Patsy
| Patsy | |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | PAT-see |
| Gender | Female; sometimes Male |
| Origin | |
| Word/Name | Latin Patricius |
| Meaning | "Noble" (i.e. a patrician) |
| Region of origin | north England, Scotland, & Ireland |
| Other names | |
| Related names | Patricia (fem), Patrick (masc) |
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Look up Patsy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" or "Pet" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, or Patrice).
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[edit] Historical usage
In older usage, Patsy was also a nickname for Martha or Matilda, following a common nicknaming pattern of changing an M to a P (such as in Margaret → Meg/Meggy → Peg/Peggy; and Molly → Polly) and adding a feminine suffix.[1][2]
While usually a feminine diminutive name, from the 18th century Patsy also came to be used as a nickname for men and boys called Patrick.[1]
The popularity of the name has waned with the rise of its meaning as "dupe" or "scapegoat".[1] This usage comes from the early 20th Century vaudevillian Billy B. Van, whose character, Patsy Bolivar, was more often than not an innocent victim of unscrupulous or nefarious characters.
[edit] People with the given name
- Patsy Biscoe, Australian singer and performer on children's television shows in the 1960s and 1970s
- Patrick A. Patsy Brown (1872–1958), Irish-American maker of uilleann pipes
- Patsy Burt (1928–2001), British motor racing driver
- Patsy Cline (1932–1963), American country and pop music singer
- Elias Henry "Patsy" Hendren (1889–1962), British cricketer
- Patsy Kensit (born 1968), British actress and singer
- Patsy Mateo (died 1979), Filipino actress and comedienne, co-host of the variety show, Tawag ng Tanghalan
- Patsy Mink (1927–2002), American politician, appointed an Assistant Secretary of State by President Jimmy Carter
- Patsy Montana (1908–1996), American country and western music singer
- Patsy O’Connell Sherman (1930–2008), American chemist, co-inventor of Scotchgard in 1952
- Patsy O'Hara, an Irish Republican hunger striker and member of the Irish National Liberation Army
- Patsy Palmer, Eastenders actress
- Patsy Rowlands (1934–2005), British actress in the Carry On films
- Patsy Ramsey, (1956–2006) mother of slain child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey
[edit] Fictional characters
- Patsy, from The Tribe played by Sarah Major
- Patsy (Monty Python), in the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and also the 2005 Monty Python inspired musical Spamalot
- Patsy Parisi, in HBO series The Sopranos
- Patsy Sewer, a singer on the Canadian television program Instant Star.
- Patsy Smiles, a hyena who is in love with Lazlo in the 2005—American animated television series Camp Lazlo
- Patsy Stone, one of the main characters in the 1992–2005 British television series Absolutely Fabulous, played by Joanna Lumley.
- Patsy Walker, also known as "Hellcat", a Marvel Comics superhero
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Edgar's Name Pages, accessed 16 November 2007.
- ^ Common Nicknames & Their Given Name Equivalents, accessed 16 November 2007.
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