33,132 Global PATE Family Members

PATE Family History

This interesting surname with variant spellings Patt, Payt, Patte, etc., derives from the given name Pat(t), Pate, a short form of the personal name Patrick from the Latin Patricius meaning "son of a noble father, member of the patrician class, the Roman hereditary aristocracy". This was the name of a 5th Century Roman-Briton who became the apostle of Ireland, and it was largely as a result of his fame that the given name was so popular in the Middle Ages. Secondly, it is a nickname for a man with a bald head, deriving from the Middle English "pate" meaning "head, skull".