Petronilla as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Petronilla

What is the meaning of the name Petronilla ?

The baby name Petronilla is a Female name , 4 syllables long and is pronounced /ˌpɛtrəˈnɪlə/ (peh-truh-NIL-uh).

Petronilla is Latin in Origin.

Petronilla is the Latin feminine diminutive of Petronia, itself the feminine of the Roman family name Petronius. It appears early in Christian Rome; a martyr-saint Petronilla, long styled the daughter or disciple of St. Peter, spread the name’s prestige to Frankish Gaul and beyond. Medieval Europe embraced it at courtly levels - note Queen Petronila of Aragon (1136–1173) and Petronilla of Aquitaine - and in Anglo-Norman Ireland (Petronilla de Meath). Usage waned after the Renaissance but persisted regionally in Italy, Spain, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia.

Forms and cognates include Italian Petronilla, Spanish/Aragonese Petronila, French Pétronille and Péronnelle, Dutch/Scandinavian Petronella, Danish/Norwegian Pernille, German Petronilla, Romanian/Slovak Petronela, and Polish Petronela; short forms range from Nel, Nella, Nelleke and Nelly to Pernille, Pernel/Parnell, and even Petra in Dutch usage. Etymologically it means “little Petronia” (no clear lexical meaning), though popular piety linked it with Petrus/Peter, yielding the folk sense “little rock.”