Patrick
A surname from the personal name Patrick, ultimately meaning “nobleman” or “patrician.”
The #552 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 5,074 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Patrick comes from the Latin personal name Patricius, meaning “patrician” or “nobleman,” and was especially popular because of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. In Irish and Scottish Gaelic the name took forms such as Pádraic, Pádraig, and Pàdraig, which later influenced surname use. As a surname, it is usually understood as having arisen from the given name rather than from a separate place or occupation.
History
19th-century surname writers note that the surname appears in English records by the 13th century in spellings such as Patric, Patrik, and Patryk. The name was strengthened in the British Isles by devotion to Saint Patrick and by Irish and Scottish Gaelic naming traditions. Related surnames such as Patrickson and Patson were later formed as patronymics.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Writers on surnames observed that Patrick was already established in medieval English records, not just in Irish usage.
From the historical record
“dim. suff. -on. PATRICK, the Latin Patricius, is fotind in 13th ' and 14th cent. . Eng.- records as Patric, . ^Patrik, Patryk, Paterik ; it is the Ir. Pdt- raic, Pddraic, Pddraig (O.Ir. Patrice); Gael. Pddruig [Lat. patrici-us, patrician, noble]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)