Given name & surname
Patterson
“the son of Peter”
Patterson is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “the son of Peter.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “the son of Peter.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
In English usage, Patterson as a surname is a short form of Patrick.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1912. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Patterson through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 560
- 540 boys · 20 girls
- Most popular year
- 2010
- 19 babies
- 2025
- 6
- #11,654 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −70%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 6 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 11,654 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 670 as a first name in 2020; 197,137 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.
Patterson’s family of names
In English usage, Patterson as a surname is a short form of Patrick. Patterson has a related form in Paterson. Patterson has a related form in Patison.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Patterson
- Patterson DialAmerican actress (1902-1945)
- Patterson ThompsonWest Indian cricketerborn 1971
- Patterson JohnsonBahamian athletics competitorborn 1964
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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