Catalina
Feminine · “Traditionally read as "pure”
Catalina is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 33,009 girls against 7 boys since 1880.
Catalina is the Spanish form of Katherine, a name that has been in continuous use since the early Christian centuries and has crossed nearly every European language on its way here. It arrived in the United States by two roads at once — with Spanish-speaking families, and on the map, in the island off the Southern California coast that Spanish sailors named for Saint Catherine. Four syllables, all of them open, with the stress landing on that long LEE in the middle.
How old is the name Catalina?
Catalina first appears in US birth records in 1893 — 132 years ago. The typical Catalina is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 31,000 people named Catalina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Catalina most popular?
Catalina peaked in 2025, reaching #111 nationally. Today it ranks #111, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Catalina appears on these lists:
- About to go mainstream: next year's top-100
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- The sweet spot: familiar but not everywhere
- Four-syllable names that carry
- Eight-letter names with presence
- Names predicted to enter the top 100 by 2030
- all guides
Works in Spanish & Latino families too:
Where it comes from
From Aikaterine to Catalina
The story of Catalina
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. Spanish explorers carried it to the Americas as both a baptismal name and a place name, which is why Santa Catalina sits off the California coast and why the shortened Catalina turns up on maps, boats and songs. In US records it has been present for well over a century, quietly, long before the recent climb.
Meaningscholars disagree
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.
Cultural footprint
Catalina Sandino Moreno (b. 1981) — Oscar-nominated for Maria Full of Grace
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Aikaterine
- Catharina
- Catalina
Related forms: Katherine · Catherine · Caterina · Catarina · Katharina · Ekaterina
Pronouncing 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.
Nicknames for Catalina
High
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
- 1893
- Most girls named
- 20252,456 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #111reached in 2025
- Change vs 2022
- +25.8%2,456 in 2025, from 1,953
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.
Catalina in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Katherine in English — same name
- Catherine in French — same name
- Caterina in Italian — same name
- Catarina in Portuguese — same name
- Katharina in German — same name
- Ekaterina in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Catalinas among us
people named Catalina are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 654 born in 2025 was named Catalina
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Catalina
- #111
- Catalina on the 2025 chart
- #89
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Catalina went to 2,456 girls in 2025, but Katalina, Katalyna and Catalyna are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 3,241, which makes it the 89th most-given girls’ name of the year — 22 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 496 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 654 for Catalina 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 Claudia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Catalina's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Claudia climbed just as high around 1952, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Claudia's path sketches the road Catalina is walking now.
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.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Catalina is headed
Catalina looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 16% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
High 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.
Catalina beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Catalina in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- 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.
- Familiar to American ears through the island and the map even where the given name is less often heard.
- 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.
- Four syllables ending in -a pair awkwardly with some long surnames; say the full name aloud a few times before deciding.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Catalina to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Catalina? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Catalina
Feminine · #111 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Catalinas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 31,000 people named Catalina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Catalina?
- Catalina is the most-used spelling in US records — 2,456 of the 3,241 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Katalina, Katalyna and Catalyna.
- How popular is the name Catalina in 2025?
- Catalina ranks #111 among US girl names in 2025, with 2,456 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Catalina?
- About 1 in every 654 US girls born in 2025 was named Catalina — 2,456 in all.
- Will my child share the name Catalina with classmates?
- Catalina will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Catalina
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Margaret#112 · Juliette#110 · Cora#113 · Athena#109 · Cecilia#108 · Rose#114 · Eliza#115 · Anna#107
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Catalina? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Catalina and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle