Kirkpatrick
A Scottish surname meaning “Patrick’s church,” originally taken from a place-name in Dumfriesshire.
The #1,344 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,761 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kirkpatrick comes from a place name in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. The first element, kirk, means “church” in Scots, ultimately from Old Norse kirkja and earlier Greek kyriakon. The second element is the personal name Patrick, so the whole name means “Patrick’s church.”
History
The surname was adopted from the parish of Kirkpatrick in Dumfriesshire, which gave rise to a local family name. It appears in older surname dictionaries as a straightforward Scottish locational surname, and later Irish surname collections also note it among names found in Ireland, reflecting migration from Scotland. The related form Kilpatrick is sometimes treated as a parallel or variant place-based surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The name preserves two layers of history at once: a Scots word for “church” and the Christian saint’s name Patrick.
From the historical record
“originated. KIRKPATRICK. Local. A parish in Dumfriesshire, Scot- land, i. e., Patrick's Church. KIRTLAND. A corruption of Kirkland, that is, the church land, from kirk, a church. KIRWAK The name was 0' Quirivane until the time of Queen Elizabeth, when they, with many Irish houses, were compelled to drop the "O,"…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names