Patterson
Masculine · “Latin patricius”
Patterson is given to both — 540 boys and 20 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Patrick was a Roman. His name is patricius, a member of the patrician class, he was a Romanised Briton, and he first went to Ireland as a slave taken by raiders.
How old is the name Patterson?
Patterson first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Patterson alive today was born around 1973, making them about 52 years old. About 400 people named Patterson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Patterson most popular?
Patterson peaked in 1955, reaching #2302 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 8,393 places below that high. See the whole 1955 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From patricius to Patterson
The story of Patterson
The two documents Patrick left, the Confession and a letter to a British warlord, are among the earliest surviving writings from the British Isles, and they are personal and defensive rather than legendary. He describes being taken from his family's estate at sixteen by Irish raiders, six years herding animals, an escape, and a return years later as a bishop to the country that had enslaved him. His Latin is the Latin of a man whose education was interrupted, and he says so. Everything else, the snakes, the shamrock, the date, is later. His name is a Roman class marker, which fits a family of provincial Roman Britain, and the Scottish surname Patterson comes from a familiar form of it, Pate, with the northern -son ending.
Meaning
Latin patricius, of the noble class
Patterson is a Scottish and northern English surname meaning son of Patrick, through the pet form Pate or Patter. Patrick is from Latin patricius, a patrician, a Roman social rank. The American peak of the given name is 1955.
How the name formed
- patricius
- Patrick
- Pate
- Patterson
Related forms: Paterson · Padraig
Pronouncing Patterson
PAT-ur-sun
Three syllables, stress on the first. Patterson and Paterson are homophones; the Scottish spelling has one t.
Nicknames for Patterson
Moderate
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 201516 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2302reached in 1955
- Change vs 2023
- −14.3%6 in 2025, from 7
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.
Patterson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Paterson in Scots — spelling variant
- Padraig in Irish — related form
Pattersons among us
people named Patterson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Patterson
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Refujio test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Patterson's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Refujio climbed just as high around 1926, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Refujio's path sketches the road Patterson is walking now.
Patterson sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Patterson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Patterson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Pat works as a short form for either sex.
- The Latin origin is documented and precise.
- Three syllables with a firm opening beat.
- It reads as a surname, which it is.
- Paterson with one t is the Scottish spelling.
- The 1955 peak dates its use as a given name.
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What they receive
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Patterson
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Pattersons 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 Patterson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Patterson in 2025?
- Patterson ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Patterson?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Patterson — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Patterson with classmates?
- Patterson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Patterson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Patterson? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Patterson and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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