Patsey
A feminine diminutive of the name Patricia, derived from the Latin patricius meaning "noble".
Name Census estimates that about 207 living Americans carry the first name Patsey. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Patsey today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Patsey births was 1942 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Patsey. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Patsey is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Patseys were born before 1959.
People living today
207
~ 1 in 1,655,818 Americans
Peak year
1942
26 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1915 SSA rank
#4,256
Tracked since 1911
Gender
Gender distribution for Patsey
Out of the 512 babies given the name Patsey since 1880, 99.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Patsey as a male name
- Ranked #4,256 in 1915
- 5 male births in 1915
- Peak: 1915 (5 births)
Patsey as a female name
- Ranked #6,325 in 1965
- 6 female births in 1965
- Peak: 1942 (26 births)
Popularity
Patsey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Patsey from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 177 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Patsey 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 Patsey 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 Patsey
The name Patsey is believed to have originated from the Irish Gaelic name Pádraic, which is the Irish form of the Latin name Patricius, meaning "nobleman." The name Pádraic is derived from the Latin word "patria," meaning "fatherland" or "family estate."
Patsey is thought to be an anglicized version of the Irish name Pádraic, which was later shortened and altered to become Patsey. This alteration likely occurred during the 17th or 18th century when many Irish names were anglicized due to the influence of English culture and language in Ireland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Patsey can be found in the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1852. In the novel, Patsey is the name of a enslaved woman who is brutally mistreated by her master, Simon Legree. This depiction of Patsey's suffering helped to shed light on the harsh realities of slavery in the United States.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Patsey. One of the earliest was Patsey Calvert, an English politician who served as the Governor of Maryland from 1661 to 1667. Another was Patsey Jefferson, the daughter of Thomas Jefferson and his enslaved woman Sally Hemings, who was born in 1795 and lived at Monticello.
In the 19th century, Patsey Cline (1932-1963) was a renowned American country music singer and songwriter, widely regarded as one of the most influential vocalists of her time. She was known for hits such as "Crazy," "I Fall to Pieces," and "Sweet Dreams."
Another notable Patsey was Patsey Hendren (1910-1962), an American baseball player who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II. Her story was later depicted in the film "A League of Their Own."
Finally, Patsey Smith (1912-1986) was an American jazz singer and actress who performed with several notable big bands, including those led by Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. She was best known for her collaboration with Fats Waller on the song "Honeysuckle Rose."
People
Patsey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Patsey 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
Patsey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Patsey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Patsey 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 1,655,818 US residents.
Is Patsey a common name?
We classify Patsey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 512 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Patsey most popular?
The single biggest year for Patsey was 1942, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Patsey is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Patsey a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Patsey 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.