How do you feel about your name, Patricia?

Today’s name interview is with Patricia, who is 70 years old and hails from Iowa.

How did Patricia get her name?

In 1942, Patricia ranked #3 and had been in the top 10 names in the USA for 13 years. I think of Patricia as “the Jennifer” of those days, and I think my mother chose it because she was hearing it so much. She knew a woman named Ellen at her work and that’s how she came up with my middle name. I think my mother chose my name with my dad agreeing.

I think Patricia vs. Jennifer is a good comparison.

Her mother also had the name Pamela Eileen picked out, in case Patricia had a twin sister.

What does Patricia like most about her name?

I like the name’s history, dating back to the Romans, and it’s meaning, “well born” or “patrician”. I like the name’s many positive associations with others of the name. I like the sound of the name. When I was in high school I had a close friend with the name (and also two close friends with the middle name Ellen), and I liked that. Although there was several other Pats or Pattys in my high school class, I was never called “Pat B.” but by my full first and last name if it was necessary to distinguish between two of us.

What does she like least about her name?

Really nothing! As a young child, I was called Patty. At about age 12, I felt too grown up for that nn and insisted I be called Pat. More recently, I’ve introduced myself as Patricia, preferring the full name now, but of course many people still call me “Pat”. So if there’s anything I dislike about the name now, it’s the short form “Pat”.

Would she recommend that the name Patricia be given to babies nowadays?

Probably not, although it makes a nice middle name, and my second daughter has Patricia as her middle name. I think the name is somewhat ‘dated’ right now, although it could make a comeback in another 20 years or so. Also, I don’t think the nn options — Pat, Patty, Patsy, Tricia — fit that well with current naming trends. I wonder if it is mainly Spanish-speakers who are keeping Patricia in the top 1000 names, ranking 667 in 2011. (I have a Latina daughter-in-law whose middle name is Patricia.) I think Ellen or similar names may have more appeal at this time. My oldest granddaughter Sarah Ellen has Elena picked out for her hoped-for daughter’s name — after my middle name and hers.

Thank you very much, Patricia!

12 thoughts on “How do you feel about your name, Patricia?

  1. I think Trixie is ready for a come back. I also like the name Patrice, which I think fits in with the tailored Eleanor type names.

  2. I find it telling that Patricia’s mother chose the name “because she was hearing it so much.” My own parents were similarly motivated in choosing my name and my brothers’: they, like many people of their generation, wanted normal, unpretentious names that fit into their middle-class culture and didn’t draw attention to themselves.

    How things have changed! As the baby-name boards and SSA data demonstrate, parents now are obsessed with choosing names that are *not* “popular.” Standing out is the new fitting in.

  3. I disagree Nancy, maybe people are more open these days to less common names, but when there are still so many Davids, Alexanders, Michaels, Johns, Matthews, James’, Jacobs, Daniels, etc, being born these days, most parents still perform the overused names.

  4. I like the name Patricia, the name was never overly popular when I was born in the 1970s. There were a few here and there but not like in the 1940s. It stood out as unique among the sea of Jennifers and Michelles of that time period.

    I think Patricia could come back, the only deterrent is the possible nickname of Pat, not many these days like Pat as a nick. I think as long as you assert yourself as a Patricia or use the many other possible cute nicks available, like Tria, Trisha, Tricia, Pixie and others I think it would be nice to see it make a come back.

  5. I too am named Patricia and I really dislike my name. My mother was an amateur painter and her “artist name” was Patricia, and that’s how I got my name, and my artistic talent (nice story, right?). I don’t like the sound (sounds like “minutiae” to me) nor the 3 million nicknames (Pat, Patty, Pattie, Trish, Trisha, Tish, Treeshee, Patrice, “P”, etc.) that most people just decide to call me without asking for my preference. Others don’t like spelling out my name in email because its too long, and resort to “Pat”, which I can’t stand. Then there’s the other nicknames (Patio, Patio-Furniture, Peppermint Patty, Pattywack…). There’s also the yearly St. Patrick’s Day stuff (“hey- PAT, its St. Pat’s day, why aren’t you wearing green?”). Until only a few years ago I just accepted that most people would call me “Patty” or “Pat” and just let people do it,not realizing I could make people call me what I wanted. One day I just couldn’t take it anymore and started telling people that I wanted to be called “Patricia” (at least it sounds dignified)– I got lots of negative reactions but now most call me Patricia. The only good thing about my name is that it has made me very sensitive to other people’s names– if I meet an “Elizabeth”, “Jonathan” or “David” I don’t just start calling them “Liz”, “Jon” and “Dave”– I ASK them what they want to be called. I envy those with short names like Laura, Emily, Kate, etc. I do not recommend “Patricia” to parents– stay away from saddling your little girl with it (even if its your “writers name” or whatever). “Pattie” may be cute when your kid is 5, but if you want your little girl to be taken seriously when she grows up, there’s a million better names you can choose.

  6. too many nicknames.. drives me nuts. people often get confused and don’t know what they should call me..at times im not even sure myself……there are 10 billion nicknames…generally I go by Trish or Tricia (I’ve switched back and forth between those two), Trish doesn’t go well with my last name, though, because I have a short last name. If I try to go by my full name “Patricia”, it inevitable that people then start calling e “pat” or worse “Patty”.. if I say “Trish” they often think im saying “Chris”.. if I say “Tricia” then they either thinking im saying “Theresa” or “Patricia” (in which case, u have to explain, well yes that is my name but not what I go by)..the name is okay, but I don’t like all the nicknames.. and I don’t like always having to explain to people what I go by….how do the rest of u deal with this?

  7. too many nicknames I mean, how do the rest of you deal with this? I hate always having to explain to people what I go by.. and sometimes im not sure myself… I will call myself different things to different people.. with some people I will say “Trish” with others I will say “Tricia” and some I say “Patricia” (I never will say Pat or Patty)… but then it gets really confusing when a group of people get together ad they are all used to me being called different things.. ive had close friends who in this this situatim, are like”what IS it u want to be called”? and then theres the two Spellings of “Tricia”.. Tricia and “trisha”..OMG I have enough confusion in my life without adding to it this problem!!! maybe I will just start calling by MAry Or Jane…lol.. what do the rest of you think?

  8. Born mid seventies, now late thirties. I hated my name as a kid, preferring more cute names like Lucy or Suzie, but then most kids hate their names and it is something that you grow into. It certainly is a big name to live up to and as a child I was called trish or tricia, never Patricia. In my late twenties, I wanted to be known as Patricia and I feel proud of the name and stand tall when I say it. I hate being called Pat, Patty or ..ugh Patsy, but I correct people who use these names, if they persist, I gently remind them that what they are calling me is not my name, ie same as if they were calling me Sarah. They get the message. I would not want any other name now.

  9. I have trouble getting people to understand that calling me “Pat” or “patty” is like calling me Sarah .. they really seem to think that the name Patricia is pronounced “pat”.. they will even say “but your parents named you “pat”.. and im like “no my parents named me Patricia, not Pat, and they have always called ma Tricia or Trish, My parents don’t even like the name Pat Themselves”…drives me nuts.. I haven’t had fights with complete strangers over this.. once somebody even say “Trish is not a Diminutive of Patricia” its maddening.. One of these days im going to legally change it//

  10. People do not listen, and they want things to be quick and easy, I guess. I ALWAYS introduce myself, and sign my name as PATRICIA. But they immediately call me Pat. I’ve tried to be “good”, by allowing this, but became really irritated when, on introducing myself to a new co-worker, a friend said, “But we all call you Pat.” Way back in college, people would say that Patricia sounded like I was a rich bitch. And now, at 58, I find I actually have to explain myself to some people as to why I introduce myself with my full name that I actually like?!?! What is wrong with people? Should I say, “If you call me other than Patricia, I will not answer you.” Too old for this…

  11. I generally DON’T respond to people who call me Pat or Patty.. not because im trying to teach them a lesson or anything…just because the names Pat and Patty are so foreign to me (My family or friends would never in a million years call me those things) that I don’t even recognize it as someone talking to me…i assume they are addressing someone else..

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