The story in the numbers

685,098 boys have been named Patrick in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1964, with 14,694 births — 0.74% of all boys recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 152 → 221).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1972, and the 1960s alone account for 18%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 94 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 2,834 girls have also been given it, 0.41% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

By decade

Decade

boys named Patrick

2,285

2,233

2,141

6,120

11,460

18,389

48,618

96,856

122,713

91,251

111,417

92,932

44,782

25,309

8,592

In 1964, its biggest year

Patrick was the 30th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1964 were Michael, John, David, James and Robert. See all of 1964.

Names that rose and fell with Patrick

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.