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Updated March 26, 2024

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Family name origins & meanings

  • Spanish (Patrón) and northern Italian : from Spanish patrón ‘master’ (Latin patronus, a derivative of pater ‘father’). The term had various senses in the Middle Ages; it was applied, for example, to the master of a ship, and also to the former owner of a freed serf, who still enjoyed certain rights over him.

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