Cathlene
Feminine · “Pure”
Cathlene belongs to a family whose famous meaning is a medieval guess — the pure reading was attached to it by people who thought they recognized a Greek word, and the original name has never been explained.
How old is the name Cathlene?
Cathlene first appears in US birth records in 1929 — 96 years ago. The typical Cathlene alive today was born around 1961, making them about 64 years old. About 700 people named Cathlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cathlene most popular?
Cathlene peaked in 1957, reaching #1784 nationally. See the whole 1957 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Caitlin to Cathlene
The story of Cathlene
The spelling records the guess. The earliest Latin and French forms of this family had a t alone; the h was inserted by scholars who believed the name came from the Greek word for pure and wanted the spelling to show it, and it stuck so thoroughly that the versions without it now look like the variants. So the whole family carries, in one silent letter, a piece of medieval etymological reasoning that later scholarship rejected — and the letter has outlived the theory by several centuries, which is the usual fate of a spelling introduced to make a point.
Meaningscholars disagree
Pure, by a medieval reading
The Greek word for pure was identified with the name in the Middle Ages and has been repeated ever since. The earliest forms do not support it: the name appears before that word is attached to it, and its actual origin is unknown.
How the name formed
- Caitlin
- Kathleen
- Cathlene
Related forms: Caitlin
Pronouncing Cathlene
kath-LEEN
Two syllables with the stress at the back, which is where this family puts it.
Nicknames for Cathlene
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
- 1929
- Most girls named
- 195737 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1784reached in 1957
- Change vs 2002
- 0.0%5 in 2004, from 5
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.
Cathlene in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Caitlin in Irish — related form
Cathlenes among us
people named Cathlene 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
Cathlene sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The back stress gives it a strong finish.
- It is read correctly on sight.
- The family behind it is one of the largest in Europe.
- Kathleen and Cathleen are both standard and hers will be written as one of them.
- The famous meaning is a medieval guess rather than an etymology.
- The name is closely tied to one American generation.
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Cathlene
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Cathlenes 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 Cathlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Cathlene in 2025?
- Cathlene is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Cathlene with classmates?
- Cathlene 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 Cathlene? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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