Patra
Feminine
Patra is the modern Greek name of the port city English calls Patras, the harbor on the Gulf of Patras where ferries from Italy arrive. As a girls' name in America it stands closer to Cleopatra and Patricia, and the record does not say which of them it was cut from.
How old is the name Patra?
Patra first appears in US birth records in 1919 — 106 years ago. The typical Patra alive today was born around 1971, making them about 54 years old. About 400 people named Patra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Patra most popular?
Patra peaked in 1959, reaching #3104 nationally. See the whole 1959 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Patra
Patra looks like the back half of a queen and is also a whole city. Greece calls its great western port Patra, the harbor on the Gulf of Patras where the ferries from Italy tie up, and English keeps an older form, Patras, with its final s. Cleopatra ends in the same five letters, and Patricia begins with four of them. In Sanskrit and Hindi, patra is a leaf and a letter, the word behind patrika, a magazine. A short name, and every piece of it already belongs somewhere.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No single source is documented for the American name. It can be read as the end of Cleopatra, 'glory of the father,' or as a form built on Patricia, and nothing records which. The Greek city name Patra and the Sanskrit patra, 'leaf, letter,' are separate words.
Pronouncing Patra
PAT-ruh
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Greek city is said PAH-trah.
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1919
- Most girls named
- 199434 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3104reached in 1959
- Change vs 2000
- −33.3%6 in 2004, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Patras among us
people named Patra are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Patra sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Short, two syllables, easy to spell.
- Sits naturally beside Patricia and Cleopatra, so it reads as a name at once.
- Rare, so it will seldom be shared.
- People will assume it is short for Patricia and may reach for Pat or Patty.
- Its source is not recorded, so the family's own story is the only answer to what it means.
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Patra
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Patras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Patra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Patra in 2025?
- Patra is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Patra with classmates?
- Patra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Patricia#1334 · Pamela#2239 · Phyllis#11932 · Peggy#8362 · Paula#853 · Pauline#2957 · Pearl#776 · Paige#346
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Patra? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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