Kateri
Feminine
Kateri is the Mohawk form of Catherine, and it belonged to the first Native American woman canonized as a saint.
How old is the name Kateri?
Kateri first appears in US birth records in 1937 — 88 years ago. The typical Kateri alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 2,500 people named Kateri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kateri most popular?
Kateri peaked in 1980, reaching #1720 nationally. Today it ranks #4352, 2,632 places below that high. See the whole 1980 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Aikaterine to Kateri
The story of Kateri
Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 to a Mohawk father and an Algonquin mother, survived the smallpox that killed her family and left her scarred and half-blind, converted at nineteen and died at twenty-four. She was canonized in 2012, the first Native American woman to be. Kateri is the Mohawk form of the baptismal name Catherine, and the name is used in Catholic and Indigenous communities.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Catherine's Greek origin is genuinely unknown; the purity reading is a medieval reinterpretation. Kateri is the Mohawk rendering of the French Catherine, adapted to Mohawk phonology, which has no r-less form of the French sound.
How the name formed
- Aikaterine
- Catherine
- Kateri
Related forms: Kateri · Catherine · Catherine
Pronouncing Kateri
GAH-deh-lee
Three syllables in Mohawk, which softens the k and t; English speakers say kuh-TER-ee.
Nicknames for Kateri
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
- 1937
- Most girls named
- 198065 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1720reached in 1980
- Change vs 2023
- −22.0%32 in 2025, from 41
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.
Kateri in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kateri in Mohawk — same name
- Catherine in English — related form
- Catherine in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Michigan, Arizona.
Kateris among us
people named Kateri are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 50,227 born in 2025 was named Kateri
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Arcelia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kateri's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Arcelia climbed just as high around 1950, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Arcelia's path sketches the road Kateri is walking now.
Kateri 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 Kateri is headed
Kateri should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Kateri beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kateri in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented and genuinely remarkable historical figure behind it.
- Kate and Teri are both complete short forms in their own right.
- Six letters and three syllables, manageable to write.
- The Mohawk pronunciation differs substantially from the English one.
- It is closely tied to one saint, which some families intend and others do not.
- Catherine's own meaning is genuinely unknown.
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What they receive
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Kateri
Feminine · #4352 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kateris are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,500 people named Kateri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kateri in 2025?
- Kateri ranks #4352 among US girl names in 2025, with 32 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kateri?
- About 1 in every 50,227 US girls born in 2025 was named Kateri — 32 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kateri with classmates?
- Kateri will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kateri
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sigrid#4352 · Adel#4352 · Lovella#4352 · Kaysha#4352 · Arissa#4352 · Joseline#4352 · Yajaira#4352 · Elma#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kateri? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kateri and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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