Meaning & origin
A reliable meaning for Pate isn’t established in our sources yet. Rather than guess, we show what is recorded: how the name is used, how often, and the names it’s connected to.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1901. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Pate through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 282
- 282 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2003
- 13 babies
- 2025
- 10
- #8,074 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −35%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 10 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 8,074 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 13 in 2003. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 331 as a first name in 2020; 27,998 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Pate’s family of names
In Scots usage, Pate is a diminutive of Peter. In Greek usage, Pate as a surname is a transliteration of Πάτε.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Similar names
If you love Pate, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Gage
“of the pledge”
>99% boys
Pablo
“a small or humble man” · “small”
>99% boys
Blaine
“a saint's servant” · “a thin woman”
92% boys · 8% girls
Jake
“supplanter” · “heel grabber”
>99% boys
Aden
“one who is handsome and adorned”
97% boys · 3% girls
Trace
“one who is warlike” · “a woman warrior”
>99% boys
Cade
“a precocious young woman” · “one who is round”
>99% boys
Pedro
“as solid and strong as a rock”
>99% boys