Patterson

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name borne by many people in English-speaking countries ; a town or city in the United States, such as the one in New Jersey
2. A surname carried by numerous families across the English-speaking world ; a municipality in the American states that shares this name
3. A common last name held by many individuals ; the name of several American communities, notably a city in northern New Jersey

Etymology: Patterson is a surname before it is anything else, built from a nickname for a man named Patrick. Its first element is the Middle English "Pate," a short form of Patrick, and the ending "-son" means "son of," so the name literally means "son of Pate." English surnames of this kind were common across the medieval period, when a father's given name was often turned into a family name for his children. Patrick itself goes back to the Latin "Patricius," a name meaning "noble" or "of patrician family," which later became the name of the patron saint of Ireland.