Patrick Mahomes’ kids’ names – Sterling, Bronze, and Golden tell a hidden story (Getty Images)
Sterling Skye arrived in February 2021, just as Mahomes was cementing himself as one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the league. For a quarterback who had already won a Super Bowl MVP before turning 25, the timing felt fitting, even if unintentional. Bronze followed in November 2022, and the story behind that name is more personal.
Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany are parents to three kids — Sterling Skye, Patrick “Bronze” Lavon Mahomes III, and Golden Raye, who arrived in January 2025. Mahomes has said they were originally going to name their son Trey, since he was Patrick Lavon Mahomes III. “He can have his own thing now, where he’s not Patrick, he’s Bronze,” Mahomes explained. “The intention was to build unity in the family,” she said. “When you get names that come with a built-in hierarchy like gold, silver, and bronze, there may be some unintended side effects,” she said.
To most people, these are just unique names. But look a little closer and a pattern appears — one that connects directly to the metals that define athletic achievement, and quietly mirrors the arc of one of the NFL’s most decorated careers. Sterling — a reference to sterling silver — carries a meaning that goes beyond decoration. The word itself signals genuine quality. Something that holds its value. It was his brother Jackson who pushed for something different. The nickname stuck, and with it came an identity separate from the weight of a famous last name. Laurie Kramer, a professor of applied psychology at Northeastern University, noted that names like these carry dual purpose. “Everybody’s got a metal name in some way, so these kids would feel connected, and it was helping build a family identity around metals which could convey strength and resilience. But Kramer also flagged something worth thinking about: metals come with a built-in ranking. Gold outranks silver. Silver outranks bronze.