Padraic
A masculine Irish given name derived from the Latin name Patricius, meaning "noble".
Name Census estimates that about 919 living Americans carry the first name Padraic. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Padraic today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Padraic births was 1982 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Padraic. 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 Padraic with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
919
~ 1 in 372,964 Americans
Peak year
1982
36 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,636
Tracked since 1955
Census
Padraic in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 936 people with the first name Padraic, which placed it at #13,053 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
#13,053
National first-name rank
People counted
936
936 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Padraic
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Padraic is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Padraic 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 Padraic at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.1% · 834
- Two or more races4.4% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 32
- Black or African American2.4% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 7
Popularity
Padraic: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Padraic from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 232 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Padraic 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 Padraic during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Padraics live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, California, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Padraic, while New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Padraic
Padraic is a masculine given name that originated in Ireland as the Irish Gaelic form of the Latin name Patricius, meaning "noble" or "patrician." It is derived from the Old Irish word "patraic," which was borrowed from the Latin "Patricius."
The name gained widespread recognition and popularity due to its association with Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, who lived in the 5th century. Saint Patrick, known as Padraic in Irish, played a pivotal role in spreading Christianity throughout Ireland and is celebrated annually on Saint Patrick's Day.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Padraic can be found in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient chronicle of medieval Irish history, which dates back to the 15th century. The name appears in various other Irish manuscripts and historical records throughout the centuries.
Notable individuals who bore the name Padraic include Padraic Colum (1881-1972), an Irish poet, novelist, and playwright who played a significant role in the Irish literary revival. Another prominent figure was Padraic Pearse (1879-1916), a leader of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and a key figure in the Easter Rising of 1916, which sought to establish an independent Irish republic.
Padraic O'Conaire (1882-1928) was an Irish writer and journalist who made significant contributions to the Irish language and literature. Padraic Fallon (1905-1974) was an Irish poet and novelist known for his works that celebrated the beauty of rural Ireland.
Additionally, Padraic MacPiarais (1879-1912) was an Irish language scholar and educator who played a crucial role in the revival of the Irish language and the establishment of Irish-language schools in Ireland.
Throughout history, the name Padraic has maintained a strong connection to Irish culture and identity, reflecting the enduring influence of Saint Patrick and the rich heritage of the Irish people.
People
Padraic + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Padraic 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
Padraic: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Padraic?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 919 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Padraic 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 372,964 US residents.
Is Padraic a common name?
We classify Padraic as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 973 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Padraic most popular?
The single biggest year for Padraic was 1982, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Padraic is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Padraic in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 936 people with the name Padraic, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,053 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 Padraic 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 Padraic?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Padraic appears almost entirely male. Of the 939 people counted with this name, 99.9% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Padraic?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Padraic is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Padraic most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Padraic in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.1% (834 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 Padraic in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Padraic a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Padraic in the SSA data are male. 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 Padraic still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Padraic 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 Padraic 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 common is the name Padraic?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.