What is Patis?

When Reuben-Thomas and Emily married they combined their surnames to make Powis-Patis. She was the Patis, he was the Powis.

Powis is a variation of Powys, and obviously has a Welsh origin. But Patis is a bit harder to pinpoint. My mother and aunty Rhonda were having morning tea in David Jones department store in the city, and the guy behind the coffee machine was wearing a name tag "Nick Patis". They were pretty excited to know where the name came from. He said it was Greek. She said she understood now why the Greek man who owns the fruit shop always gave her free stuff!

On the other hand Patis is also the name for a fish sauce in the Philippines, a protection payment made by towns and villages in the Hundred Year war in France, the Swedish version of the name of a Finnish village ( a longshot! ), a town in Normandy, and quilt patis: a quick and easy method of English Paper Piecing. I'm going with the paper piercing.