Petersen is a common Danish

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

, meaning ''"son of

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

"''. There are other spellings. Petersen may refer to:

People

In arts and entertainment

* Adolf Dahm-Petersen, Norwegian voice specialist * Anja Petersen, German operatic soprano and university lecturer *

Anker Eli Petersen Anker Eli Petersen (born 7 June 1959 in Tvøroyri) is a Faroese writer and artist. He is most known for his many Faroe Islands postage stamp designs under the name Anker Eli. Many of his stamps depict scenes from Norse mythology, Christianity, o ...

, Faroese writer and artist * Ann Petersen, Belgian actress * Chris Petersen (born 1963), American child actor * Devon Petersen (born 1986), South African darts player * Elmer Petersen, American artist *

Gustaf Munch-Petersen Gustaf Munch-Petersen (February 18, 1912 – April 2, 1938) was a Danish writer and painter. He wrote surreal prose poems, considered groundbreaking in his time, which have inspired later writers. Biography Gustaf Munch-Petersen grew up in a ri ...

, Danish writer and painter *

Joel Petersen Broken Spindles was a band solely consisting of Joel Petersen of Omaha, Nebraska, who also played bass, guitar and keyboards in the Faint. The band's music ranged from instrumental electronic songs to sparse piano pieces to rock-influenced pop ...

, bass guitarist * John Hahn-Petersen, Danish actor * Josef Petersen, Danish novelist * Patrick Petersen, American actor * Paul Petersen, American movie actor, singer, novelist, and activist * Robert E. Petersen, publisher, auto museum founder *

Robert Storm Petersen Robert Storm Petersen (19 September 1882 – 6 March 1949) was a Danish cartoonist, writer, animator, illustrator, painter and humorist. He is known almost exclusively by his pen name Storm P. Biography He was the son of a butcher ...

, Danish cartoonist, writer, animator, illustrator, painter and humorist *

Sandy Petersen Carl Sanford Joslyn "Sandy" Petersen (born September 16, 1955) is an American game designer. He worked at Chaosium, contributing to the development of ''RuneQuest'' and creating the acclaimed and influential horror role-playing game Call of Cthul ...

, American game designer * Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, German musician *

William Petersen William Louis Petersen (born February 21, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Gil Grissom in the CBS drama thriller series ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (2000–2015), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award an ...

, American actor *

Wolfgang Petersen Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. His international breakthrough was the 1981 war film (1981), which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Directo ...

(1941–2022), German film director

In government and politics

* Alicia O'Shea Petersen, Australian activist * Alfonso Petersen, Mayor of Guadalajara, Mexico * Andrew Petersen, member of the United States House of Representatives * Carl Wilhelm Petersen (1868–1933), German politician and first mayor of Hamburg * Chap (John Chapman) Petersen, American, Virginia politician * Cynthia Petersen, Canadian judge * Elsebeth Kock-Petersen, Danish politician * Ewa Hedkvist Petersen, Swedish politician * Flo Bjelke-Petersen, Australian politician and writer * George Petersen, Australian politician *

Hans Christian Petersen Hans Christian Petersen (11 August 1793 – 26 September 1862) was a Norwegian politician and served as the ''de facto'' prime minister of Norway during the personal union of Sweden-Norway from 1858 to 1861. Early life Petersen grew up in t ...

, Norwegian politician * Harald Petersen, Danish politician *

Hjalmar Petersen Hjalmar Petersen (January 2, 1890March 29, 1968) was an American journalist and politician who served as the List of Governors of Minnesota, 23rd Governor of Minnesota from 1936 to 1937, succeeding the late Floyd Olson. Background Hjalmar Peter ...

, American politician * Jan Petersen, Norwegian diplomat and politician *

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987, for almost 20 years, as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the C ...

, Australian politician * Kim E. Petersen, (born 1956) American security and counter-terrorism expert * Marita Petersen, Faroese politician * Matthew S. Petersen, U.S. Federal Election Commission member *

Niels Helveg Petersen Niels Lolk Helveg Petersen (; informally Niels Helveg; 17 January 1939 – 3 June 2017) was a Danish politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 2000, having previously held the role of Minister for Economic Affairs between 1988 ...

, Danish politician * Olga Petersen (born 1982), German politician * P. Walter Petersen, American politician *

Søren Jessen-Petersen Søren Jessen-Petersen (born 1945) is a Danish lawyer and civil servant. He was named Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Kosovo and head of UNMIK on 16 July 2004. He held the position until the end of June 2006. ...

, Danish United Nations official

In music

* Petersen Zagaze Zambian singer and songwriter.

In military

* Danny J. Petersen, American Medal of Honor recipient *

Forrest S. Petersen Forrest Silas Petersen (May 16, 1922 – December 8, 1990), ( VADM, USN), was a United States Navy aviator and test pilot. He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force ...

, United States Navy admiral and aviator * Frank E. Petersen, retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general * Sigmund R. Petersen, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps) rear admiral and fourth Director of the NOAA Corps

In religion

* Johann Wilhelm Petersen, German theologian, mystic, and Millennialist. * Johanna Eleonora Petersen, German theologian, exponent of Radical Pietism * Mark E. Petersen, member of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church) * Ole Peter Petersen, founder of Methodism in Norway

In sport

* Alviro Petersen, South African cricketer * Cal Petersen (born 1994), professional ice hockey goaltender * Chris Petersen (born 1964), American football coach * Ike Petersen, American football player * Johannes Petersen, Danish chess master * Lou Petersen, New Zealand dual-code rugby international * Matthew Petersen, Australian rugby player * Michael Petersen (baseball) (born 1994), American baseball player * Morten Petersen, Danish football player *

Nils Petersen Nils Petersen (; born 6 December 1988) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. He appeared in the 2016 Summer Olympics and remains the first and only German footbal ...

, German football player * Sara Petersen (badminton), New Zealand badminton player * Sara Petersen (hurdler), Danish 400 metres hurdler * Ted Petersen, football player * Thyge Petersen, Danish boxer

In other fields

* Anders Petersen (disambiguation) * Carl Petersen (disambiguation) * Grant Petersen, American bicycle company owner * Jack Petersen (disambiguation) * Johan Carl Christian Petersen, Danish seaman, interpreter, and Arctic explorer * Johanne Christine Petersen, Danish educator *

Julius Petersen Julius Peter Christian Petersen (16 June 1839 in Sorø, West Zealand – 5 August 1910 in Copenhagen) was a Denmark, Danish mathematician. His contributions to the field of mathematics led to the birth of graph theory. Biography Petersen's in ...

, Danish mathematician *

, Literary scholar and university professor * Rodney L. Petersen, American scholar of history, ethics, and religious conflict *

Ron Petersen Ronald H. Petersen, more commonly known as Ron Petersen, born in 1934, is a mycologist and professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloq ...

(born 1934), American mycologist with the standard author abbreviation "R.H.Petersen" * Sophie Petersen (1885–1965), Danish geographer

Other uses

* Petersen (film), a 1974 Australian drama film * Petersen Automotive Museum * Petersen Bay, Greenland *

Petersen graph In the mathematical field of graph theory, the Petersen graph is an undirected graph with 10 vertices and 15 edges. It is a small graph that serves as a useful example and counterexample for many problems in graph theory. The Petersen graph i ...

, famous for its special properties in graph theory * Petersen family, a particular family of seven graphs transformable to each other via Δ–Y or Y–Δ transforms