Patrick
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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. See all nicknames
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 across languages
One shared root links 6 names across 4 languages.
Shared root: from Latin patricius "nobleman, patrician"
The constellation
More branches
How popular is Patrick around the world?
In the United States, 10,101 babies were named Patrick between 2020 and 2025. In Ireland, 183 boys named Patrick were born in 2025, the 25th most common name among boys that year.
Patrick is on the official records of the United States, Ireland, South Australia, Scotland, New South Wales, England and Wales, New Zealand, Norway, Canada, Austria, Brazil, Montevideo, Chile, Mexico City, Spain, France and Argentina.
Patrick crosses languages: it is in the latest top 300 of an English-speaking birth record and of a Spanish-speaking one. The full list: English and Spanish
United States
1 in 2,200
In the United States, 10,101 babies were named Patrick between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Patrick peaked in the 1960s and the 2000s in nearly equal measure. Patrick went to 2,535 US babies in 2015 and 1,495 in 2025, 59% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Ireland
1 in 300
In Ireland, 183 boys named Patrick were born in 2025, the 25th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
South Australia
1 in 3702017
In South Australia, 50 boys were registered as Patrick in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Scotland
1 in 1,200
In Scotland, 39 boys named Patrick were registered in 2024, the 125th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
New South Wales
#83 · 2025
In New South Wales, 100 boys named Patrick were registered in 2025, ranked 83rd in that year’s top 100 for boys.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
England and Wales
1 in 1,600
In England and Wales, 375 boys named Patrick were born in 2025, the 134th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
New Zealand
1 in 1,700
In New Zealand, 33 boys named Patrick were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Norway
1 in 2,600register 2026
In Norway, 11 boys were given the name Patrick in 2025.
share of the boys on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
Canada
1 in 2,800
In Canada, 132 boys named Patrick were born in 2024, the 246th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Austria
1 in 3,300
In Austria, 23 boys named Patrick were born in 2025, the 250th most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Brazil
1 in 3,400
At the 2022 census, 60,513 people in Brazil were named Patrick, the 503rd most common name, with a median age of 25.
Among people named Patrick living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 1,092 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Montevideo City
1 in 8,2002011
In Montevideo, 3 boys named Patrick were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Chile
1 in 11,000
In Chile, 16 boys were registered as Patrick in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Mexico City City
1 in 12,000
In Mexico City, there were 10 registrations of Patrick in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Spain
1 in 22,000
In Spain, 2,062 residents are named Patrick, the 793rd most common name among men, with a mean age of 35.5 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
France
1 in 32,000
In France, about 20 boys named Patrick were born in 2025, ranked 1,559th among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Argentina
1 in 60,000
In Argentina, 11 newborns were given the name Patrick in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Poland
last on record 2024
Patrick is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Puerto Rico
last on record 2013
Patrick is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 97 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
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.
Where Patrick travels
Irish American · A documented choice in Irish American families.
Keep exploring
Names like Patrick · Names that go with Patrick · Nicknames for Patrick · Middle names for Patrick · Irish American baby names · Saint names for babies and confirmation · Names of founders and builders · Climbers and fallers
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.
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