Contribute your knowledge to the name Piper

Comments and insights on the name Piper: | Edit

Gender: F
Origin of Piper: English occupational name
Meaning of Piper: "pipe or flute player"

Piper's Popularity in 2009: #147

A bright, musical name that's jumped five hundred places in about five years; popular with celebrities.

Nicknames & Variations for Piper:
Pyper

Really cute and relatively original. I love this name!

This name has been steadily been rising in popularity. Whereas it wasn't even in the top 1000 on the Social Security baby name list before 1999, it is now at #172. There were a total of 1,892 Pipers born in 2008.

Happy and Bubbly - everyone loves my daughter's name.

Personal experiences with the name Piper: | Edit

In 2004 my sister named her daughter Piper Wednesday.

We named our little sweet pea after the little yellow airplane - Piper Cub. Her entire family is full of pilots and everyone loves the name.

I had never heard of the name Piper before I noticed my friend's daughter (who was 13 at the time) watching the television show "Charmed" one day in 2001. When my 4th (and last) child (a girl) was born a few months later, my husband and I still hadn't decided on a name for her because all of our children have names begining with the letter "p" and we didn't want to name her something kind of common such as Polly or Patty. I remembered my friend's daughter watching "Charmed" and I remembered the name Piper and we both loved it. Now all our children have unique names begining with the letter "p" and I love all of their names; Peyton (who is now 14, a boy), Prescott (who is now 12, also a boy), Paxton (also currently 12, twin of Prescott, a girl) and Piper (who is now currently 9). Although many have said the name Piper is common, I have never met anyone besides my daughter with the name Piper.

I was named Piper in 1970 and still have troubles with it. Even though the TV show "Charmed" brought the name Piper into pop culture, people mispronounce it constantly - usually when they hear it first, instead of reading it. I've had people think I said a name as normal as Barbara, but more often than not, its misheard as Viper, Hyper, or Striper. Also, when people go to write my name, they frequently misspell it as Pipper. Rarely do people remember my name when my face is familiar, but whenever they hear my name mentioned they think immediately of me (cuz really, how many other Pipers are there?).

My parents were savvy and skipped giving me a middle name in order to make sure I was called Piper. They named me after the the 1968 Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton movie, "The Sandpiper," and the shorebird it referenced. I hated my name and my parents for giving it to me for more years than I can rememeber, but now I'm used to it and can't imagine being called anything else. I kinda feel like I own the name, as so few other people are named Piper, and I've never changed it because of that.

For all of you considering naming your daughters Piper, just a warning: She may hate you for a LONG LONG time for bestowing such a quirky name upon her that rhymes with so many unpleasant things. (You can imagine how taunted I was for my name in elementary school, I'm sure.) Please consider that your child will be forever stuck with this name and may forever hate you for sticking it on them. I know I did!!!

I named a pair of black-headed Caiques "Piper & Jiggs," and now have a beautiful alpaca girl named "Piper's Song." As for hating your parents for giving you that name, it's all about ATTITUDE. (I was stuck with "Gwen", used my middle name during those adolescent years of angst, then went back to Gwen as an adult. I would love to have been named Piper!) As for people who misspell Piper, it's a reflection on their lack of understanding spelling rules, NOT on the name! "Pipper"? Puh-lease. Love the name.

In jan 2009 I named my daughter Piper Averie, which makes me smile because on the sibling cloud above, Avery is listed as a sibling for Piper. I get many compliments on my daughter's adorable name, and couldn't imagine another name on her.

Sometimes I wish we'd just named our daughter "Pippi", which is what I originally wanted, but we gave her the full name "Piper" thinking we'd nickname her Pippi after our favorite fictional heroine. NOW I'm glad I she has a choice, because we didn't know we'd end up with a rascally girl with a wide smile and a headful of red hair she always wants to wear in braids. Sometimes an homage can be a little too much...

we named our daughter Piper, the funny thing was the girl i shared the hospital room with named her son Hamish.. my bosses name is Hamish, her sister showed up with her daughter and her name was Piper.. I love name that are not heard very often but im hearing it more and more..

My daughter's name is Piper Elizabeth, and her twin's name is Scout Ann. I liked the two names together. The twins have an older sister, Gwen, and two younger brothers Bryce and Cooper. They also have five step siblings! Ahh!

Nicknames for Piper: | Edit

We call my 1 year old "Pipes" for short! It definitely fits her given how loudly she can yell.
^^^ I agree entirely, we call our daughter Pipes too and the name fits lol

Our three year-old Piper is also called Pi and we sometimes write it as π.

We call our 3 year old Piper "Pipes" "Pippi" and "Pepper"

We call our 4 year old - "Pippa", "Pippie", "Pipsqueek", "Sweet Pea", and "Pipercub" (our family is full of pilots and airplane enthusiasts). But Pippa is the favorite lately.

When my daughter was two and you would ask her what her name was she would say Pipey, so that one stuck for a while. She is six now and we pretty much just call her Piper or Pipe.

Meanings and history of the name Piper: | Edit

My mom wanted to name me Piper and I am so sad that she didn't. My dad didn't like it. Instead I got stuck with one of the most common names of the time Ashley. Years ago, before my husband and I were married, I mentioned that I loved that name and to my surprise he did too, which was crazy because he like name that are too common in my opinion. Before we named our daughter Piper we were so afraid that it would become very popular out of the blue like Ashley was then or Avery is now.

So everyone STOP NAMING YOUR KID PIPER. I know it is the best name ever, but I don't want my kid to be like me, and grow up where there are two other kids with the same name in her class.

Famous real-life people named Piper: | Edit

Piper Laurie, actress (born Rosetta Jacobs)
Piper Maru, daughter of actress Gillian Anderson
Piper Palin, daughter of GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin
Piper Perabo, actress (Coyote Ugly, Cheaper by the Dozen, Imagine Me & You etc...)
Piper Gilles, American ice dancer

Piper in song, story & screen: | Edit

Piper Halliwell, character in the TV series "Charmed", played by Holly Marie Combs. A little cranky, but overall kind, maternal, and very beautiful. Often mispronounced as "Pipper" on the show.
"The Piper", song by ABBA
"Piper", song by Phish
The Pied Piper of legend used his magic pipe to lure a plague of rats into a river, then, when the villagers refused to pay the agreed-upon fee for this, lured their children away into the mountains.
Piper McLean, Greek demigod from the series The Heroes of Olympus, the sequel of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series