social Security birth records, which include every name given to at least five babies in a year — so it’s rare in the U.S.

Lists That Include Peoria

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