A name. A world of connections.

Paddy

“patrician, i.e. 'father', 'nobleman'”

masculineLatin script

Hear the name

English

Origin: Not established
1 language contexts: English
Follow the evidence: 8 cited sources Source-reported

01 / Meaning & origin

About Paddy

Paddy is a masculine given name documented in English. It is a form of Patrick, for which English Wikipedia gives the meaning “patrician, i.e. 'father', 'nobleman'”.

Meaning in the sources

Source-reported

Meaning: “patrician, i.e. 'father', 'nobleman'”

Diminutif de Pádraig ou de Patrick.

Sources for this account (6)

French Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Wikidata Q15838080CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Polish Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Russian Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Wikipedia: Patrick (given name)CC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

02 / Across borders

Where Paddy is used

Explore published naming statistics and documented language connections around the world.

The name atlas

Across borders

countries in our sources

Select a country to follow Paddy’s connections around the world.

5 countries with published statistics. Language records show cultural connections; they do not measure how common a name is.

Selected country

United States

Statistics + language records

United States, 2018: 7 boys (rank 9670). Documented as a given name in English.

Explore United States

4 of 11 countries

03 / By the numbers

Popularity over time

Follow the spelling through the years, one published dataset at a time.

Ireland

1964–2025 Spelling: Paddy

Region and dataset

Recorded category boys

Latest · 2025: 58; births; Rank #99
Peak year: 2022; 60 births

Hover to explore a year. Use arrow keys when a chart point has focus.

Source: Central Statistics Office · Ireland — babies' first names with three or more occurrences, 1964–2025

Published integer counts retained without rounding.

Per million is unavailable: this source has no matching published total.

Show the data table

Paddy in Ireland, boys: births and rank by year
Year	Births	Rank	Status
1964	no value	no value	not covered
1965	no value	no value	not covered
1966	no value	no value	not covered
1967	no value	no value	not covered
1968	no value	no value	not covered
1969	no value	no value	not covered
1970	no value	no value	not covered
1971	no value	no value	not covered
1972	no value	no value	not covered
1973	no value	no value	not covered
1974	no value	no value	not covered
1975	no value	no value	not covered
1976	no value	no value	not covered
1977	no value	no value	not covered
1978	no value	no value	not covered
1979	no value	no value	not covered
1980	no value	no value	not covered
1981	no value	no value	not covered
1982	no value	no value	not covered
1983	no value	no value	not covered
1984	no value	no value	not covered
1985	no value	no value	not covered
1986	no value	no value	not covered
1987	no value	no value	not covered
1988	4	271	observed
1989	no value	no value	not covered
1990	no value	no value	not covered
1991	no value	no value	not covered
1992	no value	no value	not covered
1993	no value	no value	not covered
1994	no value	no value	not covered
1995	5	281	observed
1996	8	251	observed
1997	7	261	observed
1998	4	324	observed
1999	5	290	observed
2000	9	223	observed
2001	10	226	observed
2002	13	212	observed
2003	11	245	observed
2004	24	163	observed
2005	24	172	observed
2006	34	153	observed
2007	39	155	observed
2008	26	208	observed
2009	39	159	observed
2010	41	165	observed
2011	46	152	observed
2012	41	163	observed
2013	44	143	observed
2014	32	184	observed
2015	40	160	observed
2016	39	159	observed
2017	53	120	observed
2018	42	144	observed
2019	44	139	observed
2020	55	111	observed
2021	49	129	observed
2022	60	104	observed
2023	60	96	observed
2024	55	102	observed
2025	58	99	observed

About this dataset and its counting rules

Statistics count the spelling “Paddy” as recorded by the publisher. When a spelling has several independent origins, the counts are not split between them. Counts measure births. Gaps are years without a published value, not zeros.

Rates per million are unavailable for this series because no compatible denominator has been imported.

Universe: First given names on Irish birth registrations; CSO tables VSA50 (boys) and VSA60 (girls). From 2017, births registered during the calendar year.
Rounding: Published integer counts retained without rounding.
Suppression: CSO publishes names with three or more occurrences. Null cells are not emitted; absence is unknown, not zero.
Ranking: Published ranks from VSA50C02 and VSA60C02 retained unchanged, including ties.

Retrieved 2026-10-15 · CC-BY-4.0

Read our methodology

04 / Through time

History

Historical scholarship

Passages quoted verbatim from public-domain reference works. They reflect the scholarship of their time, not current consensus, and may use obsolete spellings.

1884From the archives
Paddy— “noble”
Afterwards these nations left off the humble prefix, and came to calling themselves Phadrig in Ireland, Patrick in Scotland; the former so universally as to render Pat and Paddy the national soubriquet. Latterly a bold attempt has been made in Ireland to unite Patrick and Peter as the same, so as to have both patron saints at once, but the Irish will hardly persuade any one to accept it but themselves. The Scotch Pate, or Patie, is frequent, though less national; and the…
Read the full historical passageShow shorter excerpt
Afterwards these nations left off the humble prefix, and came to calling themselves Phadrig in Ireland, Patrick in Scotland; the former so universally as to render Pat and Paddy the national soubriquet. Latterly a bold attempt has been made in Ireland to unite Patrick and Peter as the same, so as to have both patron saints at once, but the Irish will hardly persuade any one to accept it but themselves. The Scotch Pate, or Patie, is frequent, though less national; and the feminine, Patricia, seems to be a Scottish invention. The fame of the curious cave, called St. Patrick’s Purgatory, brought pilgrims from all quarters, and Patrice, Patrizio, and Patricio, all are known in France, Italy, and Spain, the latter the most frequently. Even Russia has Patrikij.
Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part IV, Chapter VI (Modern Names From The Latin), Section XIII (Pater) · Public domain (Project Gutenberg)

Notable bearers

People recorded with this given name in Wikidata. Their names may use a different spelling, or include it as a middle or baptismal name.

Paddy Ashdown
1941–2018
British politician and diplomat (1941–2018)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Paddy McNair
born 1995
Northern Irish association football player (born 1995)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Paddy Considine
born 1973
British actor
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Paddy Chayefsky
1923–1981
American playwright, screenwriter and novelist (1923-1981)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Paddy Roy Bates
1921–2012
Founder of the Principality of Sealand (1921-2012)
Wikipedia Wikidata source

A little story to keep

A name worth keeping.

Take the story of Paddy with you. Create a personal name passport with its meaning, roots and connections.

06 / Behind the facts

Sources for this page

Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.

Name origins & languageDictionaries, name records and related forms6

Wikidata Q15838080CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
French Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Polish Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Russian Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Wikipedia: Patrick (given name)CC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Pronunciation recordingsAudio credits and individual recording licences1

Wikimedia Commons: File:En-au-Paddy.oggCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Historical referencesOriginal texts and their publication details1

Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part IV, Chapter VI (Modern Names From The Latin), Section XIII (Pater)Public domain (Project Gutenberg) · rev. 2023-03-30 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Statistics and surveysPublishers, dataset licences and retrieval dates7

Ireland — babies' first names with three or more occurrences, 1964–2025
Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ireland · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)
US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
South Australia — Popular Baby Names, per-year lists including names given once, 1944-2017
Attorney-General's Department, South Australia (via data.sa.gov.au) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
NISRA — First Forenames Given to Babies Registered in Northern Ireland, 1997-2025 (full list)
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
National Records of Scotland — Babies' First Names: all first forenames given to 3 or more babies, Scotland, 1974-2025
National Records of Scotland (NRS) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Baby names in England and Wales: 2025 (boys and girls workbooks, Table 6: all published names)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Fichier des prénoms — édition 2026 (naissances 1900 à 2025), fichier national
Insee (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques) · LO-2.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.

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About Paddy

Paddy is a masculine given name documented in English. It is a form of Patrick, for which English Wikipedia gives the meaning “patrician, i.e. 'father', 'nobleman'”.

Meaning in the sources

Source-reported

Meaning: “patrician, i.e. 'father', 'nobleman'”

Diminutif de Pádraig ou de Patrick.

Sources for this account (6)

French Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Wikidata Q15838080CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Polish Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Russian Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Wikipedia: Patrick (given name)CC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Where Paddy is used

Explore published naming statistics and documented language connections around the world.

The name atlas

Across borders

countries in our sources

Select a country to follow Paddy’s connections around the world.

5 countries with published statistics. Language records show cultural connections; they do not measure how common a name is.

Selected country

United States

Statistics + language records

United States, 2018: 7 boys (rank 9670). Documented as a given name in English.

Explore United States

4 of 11 countries

Popularity over time

Follow the spelling through the years, one published dataset at a time.

Ireland

1964–2025 Spelling: Paddy

Region and dataset

Recorded category boys

Latest · 2025: 58; births; Rank #99
Peak year: 2022; 60 births

Hover to explore a year. Use arrow keys when a chart point has focus.

Source: Central Statistics Office · Ireland — babies' first names with three or more occurrences, 1964–2025

Published integer counts retained without rounding.

Per million is unavailable: this source has no matching published total.

Show the data table

Paddy in Ireland, boys: births and rank by year
Year	Births	Rank	Status
1964	no value	no value	not covered
1965	no value	no value	not covered
1966	no value	no value	not covered
1967	no value	no value	not covered
1968	no value	no value	not covered
1969	no value	no value	not covered
1970	no value	no value	not covered
1971	no value	no value	not covered
1972	no value	no value	not covered
1973	no value	no value	not covered
1974	no value	no value	not covered
1975	no value	no value	not covered
1976	no value	no value	not covered
1977	no value	no value	not covered
1978	no value	no value	not covered
1979	no value	no value	not covered
1980	no value	no value	not covered
1981	no value	no value	not covered
1982	no value	no value	not covered
1983	no value	no value	not covered
1984	no value	no value	not covered
1985	no value	no value	not covered
1986	no value	no value	not covered
1987	no value	no value	not covered
1988	4	271	observed
1989	no value	no value	not covered
1990	no value	no value	not covered
1991	no value	no value	not covered
1992	no value	no value	not covered
1993	no value	no value	not covered
1994	no value	no value	not covered
1995	5	281	observed
1996	8	251	observed
1997	7	261	observed
1998	4	324	observed
1999	5	290	observed
2000	9	223	observed
2001	10	226	observed
2002	13	212	observed
2003	11	245	observed
2004	24	163	observed
2005	24	172	observed
2006	34	153	observed
2007	39	155	observed
2008	26	208	observed
2009	39	159	observed
2010	41	165	observed
2011	46	152	observed
2012	41	163	observed
2013	44	143	observed
2014	32	184	observed
2015	40	160	observed
2016	39	159	observed
2017	53	120	observed
2018	42	144	observed
2019	44	139	observed
2020	55	111	observed
2021	49	129	observed
2022	60	104	observed
2023	60	96	observed
2024	55	102	observed
2025	58	99	observed

About this dataset and its counting rules

Rates per million are unavailable for this series because no compatible denominator has been imported.

Universe: First given names on Irish birth registrations; CSO tables VSA50 (boys) and VSA60 (girls). From 2017, births registered during the calendar year.
Rounding: Published integer counts retained without rounding.
Suppression: CSO publishes names with three or more occurrences. Null cells are not emitted; absence is unknown, not zero.
Ranking: Published ranks from VSA50C02 and VSA60C02 retained unchanged, including ties.

Retrieved 2026-10-15 · CC-BY-4.0

Read our methodology

History

Historical scholarship

Passages quoted verbatim from public-domain reference works. They reflect the scholarship of their time, not current consensus, and may use obsolete spellings.

1884From the archives
Paddy— “noble”
Afterwards these nations left off the humble prefix, and came to calling themselves Phadrig in Ireland, Patrick in Scotland; the former so universally as to render Pat and Paddy the national soubriquet. Latterly a bold attempt has been made in Ireland to unite Patrick and Peter as the same, so as to have both patron saints at once, but the Irish will hardly persuade any one to accept it but themselves. The Scotch Pate, or Patie, is frequent, though less national; and the…
Read the full historical passageShow shorter excerpt
Afterwards these nations left off the humble prefix, and came to calling themselves Phadrig in Ireland, Patrick in Scotland; the former so universally as to render Pat and Paddy the national soubriquet. Latterly a bold attempt has been made in Ireland to unite Patrick and Peter as the same, so as to have both patron saints at once, but the Irish will hardly persuade any one to accept it but themselves. The Scotch Pate, or Patie, is frequent, though less national; and the feminine, Patricia, seems to be a Scottish invention. The fame of the curious cave, called St. Patrick’s Purgatory, brought pilgrims from all quarters, and Patrice, Patrizio, and Patricio, all are known in France, Italy, and Spain, the latter the most frequently. Even Russia has Patrikij.
Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part IV, Chapter VI (Modern Names From The Latin), Section XIII (Pater) · Public domain (Project Gutenberg)

Notable bearers

People recorded with this given name in Wikidata. Their names may use a different spelling, or include it as a middle or baptismal name.

Paddy Ashdown
1941–2018
British politician and diplomat (1941–2018)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Paddy McNair
born 1995
Northern Irish association football player (born 1995)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Paddy Considine
born 1973
British actor
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Paddy Chayefsky
1923–1981
American playwright, screenwriter and novelist (1923-1981)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Paddy Roy Bates
1921–2012
Founder of the Principality of Sealand (1921-2012)
Wikipedia Wikidata source

Sources for this page

Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.

Name origins & languageDictionaries, name records and related forms6

Wikidata Q15838080CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
French Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Polish Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Russian Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Wikipedia: Patrick (given name)CC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary: PaddyCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Pronunciation recordingsAudio credits and individual recording licences1

Wikimedia Commons: File:En-au-Paddy.oggCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Historical referencesOriginal texts and their publication details1

Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part IV, Chapter VI (Modern Names From The Latin), Section XIII (Pater)Public domain (Project Gutenberg) · rev. 2023-03-30 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Statistics and surveysPublishers, dataset licences and retrieval dates7

Ireland — babies' first names with three or more occurrences, 1964–2025
Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ireland · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)
US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
South Australia — Popular Baby Names, per-year lists including names given once, 1944-2017
Attorney-General's Department, South Australia (via data.sa.gov.au) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
NISRA — First Forenames Given to Babies Registered in Northern Ireland, 1997-2025 (full list)
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
National Records of Scotland — Babies' First Names: all first forenames given to 3 or more babies, Scotland, 1974-2025
National Records of Scotland (NRS) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Baby names in England and Wales: 2025 (boys and girls workbooks, Table 6: all published names)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) · OGL-UK-3.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Fichier des prénoms — édition 2026 (naissances 1900 à 2025), fichier national
Insee (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques) · LO-2.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.

A story to pass on.

About Paddy

Meaning in the sources

Where Paddy is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

Ireland

History

Historical scholarship

Notable bearers

Paddy Ashdown

Paddy McNair

Paddy Considine

Paddy Chayefsky

Paddy Roy Bates

Related names

Different forms. Shared stories.

Meet the family

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page

A story to pass on.

About Paddy

Meaning in the sources

Where Paddy is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

Ireland

History

Historical scholarship

Notable bearers

Paddy Ashdown

Paddy McNair

Paddy Considine

Paddy Chayefsky

Paddy Roy Bates

Related names

Different forms. Shared stories.

Meet the family

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page