Patsy
Diminutive form of the feminine name Patricia, derived from the Latin Patricius meaning "nobleman".
Name Census estimates that about 49,920 living Americans carry the first name Patsy. It is a predominantly female name (93.9% of registrations). The average person named Patsy today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Patsy births was 1941 (4,868 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Patsy. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Patsy with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Patsy is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Patsys were born before 1961.
- • Compared to the 1940s, recent registration numbers for Patsy have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
50K
~ 1 in 6,866 Americans
Peak year
1941
4,868 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
1992 SSA rank
#6,836
Tracked since 1880
Census
Patsy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 62,117 people with the first name Patsy, which placed it at #792 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
#792
National first-name rank
People counted
62K
62,117 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
20.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Patsy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Patsy is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.3%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Patsy 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 Patsy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.5% · 51,895
- Black or African American8.3% · 5,157
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 2,641
- Two or more races2.2% · 1,348
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 577
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 499
Gender
Gender distribution for Patsy
Patsy leans heavily female at 93.9% of total registrations, but 7,713 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Patsy as a male name
- Ranked #9,443 in 1992
- 5 male births in 1992
- Peak: 1921 (324 births)
Patsy as a female name
- Ranked #6,836 in 2024
- 17 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1941 (4,788 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Patsy leans strongly female. 61,096 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 1,027 male bearers (1.7%).
Popularity
Patsy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Patsy from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 40,903 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
Patsy 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 Patsy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Patsys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Patsy, while Rhode Island, Nevada, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,539 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Patsy
Patsy is a given name of English origin, derived from the medieval diminutive form of the name Patricia. It emerged in the 16th century as a pet form of the Latin name Patricius, meaning "noble" or "patrician."
The name Patsy gained popularity in Britain during the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly among the working class and rural communities. It was often associated with a friendly and approachable demeanor, reflecting the informal nature of the diminutive form.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Patsy was Patsy Byrne, an Irish actress born in 1933 who was known for her roles in films such as Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) and The Gingerbread Man (1998).
Patsy Cline (1932-1963) was an iconic American country music singer and songwriter, widely acclaimed for her rich vocals and emotional depth. She is considered one of the most influential and groundbreaking artists in the history of country music.
In the literary world, Patsy Adam-Smith (1924-2001) was an Australian writer and historian, renowned for her historical novels and biographies, including her acclaimed work "The Anzacs" (1978), which explored the experiences of Australian and New Zealand troops during World War I.
Patsy Kensit (born 1968) is a British actress and model, best known for her roles in films like "Lethal Weapon 2" (1989) and "Angels and Insects" (1995), as well as her appearances in various television series.
Patsy Byrne (1933-2014) was an Irish actress, known for her roles in British television shows like "Watching" and "Blackadder II," where she portrayed the character of Nursie. Her career spanned over five decades, and she was recognized for her versatility and comedic timing.
While the name Patsy has become less common in recent decades, it maintains a distinct charm and historical significance, particularly in English-speaking countries, reflecting its enduring appeal as a friendly and approachable moniker with deep roots in the English language.
People
Patsy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Patsy 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
Patsy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Patsy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 49,920 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Patsy 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 6,866 US residents.
Is Patsy a common name?
We classify Patsy as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 127,138 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Patsy most popular?
The single biggest year for Patsy was 1941, when 4,868 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Patsy is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Patsy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 62,117 people with the name Patsy, or 20.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #792 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 Patsy 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 Patsy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Patsy leans strongly female. 61,096 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 1,027 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Patsy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Patsy is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.3%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Patsy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Patsy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.5% (51,895 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 Patsy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Patsy a female name?
Yes, 93.9% of people registered as Patsy 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 Patsy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Patsy 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 Patsy 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 people have the name Patsy?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Patsy, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.