2000
#9,585
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,111
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.15
Rare Last name
Patty
An English occupational surname referring to a person who made or sold meat pies or pasties.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,240 Americans carry the last name Patty. That puts it at #10,787 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.95 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 105,788 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Patty surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Patty with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.2K
1 in 105,788
Census rank
#10,787
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,825 bearers of the surname Patty in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.95 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10787th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Patty, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.6%. The next largest groups are Black (7.5%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Patty
The surname Patty has its origins in France, where it first appeared as a variant spelling of the French surname Patin. The name Patin is derived from the Old French word "patin," which means "a small shoe or slipper." This suggests that the surname may have originally referred to a maker or seller of slippers or shoes.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname Patty date back to the late 16th century in various regions of France. The name can be found in historic records, such as parish registers and census documents, from areas like Normandy, Brittany, and other northern regions of the country.
One of the earliest known bearers of the surname Patty was Jean Patty, a merchant who lived in the town of Rouen, Normandy, in the late 16th century. Another early record is of Pierre Patty, a landowner from the village of Montfort-sur-Risle, also in Normandy, whose name appears in a land registry from 1602.
In the 17th century, the surname spread beyond France, with some Patty families migrating to other parts of Europe and even to the Americas. For example, a man named Jacques Patty was among the early French settlers in Quebec, Canada, in the mid-1600s.
One notable bearer of the surname Patty was Charles Henri Patty (1679-1741), a French painter and engraver who was born in Paris and is known for his portraits and historical paintings. Another was Jean-Baptiste Patty (1725-1799), a French architect and urban planner who worked on several prominent projects in Paris during the latter half of the 18th century.
Other historical figures with the surname Patty include William Patty (1736-1801), an English mathematician and astronomer who made contributions to the study of comets and celestial mechanics, and John Patty (1754-1804), an American soldier and politician who served in the Revolutionary War and later became a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
While the surname Patty is not as common as some other French surnames, it has a long and interesting history that can be traced back several centuries. From its likely origins as a reference to a shoemaker or slipper seller, the name has been carried by merchants, artists, scientists, and politicians across various regions of the world.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Patty
Among Census respondents with the surname Patty, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.6%. The next largest groups are Black (7.5%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Patty bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Patty surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.6% · 2,334
- Black or African American7.5% · 211
- Two or more races4.6% · 130
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 106
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 18
Timeline
Historical Census data for Patty
Patty appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#9,794
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,306
+195 bearers (+6.3%)
Per 100,000 1.12
Rank movement Down 209 places
2020
#10,787
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,825
-481 bearers (-14.5%)
Per 100,000 0.95
Rank movement Down 993 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,585 | 3,111 | 1.15 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,794 | 3,306 | 1.12 | +195 bearers (+6.3%) | Down 209 places |
| 2020 | #10,787 | 2,825 | 0.95 | -481 bearers (-14.5%) | Down 993 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Patty surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #9,794 | #10,787 | -10.1% |
| Count | 3,306 | 2,825 | -14.5% |
| Per 100K | 1.12 | 0.95 | -15.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Patty bearers went from 3,306 to 2,825 (-14.5% change). The surname moved down 993 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,794 to #10,787.
FAQ
Patty surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Patty?
Name Census estimates that about 3,240 living Americans carry the surname Patty. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 105,788 residents.
How common is Patty?
Patty ranks #10,787 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.95 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,825 people with the surname Patty. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,240), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.95 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.95 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Patty.
Has Patty become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Patty went from 3,306 recorded bearers to 2,825. That is a decrease of 481 (-14.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,794 to #10,787.
What does the Census say about the background of Patty?
Among Census respondents with the surname Patty, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.6%. The next largest groups are Black (7.5%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Patty in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.6% (2,334 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Patty appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (82.6%), Black (7.5%), Two or More Races (4.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Patty (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Patty mean?
An English occupational surname referring to a person who made or sold meat pies or pasties. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Patty (0.95 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Patty?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.