Patches
A pet name referring to the patchy or spotted color pattern of an animal's fur.
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the first name Patches. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Patches today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Patches births was 1975 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Patches. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
137
~ 1 in 2,501,856 Americans
Peak year
1975
17 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
1983 SSA rank
#9,865
Tracked since 1968
Census
Patches in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 209 people with the first name Patches, which placed it at #37,369 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#37,369
National first-name rank
People counted
209
209 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Patches
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Patches is White at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.6%) and Black (6.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Patches described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Patches at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.5% · 164
- Two or more races8.6% · 18
- Black or African American6.7% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 3
Popularity
Patches: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Patches from the 1960s through to the 1980s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 113 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Patches by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Patches during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Patches' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Patches
The name Patches is believed to have originated as a nickname in English-speaking cultures, derived from the word "patch," referring to a small piece of material used to mend or decorate clothing. It is a fairly modern name, with no known ancient roots or direct translations from other languages.
The earliest recorded use of Patches as a name dates back to the late 18th century, when it began appearing as a pet name or affectionate nickname for children with patched or mended clothing. It was particularly common among working-class families who could not afford new clothes and had to patch and repair garments frequently.
One of the earliest known people to bear the name Patches was Patches Adams, a fictional character created by American author Samuel Clemens (better known as Mark Twain) in his 1893 novel "The Million Pound Bank Note." Patches Adams was a young man from London who found himself in possession of a million-pound banknote, leading to a series of adventures and mishaps.
In the early 20th century, Patches became a popular name for circus performers, particularly clowns and comedians whose costumes often featured patches and patchwork designs. One notable example was Patches Pongo, an American circus clown whose real name was Harry Pongo (1879-1945). He was known for his colorful, patched costume and his slapstick comedy routines.
Another famous bearer of the name was Patches Kennedy (1910-1977), an American vaudeville performer and comedian known for her energetic dancing and comedic impersonations. She appeared in several Broadway musicals and Hollywood films throughout her career.
In more recent times, Patches has been used as a name for pets, particularly dogs, as well as for fictional characters in children's books and cartoons. For example, Patches the Pirate is a popular children's book character created by Australian author Kathryn Perkins in the 1990s.
While not as common as a given name, Patches has endured as a quirky and endearing nickname, often associated with a sense of whimsy, humor, and a patched-together or patchwork aesthetic.
People
Patches + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Patches as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Patches: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Patches?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 137 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Patches going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,501,856 US residents.
Is Patches a common name?
We classify Patches as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 151 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Patches most popular?
The single biggest year for Patches was 1975, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Patches is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Patches in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 209 people with the name Patches, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,369 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Patches in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Patches?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Patches on both sides of the split. Of the 210 people counted with this name, 43 were male (20.5%) and 167 were female (79.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Patches?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Patches is White at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.6%) and Black (6.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Patches most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Patches in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.5% (164 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Patches in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Patches a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Patches in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Patches still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Patches in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Patches can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Patches?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.