Meaning Of The Name Patrick: Famous Patricks To Name Your Baby After

Written by Linda Rosenkrantz for Nameberry

Today we salute the Saint whose day is being celebrated, along with a dozen notables who share his name -- even though the patron saint of Ireland was neither Irish nor born with the name Patrick. Patrick is the English form of the Latin name Patricius, which means ‘patrician’. But because of the extreme veneration for the saint, his name was considered too holy to be used by common folk in Ireland for centuries. By the nineteenth century, though, it was so widespread that the nickname Paddy had become a general term for an Irishman.

The name, which is Pádraig in Irish, has come to be seen as the quintessential Irish appellation, and is still a Top 10 name in the Emerald Isle, while it ranks at Number 143 in the US. Here are twelve of the most well-known Patricks.