Katalina
Feminine · “Uncertain in its oldest layer”
Katalina is one of the many descendants of the Greek Aikaterine, the name carried by Saint Catherine of Alexandria and then by queens, empresses and saints across most of Europe. This particular shape sits close to Spanish Catalina and Basque and Hungarian Katalin, and its four syllables ripple out to that long final -ina. In American records it is a recent arrival rather than an old family name, and it has been gaining ground steadily.
How old is the name Katalina?
Katalina first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Katalina is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 8,700 people named Katalina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Katalina most popular?
Katalina peaked in 2025, reaching #430 nationally. Today it ranks #430, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Katalina appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Aikaterine to Katalina
The story of Katalina
The line begins with Greek Aikaterine, borne by Saint Catherine of Alexandria, whose cult spread through the medieval Mediterranean and made the name one of the most widely borrowed in Europe. Latin Catharina gave Spanish and Catalan Catalina, Hungarian Katalin, Basque Katalin and Katalina, Italian Caterina, and English Katherine and Catherine. Katalina belongs to that Spanish and Basque branch, with the K that Central and Eastern European spellings favor. In the United States it is strongest in the Southwest and in Florida, where Spanish-language naming and English spelling habits meet.
Meaningscholars disagree
Uncertain in its oldest layer; long associated with Greek 'katharos', pure
The Greek original, Aikaterine, has no agreed source — it may connect to the name Hekate, but that is not settled. What is documented is that early Christian writers reshaped the spelling toward katharos, 'pure', and that reading has traveled with the name ever since. So there are two honest answers: an unexplained ancient name, and the 'pure' meaning attached to it centuries later.
How the name formed
- Aikaterine
- Catharina
- Catalina
- Katalin
- Katalina
Related forms: Catalina · Katalin · Katalin · Caterina · Katherine · Yekaterina
Pronouncing Katalina
kah-tah-LEE-nah
Spanish speakers give all four syllables even weight with the stress on LEE; many English speakers flatten the first vowels to kat-uh-LEE-nuh. Both are heard, and neither needs correcting.
Nicknames for Katalina
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
- 1971
- Most girls named
- 2025720 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #430reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +1.7%720 in 2025, from 708
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.
Katalina in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Catalina in Spanish — spelling variant
- Katalin in Hungarian — same name
- Katalin in Basque — same name
- Caterina in Italian — same name
- Katherine in English — same name
- Yekaterina in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Katalinas among us
people named Katalina are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 2,232 born in 2025 was named Katalina
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Katalina
- #430
- Katalina on the 2025 chart
- #89
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Katalina went to 720 girls in 2025, but Catalina, 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 — 341 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 496 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 2,232 for Katalina 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 Mitzi test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Katalina's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Mitzi climbed just as high around 1955, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Mitzi's path sketches the road Katalina is walking now.
Katalina 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 Katalina is headed
Katalina looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 15% 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.
Katalina beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Katalina in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Belongs to one of the best-documented name families in Europe, so its history and its relatives are easy to point to.
- Comes with several ready-made short forms — Kat, Katie, Lina, Kata — spanning formal and casual use.
- Recognizable in Spanish, Basque, Hungarian, Italian and English-speaking settings without needing to change shape.
- Rare enough in American classrooms to stand out, while the sound itself is already familiar to almost everyone.
- Catalina is the spelling most Americans expect, so Katalina will be written with a C fairly often. Worth deciding early whether that is a correction you want to make every time or one you let pass.
- The rise is very recent, which means most people carrying this exact spelling are children. If you like a name with older namesakes in living memory, this one has them only under other spellings.
- Catalina Island and Catalina dressing are both well known in the US, and the ear may reach for them first. The K spelling puts a little distance between the two, but not a wall.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Katalina
Feminine · #430 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Katalinas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 8,700 people named Katalina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Katalina?
- Katalina is one of 4 recorded spellings. Catalina is the more common one — 2,456 births in 2025 against 720 for Katalina.
- How popular is the name Katalina in 2025?
- Katalina ranks #430 among US girl names in 2025, with 720 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Katalina?
- About 1 in every 2,232 US girls born in 2025 was named Katalina — 720 in all.
- Will my child share the name Katalina with classmates?
- Katalina will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Katalina
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Leona#429 · London#431 · Trinity#428 · Dream#432 · Maia#433 · Veronica#427 · Vienna#434 · Winter#426
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Katalina? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Katalina and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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