This unusual and interesting name is of early medieval Italian origin, and is a good example of that large number of surnames created from the habitual use of a nickname, in this instance a status name for a "master" of various sorts. The name derives from the Italian "patrone", master, from the Latin "patronus", a derivative of "pater", father. This term had various senses during in the Middle Ages; it was applied to the master of a ship, for example, and also to the former owner of a freed serf, who still enjoyed certain rights over him. The surname from this source is found in various forms in Italy, ranging from Patrone, Patroni, Patrono, the Venetian forms Paroni and Pa(t)ron, and is also found in France as Patron, and occasionally in England as Patron and Patrone. One Mary, daughter of John Patron, was christened at St. Ann's, Blackfriars, London, in October 1651, and in France, Hilaire Patron married Jeanne Marie Liegeois on September 1778 in Vendresse, Ardennes. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Sidonia Patrono (baptism), which was dated May 7th 1559, Casamassima, Bari, Italy, during the reign of King Ferdinand 1, known as "Holy Roman Emperor", 1558 - 1564. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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