Paton
A masculine name of Scottish origin meaning "from the town on the hill".
Name Census estimates that about 86 living Americans carry the first name Paton. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Paton today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Paton births was 2005 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Paton. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Paton. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
86
~ 1 in 3,985,516 Americans
Peak year
2005
8 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2017 SSA rank
#11,838
Tracked since 1975
Census
Paton in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 341 people with the first name Paton, which placed it at #27,024 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
#27,024
National first-name rank
People counted
341
341 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Paton
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Paton is White at 74.2%. The next largest groups are Black (11.7%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Paton 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 Paton at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.2% · 253
- Black or African American11.7% · 40
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 15
- Two or more races4.4% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 7
Popularity
Paton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Paton from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 33 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Paton 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 Paton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Paton
The name Paton has its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language, derived from the Gaelic word "Padán," which means "little or diminutive Patrick." The name can be traced back to the Middle Ages in Scotland, where it was a common diminutive form of the name Patrick.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Paton can be found in the Scottish Exchequer Rolls from the 14th century, where a person named "Patricius dictus Paton" (Patrick called Paton) is mentioned. This suggests that the name was in use as a nickname or diminutive form of Patrick during this period.
In the 16th century, the name Paton gained prominence with the Scottish reformer and historian John Paton (1534-1608), who served as a regent during the minority of King James VI of Scotland. Another notable figure with this name was William Paton (1917-1993), a British actor best known for his role in the film "The Wicker Man."
The name Paton has also been associated with several other prominent individuals throughout history. One example is John Gibson Paton (1824-1907), a Scottish Presbyterian missionary who spent much of his life in the New Hebrides Islands (now Vanuatu). His memoir, "John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides," became a widely-read and influential work.
Another notable figure was Sir Joseph Noel Paton (1821-1901), a Scottish painter and sculptor known for his contributions to the Pre-Raphaelite movement. His works, including "The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania" and "The Pursuit of Pleasure," are celebrated for their imaginative and allegorical themes.
Lastly, the name Paton was also borne by Walter Paton (1828-1907), a Scottish artist and teacher who played a significant role in the development of art education in Scotland. He served as the Head of the Sculpture Department at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh for over 40 years.
While the name Paton may not be as common today as it once was, its rich history and connections to notable figures in Scotland and beyond have ensured that it remains an intriguing and meaningful name with deep cultural roots.
People
Paton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Paton 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
Paton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Paton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 86 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Paton 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 3,985,516 US residents.
Is Paton a common name?
We classify Paton as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 87 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Paton most popular?
The single biggest year for Paton was 2005, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Paton is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Paton in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 341 people with the name Paton, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,024 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 Paton 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 Paton?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Paton on both sides of the split. Of the 336 people counted with this name, 194 were male (57.7%) and 142 were female (42.3%). 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 Paton?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Paton is White at 74.2%. The next largest groups are Black (11.7%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Paton most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Paton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.2% (253 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 Paton in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Paton a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Paton 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 Paton still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Paton 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 Paton 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 share the name Paton?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.