Katherine
Masculine
Katherine is given to girls far more often — 650,926 girls against 1,824 boys since 1880. See Katherine as a girl 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 1971, making them about 54 years old. About 1,200 people named Katherine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Katherine most popular?
Katherine peaked in 1904, reaching #723 nationally. See the whole 1904 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
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.
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 boys named
- 198448 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #723reached in 1904
- Change vs 2011
- +80.0%9 in 2015, 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.
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
Katherines among us
people named Katherine 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
Katherine 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
- 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.
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Katherine
Masculine
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 1,200 people named Katherine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Katherine in 2025?
- Katherine is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Katherine with classmates?
- Katherine will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More K names
The most-given names starting with K, all years combined.
Kenneth#294 · Kevin#221 · Kyle#508 · Keith#800 · Karl#1585 · Kaleb#295 · Kurt#2258 · Kelly#1867
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Katherine? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Katherine and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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