Patrick

Boy · Latin

Patrick

Say it: PAT-rik

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Latin Patricius, 'patrician, nobleman'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Noble

Avoided in Ireland as too sacred for centuries, it became the most typical Irish name from the 17th century.

Its wave through time

Timeless: in steady use for over a century

In the United States

0246818801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1968per 1,000 babies of that sex
  • 681,214 babies given this name since 1880
  • At its height in 1968, about 1 in 133 boys
  • 1,849 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The Early Middle Ages400 to 800
  2. The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
  3. Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
  4. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

Early ChristianLatinIrishEnglishAmericanFrenchGermanPolish

The family of the name

FrenchPatrice
SpanishPatricio
ItalianPatrizio
PortuguesePatrício
GermanPatrick
PolishPatryk
IrishPádraig

Famous bearers

  • Saint Patrick, 5th-century missionary to Ireland

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
  • The Irish annals and early Irish literature
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.