Head to head · Girls' names
Catalina vs Charlie
#111 vs #133 in 2025
Catalina is a whisker ahead (#111 vs #133 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Catalina is climbing the charts fast, Charlie is holding its place on the charts.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Catalina leads 4 measures of 6; Charlie leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Catalina —, Charlie #752 — Charlie higher
- 1890s: Catalina #1332, Charlie #728 — Charlie higher
- 1900s: Catalina #1470, Charlie #599 — Charlie higher
- 1910s: Catalina #1290, Charlie #558 — Charlie higher
- 1920s: Catalina #815, Charlie #522 — Charlie higher
- 1930s: Catalina #913, Charlie #540 — Charlie higher
- 1940s: Catalina #1289, Charlie #714 — Charlie higher
- 1950s: Catalina #1375, Charlie #1155 — Charlie higher
- 1960s: Catalina #1350, Charlie #2061 — Catalina higher
- 1970s: Catalina #1183, Charlie #2862 — Catalina higher
- 1980s: Catalina #1131, Charlie #1599 — Catalina higher
- 1990s: Catalina #892, Charlie #1380 — Catalina higher
- 2000s: Catalina #721, Charlie #1012 — Catalina higher
- 2010s: Catalina #390, Charlie #244 — Charlie higher
- 2020s: Catalina #147, Charlie #128 — Charlie higher
Charlie stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Charlie has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Catalina | Charlie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #752 |
| 1890s | #1332 | #728 |
| 1900s | #1470 | #599 |
| 1910s | #1290 | #558 |
| 1920s | #815 | #522 |
| 1930s | #913 | #540 |
| 1940s | #1289 | #714 |
| 1950s | #1375 | #1155 |
| 1960s | #1350 | #2061 |
| 1970s | #1183 | #2862 |
| 1980s | #1131 | #1599 |
| 1990s | #892 | #1380 |
| 2000s | #721 | #1012 |
| 2010s | #390 | #244 |
| 2020s | #147 | #128 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Catalina
Not charting outside the US.
Charlie
- France#18
- Canada#30
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Catalina
Traditionally read as "pure", though the original meaning is genuinely unresolved
The Greek original, Aikaterine, has no agreed source. The "pure" reading comes from Greek katharos and attached itself later, when the Latin spelling was reshaped as Katharina under Christian influence; older scholarship has also tried to connect it to the goddess Hecate. Both readings are serious, and neither has won.
Aikaterine → Catharina → Catalina
How it traveled
The line begins with the Greek Aikaterine, borne by Saint Catherine of Alexandria, whose cult spread across medieval Europe and pulled the name into almost every language it touched. In Latin it became Catharina; in Castilian Spanish it settled as Catalina, and stayed there — Catalina de Aragón, the Spanish princess who became Henry VIII's first queen, is the form's most famous medieval bearer.
Charlie
free man
Charlie is a pet form of Charles, from the Germanic name Karl, whose root word meant a man, and specifically a free man rather than a servant. For girls the same meaning arrives by way of Charlotte, the feminine form built on Charles.
Karl → Carolus → Charles → Charlotte → Charlie
How it traveled
The parent name is Germanic Karl, carried into Latin as Carolus and into French as Charles, where it was the name of Charlemagne — Charles the Great — in the eighth and ninth centuries, and afterwards of a long line of French and English kings. Charlie appears as the affectionate English and Scots short form, most famously attached to Charles Edward Stuart, the eighteenth-century claimant remembered in song as Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Catalina
kah-tah-LEE-nah
That is the Spanish reading. In English-dominant settings it usually flattens to kat-uh-LEE-nuh. Both are widely heard in the US, and either is correct — worth deciding early which one you will offer when introducing her.
- Cata — The standard informal short form in Spanish-speaking families; rarely used as a full given name on its own.
- Lina — Taken from the end of the name; also exists independently as a given name in several languages.
- Cati — Informal, common in Spain and Latin America, sometimes written Katy in English-speaking settings.
- Cat — An English-language shortening, informal and usually school-age or later.
- Also Katie, Talina.
Charlie
CHAR-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first, the same in American and British English. Non-English speakers may render the opening as SHAR-, since French Charles begins with that sound.
- Charlie — Already the short form of Charles and Charlotte, and long established as a full given name in its own right — most Charlies need no further shortening.
- Char — Informal clipping used within families; more common where the full legal name is Charlotte.
- Chas — An older written abbreviation of Charles that still gets used aloud, chiefly by and for men of earlier generations.
- Chuck — An American informal form of Charles rather than of Charlie; mostly heard among older men.
- Also Charlie-girl.
Who has carried each name
Catalina
Catalina Sandino Moreno (b. 1981) — Oscar-nominated for Maria Full of Grace
Charlie
No documented entry for Charlie yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Catalina if you want…
- a name most people already know#111 in 2025, 2,456 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 68 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itCatalina runs 4 syllables, Charlie 2
Choose Charlie if you want…
- a name fewer children share#133 in 2025 — charlie will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name holding steadyCharlie is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesCharlie is 2 syllables to Catalina's 4
- a name that charts abroad tooCharlie is on the national lists of France and Canada
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Catalina
Strengths
- An unbroken record from the early Christian centuries to now, in Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian and English forms.
- Reads correctly in both English and Spanish without respelling, and has a direct equivalent in most European languages.
- Several established short forms already in real use — Cata, Cati, Lina, Cat — so nothing has to be invented.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate side by side in the US, the Spanish kah-tah-LEE-nah and the anglicized kat-uh-LEE-nuh. She will hear both, and will likely spend her life choosing which to correct.
- The K spelling, Katalina, exists and will be guessed at times, as will Catalena. Not constant trouble, but expect to spell it aloud.
- It is climbing steadily rather than sitting still, so it is likely to feel more common by the time she reaches school than it does tonight.
Charlie
Strengths
- Needs no spelling or pronunciation help in English, and is recognized in France, Canada, Scotland and England & Wales alike.
- Already a nickname, so there is no pressure to shorten it — and Charles or Charlotte can sit on the birth certificate if a formal option is wanted.
- On the US charts continuously since record-keeping began, and currently climbing again rather than fading.
To consider
- The boy–girl split is close to even now, so people who have not met your child may guess wrong from the name alone. That cuts both ways and is worth expecting rather than fearing.
- Charley, Charli, Charlee and Charly all exist, so you will sometimes be asked which spelling — a short correction, but a lifelong one.
- It reads as a diminutive to some ears, which matters more on a résumé than in a classroom; Charles and Charlotte remain the formal doors back in.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Catalina
55%chance Catalina feels dated by 2040
Catalina is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Charlie
40%chance Charlie feels dated by 2040
Charlie sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Catalina and Charlie in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Catalina and Charlie?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Catalina and Charlie — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Catalina or Charlie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Catalina or Charlie?
- Catalina, in 2025: Catalina ranked #111 with 2,456 babies; Charlie ranked #133 with 2,160 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Catalina or Charlie?
- Catalina. Over the last five years Catalina moved up 68 places; Charlie moved down 11 places.
- Which is the older name, Catalina or Charlie?
- Catalina entered the US charts in 1893; Charlie entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Charlie is the older name.
- How many people are named Catalina and Charlie?
- About 31,000 people named Catalina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 35,000 people named Charlie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Catalinas or Charlies in the classroom?
- Catalina will almost certainly be the only one in school. Charlie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Catalina, Charlie and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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