Head to head · Boys' names
Brody vs Patrick
#236 vs #235 in 2025
Patrick is a whisker ahead (#235 vs #236 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Patrick is holding its place on the charts, Brody is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Patrick leads 5 measures of 6; Brody leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Brody —, Patrick #75 — Patrick higher
- 1890s: Brody —, Patrick #84 — Patrick higher
- 1900s: Brody —, Patrick #105 — Patrick higher
- 1910s: Brody —, Patrick #150 — Patrick higher
- 1920s: Brody —, Patrick #143 — Patrick higher
- 1930s: Brody —, Patrick #104 — Patrick higher
- 1940s: Brody —, Patrick #60 — Patrick higher
- 1950s: Brody #3360, Patrick #40 — Patrick higher
- 1960s: Brody #3529, Patrick #34 — Patrick higher
- 1970s: Brody #1190, Patrick #38 — Patrick higher
- 1980s: Brody #863, Patrick #38 — Patrick higher
- 1990s: Brody #484, Patrick #45 — Patrick higher
- 2000s: Brody #198, Patrick #100 — Patrick higher
- 2010s: Brody #117, Patrick #162 — Brody higher
- 2020s: Brody #206, Patrick #219 — Brody higher
Patrick stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Brody has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Brody | Patrick |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #75 |
| 1890s | — | #84 |
| 1900s | — | #105 |
| 1910s | — | #150 |
| 1920s | — | #143 |
| 1930s | — | #104 |
| 1940s | — | #60 |
| 1950s | #3360 | #40 |
| 1960s | #3529 | #34 |
| 1970s | #1190 | #38 |
| 1980s | #863 | #38 |
| 1990s | #484 | #45 |
| 2000s | #198 | #100 |
| 2010s | #117 | #162 |
| 2020s | #206 | #219 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Brody
- England & Wales#99
Patrick
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Brody
From the Scottish place and surname Brodie; the place name itself is disputed
Two readings compete. One takes it from Gaelic roots meaning something like muddy place or ditch — unglamorous, but that is how a great many place names work. The other treats it as Pictish, from the older layer of language in northeast Scotland that we can only partly read. Neither has won, and the name is older than the argument.
Brodie (estate in Moray, Scotland) → Brodie (Scottish surname) → Brodie (given name) → Brody
How it traveled
The starting point is the estate of Brodie in Moray, in the northeast of Scotland, held by the family of the same name since the medieval period; Brodie Castle was built there in the sixteenth century. As with Ramsay, Lindsay and dozens of others, the land named the family, and the family name outlasted the connection to the land.
Patrick
nobleman
The Latin patricius named a member of the senatorial class, and the man who carried it into Ireland used it of himself as a claim about his family in Roman Britain.
patricius → Patrick
How it traveled
Gilla Patraic and Maol Patraic — servant and devotee of Patrick — are all over the medieval Irish records, and the surnames Kilpatrick and Mulpatrick come from them. The plain name is almost absent.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Brody
BROH-dee
Stress on the first syllable, long o. No regional variation to speak of in English.
- Brode — Informal clipping, mostly among friends and teammates rather than family.
- B — Initial-only, common in casual American usage for short names that resist further shortening.
Patrick
PAT-rik
Two syllables with the weight at the front. Irish says PAW-drig for the Gaelic form, which is a different set of sounds entirely.
- Pat — The standard short form; used for women and men both.
- Paddy — The Irish familiar form; also an ethnic slur in Britain, which cuts both ways.
- Rick — Cut from the back; a standing name of its own.
- Packy — An Irish familiar form from the Gaelic, used in Connacht.
Who has carried each name
Brody
No documented entry for Brody yet.
Patrick
Patrick Mahomes (b. 1995) — Three-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback
Patrick Stewart (b. 1940) — Captain Picard and Professor X
Patrick Swayze (b. 1952) — Dirty Dancing and Ghost star
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Brody if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsBrody is stepping back from its peak
- a name that charts abroad tooBrody is on the national lists of England & Wales
- a newer arrivalBrody entered the US charts in 1954
- a name that feels very nowBrody is stepping back from its peak
Choose Patrick if you want…
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Pat, Paddy and Rick
- a long American recordPatrick was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 71% for Brody
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Brody
Strengths
- Two syllables, entirely phonetic — a stranger reading it aloud will get it right the first time.
- Charts in England and Wales as well as the United States, so it crosses the Atlantic without translation.
- Short enough not to need a nickname, which spares the child the negotiation many longer names require.
To consider
- Brody and Brodie are both in genuine use, so expect a lifetime of spelling it out. Neither version is wrong, which is precisely what makes the confusion permanent.
- It sits in a crowded sound-family — Cody, Brady, Grady, Bradley — and gets misheard among them, especially over the phone.
- Its rise and gentle step back mean it reads as a name of a particular recent generation rather than a classic. That fades: a name shared with people now in their teens will simply be a name shared with adults soon enough.
Patrick
Strengths
- Everyone can spell it and say it on first hearing, anywhere English is spoken.
- It has a form in Irish, French, Spanish, Italian and Polish.
- The historical figure behind it left first-hand writing, which almost no early saint did.
To consider
- It is strongly and unavoidably read as Irish, which is either the point or the problem.
- The short form Paddy carries a history of insult in Britain.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of girls, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Brody
71%chance Brody feels dated by 2040
Brody is coming down from a big peak (#70 in 2008). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Patrick
12%chance Patrick feels dated by 2040
Patrick has held the top-100 across 9 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Brody and Patrick in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Brody and Patrick?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Y2K names: the class of the 2000s
- Names ending in -y
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- Baby Boomer names (born 1946–1964)
- all guides
Where Brody and Patrick each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Brody or Patrick — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Brody or Patrick?
- Patrick, in 2025: Patrick ranked #235 with 1,495 babies; Brody ranked #236 with 1,492 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Brody or Patrick?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Brody moved down 58 places; Patrick moved down 30 places.
- Which is the older name, Brody or Patrick?
- Brody entered the US charts in 1954; Patrick was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Patrick is the older name.
- How many people are named Brody and Patrick?
- About 80,500 people named Brody are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 558,000 people named Patrick are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Brodys or Patricks in the classroom?
- Brody will almost certainly be the only one in school. Patrick will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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