Catarina
Feminine · “pure”
Catarina is the Portuguese of Katherine, and the pure meaning attached to it is a Greek word imposed on the name long after it appeared.
How old is the name Catarina?
Catarina first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Catarina alive today was born around 1999, making them about 26 years old. About 3,200 people named Catarina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Catarina most popular?
Catarina peaked in 1891, reaching #1006 nationally. Today it ranks #1896, 890 places below that high. See the whole 1891 chart.
Catarina appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Aikaterine to Catarina
The story of Catarina
Catherine of Alexandria was among the most venerated medieval saints, and the name spread into every Christian language with more variants than almost any other. Catarina is standard in Portuguese and Italian; Catarina of Braganza married Charles II and brought tea-drinking to England. It appears in American records in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
pure
Through Katherine, first recorded as Aikaterine, of unrecovered origin and possibly linked to Hecate. The Greek katharos, 'pure', was attached later and produced the th in some spellings. The 'pure' reading is a reinterpretation, though a very old and settled one.
How the name formed
- Aikaterine
- Catharina
- Catarina
Related forms: Catarina · Caterina · Katarina
Pronouncing Catarina
kah-tah-REE-nah
Four syllables, stress on the third. Portuguese says it the same way with a lighter final vowel.
Nicknames for Catarina
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
- 1888
- Most girls named
- 2025103 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1006reached in 1891
- Change vs 2022
- +12.0%103 in 2025, from 92
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.
Catarina in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Catarina in Portuguese — same name
- Caterina in Italian — related form
- Katarina in Swedish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Texas, California.
Catarinas among us
people named Catarina are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 15,605 born in 2025 was named Catarina
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Catarina
- #1896
- Catarina on the 2025 chart
- #745
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Catarina went to 103 girls in 2025, but Katarina is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 216, which makes it the 745th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,151 places above the chart.
- Katarina113
- Catarina103
About 1 girl in 7,441 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 15,605 for Catarina 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
Fashion outlook
Catarina 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 Catarina is headed
Catarina should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Catarina beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Catarina in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Katherine stands behind it with more forms across more languages than almost any other name.
- A queen of England who made tea fashionable carries the Portuguese form.
- Cata and Rina are two short forms with real use.
- The 'pure' meaning is a later attachment rather than the original.
- Caterina and Katarina are both close and equally established.
- Four syllables make it long for everyday use.
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What they receive
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Catarina
Feminine · #1896 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Catarinas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,200 people named Catarina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Catarina?
- Catarina is one of 2 recorded spellings. Katarina is the more common one — 113 births in 2025 against 103 for Catarina.
- How popular is the name Catarina in 2025?
- Catarina ranks #1896 among US girl names in 2025, with 103 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Catarina?
- About 1 in every 15,605 US girls born in 2025 was named Catarina — 103 in all.
- Will my child share the name Catarina with classmates?
- Catarina will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Catarina
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Bryleigh#1896 · Yesenia#1896 · Karlee#1896 · Millicent#1896 · Maizy#1896 · Meghan#1902 · Halima#1902 · Pepper#1902
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Catarina? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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