Patricia
Masculine · “of the noble class”
Patricia is given to girls far more often — 1,573,623 girls against 4,961 boys since 1880. See Patricia as a girl name
Patricia is a modern name pretending to be an old one. The Latin word is ancient and the women's name is not: Patricia was essentially unused in English before the nineteenth century, then became one of the most-given names in the country within two generations. There is a Saint Patricia, and she is not related to Saint Patrick.
How old is the name Patricia?
Patricia first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Patricia alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 3,000 people named Patricia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Patricia most popular?
Patricia peaked in 1941, reaching #475 nationally. See the whole 1941 chart.
Where it comes from
From patricius to Patricia
The story of Patricia
Saint Patricia of Naples was a seventh-century noblewoman who fled an arranged marriage, and her cult in Naples is entirely independent of Patrick's in Ireland — the two names simply share a Latin root. Patricia's rise in English is much later and much faster: from almost nothing in the eighteen-hundreds to one of the top three names in America within about fifty years, and then a long decline. That shape — near absence, sudden dominance, retreat — is what a name does when it is adopted rather than inherited.
Meaning
of the noble class
Latin patricius describes a patrician — a member of the families entitled to sit in the Roman Senate, an order defined by descent and built on pater, father. Patricia is the feminine. The meaning is a social class rather than a quality, which is unusual and rather more concrete than most name meanings. The derivation is not disputed in either the men's or the women's form.
How the name formed
- patricius
- Patricia
Related forms: Patricia · Patrizia · Patricia · Patrycja
Pronouncing Patricia
puh-TRISH-uh
puh-TRISH-uh, three syllables, stress in the middle, the ci said as sh. Spanish and Italian sound the c and give the name four syllables, pa-TREE-thya and pa-TREE-tsya, which are noticeably different rhythms.
Nicknames for Patricia
High
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
- 1917
- Most boys named
- 1942159 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #475reached in 1941
- Change vs 2000
- 0.0%5 in 2006, from 5
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.
Patricia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Patricia in Spanish — same name
- Patrizia in Italian — same name
- Patricia in French — same name
- Patrycja in Polish — same name
Patricias among us
people named Patricia 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
Patricia 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
- Pat, Tricia and Trish are three genuinely different short forms in three registers.
- The Latin behind it is documented, concrete and shared with one of Europe's best-known saints.
- Every European language has a version, so it needs no translation anywhere.
- It works for either child through Pat, which very few formal women's names manage.
- It is extremely strongly associated with one American generation and dates a person about as precisely as any name can.
- A very great many people carry it, so a Patricia will rarely be the only one in a room of a certain age.
- Pat is unisex and reveals nothing, which is either useful or annoying depending on the situation.
- This spelling is recorded for boys too, though rarely, so on a form it settles less than it appears to.
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What they receive
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Patricia
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Patricias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,000 people named Patricia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Patricia in 2025?
- Patricia is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Patricia with classmates?
- Patricia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Paul#262 · Patrick#235 · Peter#187 · Philip#527 · Phillip#651 · Parker#102 · Preston#299 · Pedro#455
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Patricia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Patricia and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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