Head to head · Boys' names
Patrick vs Richard
#235 vs #234 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Richard is a whisker ahead (#234 vs #235 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Richard leads 4 measures of 6; Patrick 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: Patrick #75, Richard #24 — Richard higher
- 1890s: Patrick #84, Richard #27 — Richard higher
- 1900s: Patrick #105, Richard #24 — Richard higher
- 1910s: Patrick #150, Richard #16 — Richard higher
- 1920s: Patrick #143, Richard #8 — Richard higher
- 1930s: Patrick #104, Richard #5 — Richard higher
- 1940s: Patrick #60, Richard #5 — Richard higher
- 1950s: Patrick #40, Richard #7 — Richard higher
- 1960s: Patrick #34, Richard #8 — Richard higher
- 1970s: Patrick #38, Richard #17 — Richard higher
- 1980s: Patrick #38, Richard #29 — Richard higher
- 1990s: Patrick #45, Richard #45
- 2000s: Patrick #100, Richard #91 — Richard higher
- 2010s: Patrick #162, Richard #153 — Richard higher
- 2020s: Patrick #219, Richard #222 — Patrick higher
Richard stood higher in 13 of 14 decades; Patrick took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Patrick | Richard |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #75 | #24 |
| 1890s | #84 | #27 |
| 1900s | #105 | #24 |
| 1910s | #150 | #16 |
| 1920s | #143 | #8 |
| 1930s | #104 | #5 |
| 1940s | #60 | #5 |
| 1950s | #40 | #7 |
| 1960s | #34 | #8 |
| 1970s | #38 | #17 |
| 1980s | #38 | #29 |
| 1990s | #45 | #45 |
| 2000s | #100 | #91 |
| 2010s | #162 | #153 |
| 2020s | #219 | #222 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
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.
Richard
strong ruler
Germanic ric means rule or power — the same element that ends Frederick and Roderick and stands behind the German Reich — and hard means hardy, firm or brave. Compound names were assembled from prestigious elements rather than for a combined sense, but this pair happens to combine well, which is part of why it lasted. The derivation is not disputed anywhere. The English word rich comes from the same ric, by way of the idea that power and wealth are the same thing.
Ricohard → Richart → Richard
How it traveled
Three kings of England were called Richard and no two of them are remembered alike: the first spent almost his whole reign abroad on crusade and became a legend anyway, the second was deposed, and the third has been argued about for five centuries and was found under a car park. The name survived all of it.
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
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.
Richard
RICH-urd
RICH-urd, two syllables, stress at the front, the second vowel reduced. French says ree-SHAR with the weight at the back and no final d. Spanish and Italian move the stress to the middle. The English reading has been stable for centuries.
- Rick — The front clipped, and the short form most Richards use now; a complete working name on its own.
- Rich — The other front clipping, which lands on an English word and is used by people who prefer it to Rick.
- Dick — The medieval rhyming form, standard for centuries and now largely avoided in American English for reasons of the other meaning.
- Ricky — Rick softened, which belongs to childhood in most households and to affection in the rest.
One short form, two names
- Patrick and Richard both shorten to Rick.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Who has carried each name
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
Richard
Richard Feynman (b. 1918) — Nobel physicist who made science irresistible
Richard Branson (b. 1950) — Virgin's founder-adventurer
Richard Wagner (b. 1813) — Composer of the epic Ring cycle
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 Patrick if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Patrick from Richard.
Choose Richard if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Richard from Patrick.
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
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.
Richard
Strengths
- It has been in continuous English use for nine hundred years and belongs to no single period.
- Rick and Rich are both complete working names, so the short form does not need the long one behind it.
- Every major European language has a version, so it crosses a border without translation.
To consider
- The traditional short form Dick has acquired a second meaning in English that has effectively retired it, and a child will learn this early.
- It is very strongly represented among older generations in America, and it reads that way to many people.
- A great many people already carry it, so a Richard will rarely be the only one in a workplace.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Patrick and Richard 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 Patrick and Richard?
Put both to the vote.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Baby Boomer names (born 1946–1964)
- Generation X names (born 1965–1980)
- Millennial names (born 1981–1996)
- all guides
Every list here names both Patrick and Richard — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Patrick or Richard — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Patrick or Richard?
- Richard, in 2025: Richard ranked #234 with 1,505 babies; Patrick ranked #235 with 1,495 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Patrick or Richard?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Patrick moved down 30 places; Richard moved down 26 places.
- Which is the older name, Patrick or Richard?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Patrick and Richard?
- About 558,000 people named Patrick are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 1,499,000 people named Richard are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Patrick and Richard share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Rick, so in a house with both names the short form would not say which child is meant.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Patrick, Richard and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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