Catharine
Feminine · “pure”
Catharine is the spelling that shows its work. Katherine was reshaped in the Middle Ages toward the Greek word for pure, and this form keeps the h and the a that make that reinterpretation visible.
How old is the name Catharine?
Catharine was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Catharine alive today was born around 1933, making them about 92 years old. About 5,500 people named Catharine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Catharine most popular?
Catharine peaked in 1883, reaching #249 nationally. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Aikaterine to Catharine
The story of Catharine
Catherine spread through Europe on the strength of the Alexandrian scholar-martyr's legend, and every language produced its own form. English used Katherine, Catherine, Katharine and Catharine in parallel for centuries, with no single spelling ever winning outright — an unusually long-running orthographic disagreement. Catharine appears in American registers throughout the nineteenth century and peaked around 1885.
Meaningscholars disagree
pure
The received meaning is the Greek katharos, 'pure', and this spelling is the one that most clearly reflects it. But katharos does not explain the earliest recorded form, Aikaterine; the name was reshaped toward the word by writers who wanted the saint's name to mean what her legend said she was. The original sense is not recovered.
How the name formed
- Aikaterine
- Katharina
- Catharine
Related forms: Catherine · Katharine · Katharina · Caterina
Pronouncing Catharine
KATH-uh-rin
Three syllables, stress on the first. All the spellings are said identically; some speakers compress it to two.
Nicknames for Catharine
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 1915281 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #249reached in 1883
- Change vs 2021
- −12.5%7 in 2024, from 8
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.
Catharine in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Catherine in English — spelling variant
- Katharine in English — spelling variant
- Katharina in German — related form
- Caterina in Italian — related form
Catharines among us
people named Catharine are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Catharine has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- One of the largest and best-documented name families in Europe stands behind it.
- The spelling makes the katharos reinterpretation visible, which is a genuinely interesting thing to carry.
- Kate, Katie and Cathy are all available as short forms with their own long records.
- Four spellings of the full name are established and none is dominant.
- The meaning is not actually recovered, whatever the standard reading says.
- It is period-coded to the nineteenth century in American records.
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What they receive
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Catharine
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Catharines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,500 people named Catharine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Catharine in 2025?
- Catharine is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Catharine with classmates?
- Catharine will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Catharine? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Catharine and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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