Catalaya
Feminine
Catalaya sits close to two real things — Catalina, the Spanish form of Katherine, and cattleya, the orchid genus — and the record does not say which, if either, it came from.
How old is the name Catalaya?
Catalaya first appears in US birth records in 2012 — 13 years ago. The typical Catalaya is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Catalaya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Catalaya most popular?
Catalaya peaked in 2014, reaching #2714 nationally. Today it ranks #3517, 803 places below that high. See the whole 2014 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Catalaya
Ours, offered as ours. The orchid is the better story of the two. Cattleyas came out of Brazil and Colombia in the 1810s, packed as loose material around other plants, and a London collector noticed the discarded stems and grew them on. The genus carries his name. Catalaya is not documented as coming from it, but the sound is close, the flower is spectacular, and it is a better thing to point at than an invented etymology.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source is established. Two genuine neighbors: Catalina, the Spanish form of Katherine, whose own origin is unknown; and the cattleya orchid, named in the nineteenth century for an English horticulturalist who first flowered one in Europe. Neither is documented as the source.
Pronouncing Catalaya
kah-tah-LY-ah
Four syllables with the stress on the third. Some families say kah-tah-LAY-ah.
Nicknames for Catalaya
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 2012
- Most girls named
- 201464 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2714reached in 2014
- Change vs 2024
- −8.5%43 in 2025, from 47
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Catalaya in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Catalina in Spanish — related form
- Cattleya in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Catalayas among us
people named Catalaya are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 37,378 born in 2025 was named Catalaya
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Catalaya
- #3517
- Catalaya on the 2025 chart
- #877
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Catalaya went to 43 girls in 2025, but Katalaya, Catalayah and Katalayah are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 83, which makes it the 877th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,640 places above the chart.
- Catalaya43
- Katalaya28
- Catalayah6
- Katalayah6
About 1 girl in 19,365 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 37,378 for Catalaya itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Mariaguadalupe test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Catalaya's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Mariaguadalupe climbed just as high around 1996, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Mariaguadalupe's path sketches the road Catalaya is walking now.
Catalaya 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Catalaya is headed
Catalaya should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Catalaya beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Catalaya in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Cata and Cat are both ready short forms, in two languages.
- Every letter is sounded, so Spanish speakers read it correctly at once.
- Rare in the records, so it stays distinct on a class list.
- Four syllables is long for early handwriting and for American forms.
- The stress is unsettled and two readings will follow her.
- There is no documented meaning, only two neighbors.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Catalaya to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Catalaya
Feminine · #3517 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Catalayas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Catalaya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Catalaya?
- Catalaya is the most-used spelling in US records — 43 of the 83 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Katalaya, Catalayah and Katalayah.
- How popular is the name Catalaya in 2025?
- Catalaya ranks #3517 among US girl names in 2025, with 43 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Catalaya?
- About 1 in every 37,378 US girls born in 2025 was named Catalaya — 43 in all.
- Will my child share the name Catalaya with classmates?
- Catalaya will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Catalaya
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Maida#3517 · Amada#3517 · Afton#3517 · Allura#3517 · Jaina#3517 · Hallee#3517 · Katara#3517 · Joella#3517
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Catalaya? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Catalaya and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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