Purpose Seizure originates from different pathological substrate; however, the same pathologies may have distinct mechanisms underlying seizure generation. We aimed to improve the understanding of such mechanisms in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) by investigating the stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) ictal onset patterns (IOPs). Methods We analyzed data from a cohort of 19 consecutive patients explored by SEEG and had 1-3-year seizure-freedom following temporal lobe resection. Results Six IOPs were identified. They were low voltage fast activity (LVFA) (36.5%), rhythmic spikes or spike-waves at low frequency and with high amplitude (34.1%), runs of spikes (10.6%), rhythmic sharp waves (8.2%), low frequency high amplitude repetitive spiking (LFRS) (7.1%), and delta activity (3.5%). All six patterns were found in patients with mesial temporal onset and only two patterns were found in patients with temporal neocortical onset. The most prevalent patterns for patients with mesial temporal onset were rhythmic spikes or spike-waves, followed by LVFA with a mean discharge rate 74 Hz. For patients with temporal neocortical onset, the most prevalent IOP pattern was LVFA with a mean discharge rate 35 Hz, followed by runs of spikes. Compared with Lateral TLE (LTLE), the duration between the onset of the IOPs to the onset of the symptom was longer for patients with MTLE (Mesial TLE) (MTLE:55.7 +/- 50.6 s vs LTLE:19.5 +/- 16.4 s). Conclusion Multiple IOPs underlie seizure generation in patients with TLE. However, the mesial and lateral temporal lobes share distinct IOPs.