Patina
A feminine name derived from the Latin word for patina, describing a green or brown film formed on copper or bronze over time.
Name Census estimates that about 250 living Americans carry the first name Patina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Patina today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Patina births was 1973 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Patina. 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
250
~ 1 in 1,371,017 Americans
Peak year
1973
28 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
1993 SSA rank
#15,119
Tracked since 1960
Popularity
Patina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Patina from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 135 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
Patina 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 Patina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Patina
The name Patina is derived from the Latin word "patina," which means a green or brown film on the surface of bronze or similar metals, caused by oxidation over time. This term was also used to describe a green encrustation on ancient marble or wall paintings. In this context, the name Patina might have been used to refer to someone with a weathered or aged appearance, possibly a metaphor for wisdom or experience.
While the name Patina is not commonly found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it does have some historical references. One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Patina was in the 16th century, when it was given to a character in the play "The Tragedy of Dido, Queen of Carthage" by Christopher Marlowe, an English playwright and poet born in 1564.
In the 18th century, Patina was the name of a character in the novel "The Vicar of Wakefield" by Oliver Goldsmith, an Irish novelist and playwright born in 1730. This helped to popularize the name, albeit to a limited extent.
One notable person named Patina was Patina Miller, an American actress and singer born in 1984. She is best known for her role as Lead Player in the Broadway revival of "Pippin," for which she won a Tony Award in 2013.
Another person with the name Patina was Patina Renea Miller, an American professional basketball player born in 1984. She played in the WNBA for several teams, including the Los Angeles Sparks and the Connecticut Sun.
In the world of art, Patina Podesta was an Italian painter born in 1927. She was known for her abstract expressionist works and was a member of the Informal Art movement in Italy.
While not a common name, Patina has been used throughout history, often as a literary or artistic reference to the concept of age, wisdom, and the passing of time.
People
Patina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Patina 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
Patina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Patina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 250 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Patina 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 1,371,017 US residents.
Is Patina a common name?
We classify Patina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 282 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Patina most popular?
The single biggest year for Patina was 1973, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Patina is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Patina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Patina 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.
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.