Pat

Where Pat comes from

Various origins: * Borrowed from Yucatec Maya Pat. This surname is mostly found in Yucatán. * Borrowed from Khmer.
— Wiktionary's entry for Pat
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1897
    First appearance
    #1,555 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1912
    Pat Nixon born
    First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974
  3. 1938
    Pat Buchanan born
    American politician and commentator
  4. 1941
    Peak, #134
    1,900 babies named Pat — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1949
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #299.
  6. 1960
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the female given name Patricia.
  • A diminutive of the male given name Patrick.
  • A surname from Khmer or Yucatec Maya.
Namesakes
  • Pat Nixon · First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974, 1912–1993
  • Pat Buchanan · American politician and commentator, born 1938
  • Pat Benatar · American singer, born 1953
  • Pat Hingle · American actor, 1924–2009
  • Pat Morita · Japanese-American actor, 1932–2005

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.