Meaning: The name should perhaps be analysed as the transliteration of the Arabic Bayt al-Laḥm (بيتاللحم), 'house of meat', which is the Arabic version of the toponym Bethlehem (pers. comm. R. Seignobos).
The element 'peti' occurs in other names (Peti, Petikesari, Espeti, Ishapeti). It may be of Nubian origin, deriving from ⲡⲉⲧ(ⲧ)ⲓ-, 'date, date palm'.