Patrick
Meaning
"nobleman," from patricius, the Roman patrician class; the missionary saint made it Ireland's defining name, so thoroughly that Paddy became shorthand for Irishness itself. A green-blooded classic that wears equally well in Boston and Dublin
Goes by Paddy, Pat
Famously borne by Patrick Collison, co-founder of Stripe.
The story
Patrick descends from the Latin Patricius, a nobleman, a patrician, and it became Irish property through the fifth-century missionary saint who, in the old accounts, drove the snakes from Ireland. For centuries Irish families were said to hold the name in such reverence that they hesitated to use it; when that reserve broke, Patrick became the signature Irish name worldwide. Its American record reads like the story of Irish America itself: modest in the 1890s, strengthening as immigrant families rooted and rose, then holding a firm, familiar place across the broad middle of the twentieth century and beyond. In recent years it has eased. A saint's name, a patriot's name, and the occasion for one of America's biggest annual parties every March, Patrick manages to be deeply specific and completely at home anywhere, which is the whole Irish-American story in miniature.
Patrick around the world
One shared root links 6 names across 4 languages.
Shared root: from Latin patricius "nobleman, patrician"
The constellation
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Patrick peaked in the 1960s and the 2000s in nearly equal measure.
Popularity in Brazil
60,513 people · the #503 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 3,356 · median age 25
Among people named Patrick living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 1,092 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Patrick
People given the name Patrick in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1960 to 1999. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Patrick deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Patrick truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Patrick fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Patrick travels
Irish American · A documented choice in Irish American families.
Keep exploring
Names like Patrick · Nicknames for Patrick · Middle names for Patrick · Irish American baby names · Saint names for babies and confirmation · Names of founders and builders
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