Katherine
Feminine
Katherine is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 650,926 girls against 1,824 boys since 1880. See Katherine as a boy name
A woman with this name did the arithmetic that put the first American into orbit, by hand, because the astronaut did not trust the machine. He asked specifically for her to check the electronic computer's numbers before he would fly, and she did — several days of desk calculation to confirm what a room-sized machine had already produced.
How old is the name Katherine?
Katherine was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Katherine alive today was born around 1978, making them about 47 years old. About 487,000 people named Katherine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Katherine most popular?
Katherine peaked in 1991, reaching #25 nationally. Today it ranks #186, 161 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.
Where it comes from
From Aikaterine to Katherine
The story of Katherine
The k and the c spellings split along national lines and always have. Germany, the Scandinavian countries and Poland write it with a k, because their alphabets use the letter freely and their languages took the name through Greek. England and France write it with a c, because Latin had no k to speak of and passed the name on accordingly. America inherited both, from immigration on one side and from English on the other, and has used them interchangeably ever since — which is why this is one of the very few major names where neither spelling can claim to be the standard.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name's origin has never been established. The familiar association with a Greek word for pure is a later reinterpretation attached by writers who found the resemblance convincing, and the earliest recorded forms point somewhere else.
Cultural footprint
Katherine Johnson (b. 1918) — NASA mathematician celebrated in Hidden Figures
Katherine Heigl (b. 1978) — Grey's Anatomy's Izzie
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Aikaterine
- Catherine
- Katherine
Related forms: Katharina · Yekaterina · Katarzyna · Caterina
Pronouncing Katherine
KATH-ur-in
Three syllables with the stress at the front. The middle is reduced almost to nothing, which is why it is spelled with an e in some forms and an a in others.
Nicknames for Katherine
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
- 198911,415 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #25reached in 1991
- Change vs 2022
- −4.1%1,670 in 2025, from 1,742
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.
Katherine in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Katharina in German — same name
- Yekaterina in Russian — same name
- Katarzyna in Polish — same name
- Caterina in Italian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Katherines among us
people named Katherine are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 962 born in 2025 was named Katherine
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Katherine
- #186
- Katherine on the 2025 chart
- #112
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Katherine went to 1,670 girls in 2025, but Catherine is the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 2,651, which makes it the 112th most-given girls’ name of the year — 74 places above the chart.
- Katherine1,670
- Catherine972
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 606 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 962 for Katherine 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 Robin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Katherine's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Robin climbed just as high around 1962, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Robin's path sketches the road Katherine is walking now.
Katherine has held the top-100 across 14 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Katherine is headed
Katherine 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.
Katherine beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Katherine in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has more short forms than almost any other name, across several registers.
- It is recognized in every European language with small changes.
- It has been in continuous use for well over a thousand years.
- Two spellings are equally standard and the choice is queried for life.
- No meaning can be given honestly, whatever other pages assert.
- It is common enough that a child may not be the only one nearby.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Katherine to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Katherine? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Katherine
Feminine · #186 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Katherines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 487,000 people named Katherine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Katherine?
- Katherine is the most-used spelling in US records — 1,670 of the 2,651 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Catherine.
- How popular is the name Katherine in 2025?
- Katherine ranks #186 among US girl names in 2025, with 1,670 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Katherine?
- About 1 in every 962 US girls born in 2025 was named Katherine — 1,670 in all.
- Will my child share the name Katherine with classmates?
- Katherine will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Katherine
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lila#186 · Kaylani#185 · Celeste#188 · Adalynn#184 · Ximena#183 · Tatum#189 · Annie#182 · Haven#190
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Katherine? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Katherine and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle