Patrice

About Patrice

Patrice is a French masculine name and an English feminine name with a shared Latin background. Its meaning is “noble” or “patrician,” from Patricius. The spelling joins two familiar branches of that family: Patrick on the masculine side and Patricia on the feminine side. Musician Patrice Rushen and Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba illustrate its use across languages and genders.

Meaning and name family

French Patrice is a form of the Roman name Patricius, which referred to a nobleman or member of the patrician class. English-speaking families also adopted Patrice as a variant of Patricia. These are two routes within the same Latin name family.

Patrick is its familiar English masculine relative. The broader family includes Italian Patrizio and Patrizia, Spanish Patricio and Patricia, and Polish Patryk and Patrycja. Patrice keeps the opening shared by these names while replacing their final syllables with a crisp S sound.

The connection with Patrick also places Patrice within a much older Christian naming tradition. Saint Patrick, the fifth-century missionary and patron saint of Ireland, bore the Latin name Patricius. French Patrice preserves that Latin connection in a form distinct from the English Patrick.

A name in music

Patrice Rushen's career ranges across jazz, R&B, dance music and musical direction. A keyboard player and singer, she recorded jazz albums for Prestige before reaching a wider audience with music that brought together jazz, funk and R&B. Her 1982 single “Forget Me Nots” became one of her signature recordings.

That song acquired another life when it was sampled for Will Smith's 1997 “Men in Black.” The connection links Rushen's own recording career with a later generation of film and popular music. Her work also extends to education: she became chair of the University of Southern California's Popular Music program in 2012, following three years as artist-in-residence. For Patrice, she supplies an association with both performing and teaching music.

A historical namesake

Patrice Lumumba was prime minister when the former Belgian Congo became independent on June 30, 1960. His government faced an army mutiny, Belgian military intervention and the secession of Katanga within weeks of independence. Those events drew the United Nations and Cold War powers into the Congo crisis.

Lumumba was removed from government later in 1960 and killed on January 17, 1961. His brief premiership places the name within the history of African independence as well as the French-speaking world. It is a very different association from Rushen's, showing the range of settings in which Patrice has been used.

Pronunciation and shorter forms

In English, Patrice is usually puh-TREES, with two syllables and stress on the second. French has a clearer initial “ah” vowel, approximately pah-TREES. The final E is not a separate syllable in either version. Pat is an established short form in the wider Patrick and Patricia family and can also serve as an everyday shortening of Patrice.

American popularity

American use has been predominantly feminine. Patrice reached #212 for girls in 1958, with 1,510 births. By 2000 there were 92 girls given the name; in 2025 there were five. Boys also appear in the American records, including 38 in 1961 and six in 2025. The American balance differs from Patrice's masculine use in French.

How popular is Patrice?

In 2025, Patrice ranked #16,666 among girls in the United States, with 5 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1914; its largest annual count was 1,510 in 1958. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.