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Kathie

Feminine · “pure”

1918high 1953
Rare todaygiven to only a few children a year
rare

Kathie is the -ie spelling in a family that has been arguing about orthography since the Middle Ages. Katherine, Catherine, Katharine and Catharine have all been standard, and their short forms inherited the disagreement.

How old is the name Kathie?

Kathie first appears in US birth records in 1918 — 107 years ago. The typical Kathie alive today was born around 1955, making them about 70 years old. About 12,000 people named Kathie are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Kathie most popular?

Kathie peaked in 1954, reaching #274 nationally. See the whole 1954 chart.

Compare this nameMore “K” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Kathie

Katherine spread through Europe on the strength of the Alexandrian martyr's legend, and English kept several spellings of it in parallel for centuries. The Kath- clipping is highly productive, and mid-century American families wrote it three ways — Kathy, Kathie, Cathy — with none of them dominant. Kathie peaked in the early 1960s, a step behind Kathy itself.

Meaningscholars disagree

pure

The received meaning is the Greek katharos, 'pure', but that reading was applied to the name after the fact. The earliest recorded form, Aikaterine, is not explained by katharos, and the spelling was reshaped toward it under the influence of the saint's legend. The original sense is not recovered.

How the name formed

  1. Aikaterine
  2. Katherine
  3. Kathy
  4. Kathie

Related forms: Kathy · Cathy · Käthe · Caitlín

Pronouncing Kathie

KATH-ee

Two syllables, stress on the first, th as in 'thin'. All three spellings are said identically.

Nicknames for Kathie

Moderate

KatA harder, shorter modern alternative that has largely replaced Kathy among younger bearers
KatherineThe parent form, available as the formal version whenever one is wanted
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

GIRLS NAMED · 1918–20258354180835719182020

US babies named Kathie per year from 1918 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#2741910s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1918
Most girls named
1953835 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#274reached in 1954
Change vs 2017
−50.0%7 in 2020, from 14
Kathie sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 1953, with 835 girls. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

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.

Kathie in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • Kathy in English — spelling variant
  • Cathy in English — spelling variant
  • Käthe in German — related form
  • Caitlín in Irish — related form

Strongest US states over the last decade: California.

Kathies among us

12,000

people named Kathie are estimated to be alive in the US today

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

III

Is it right for you

Fashion outlook

Kathie has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.

Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • It sits inside one of the largest name families in Europe, with cousins everywhere.
  • The -ie ending reads warmer than -y without changing the sound.
  • Katherine and Kathleen are both available as formal forms.
What to consider
  • Three spellings of the short form are in use and Kathy is much the commonest.
  • The name is closely tied to one American generation.

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Kathie

Feminine

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Your shared list is empty. Kathie would be the first name on it.

Frequently asked

How many Kathies are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 12,000 people named Kathie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How popular is the name Kathie in 2025?
Kathie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
Will my child share the name Kathie with classmates?
Kathie will almost certainly be the only one in school.

More K names

The most-given names starting with K, all years combined.

Karen#1279 · Kimberly#302 · Kathleen#1150 · Katherine#186 · Kelly#851 · Kathryn#729 · Kayla#364 · Kathy#3249

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kathie? See the current top 100.

Choosing between Kathie and another name?

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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