Kathlyn
Feminine
Kathlyn is Kathleen with the ending trimmed, and Kathleen is the Irish Caitlin, which is Katherine after Norman French and Irish had each taken a turn at it. The name has crossed four languages to arrive at two syllables, and its meaning has been argued over for most of that journey.
How old is the name Kathlyn?
Kathlyn first appears in US birth records in 1897 — 128 years ago. The typical Kathlyn alive today was born around 1953, making them about 72 years old. About 3,300 people named Kathlyn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kathlyn most popular?
Kathlyn peaked in 1914, reaching #557 nationally. Today it ranks #4758, 4,201 places below that high. See the whole 1914 chart.
Kathlyn appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Aikaterine to Kathlyn
The story of Kathlyn
Katherine reached Ireland through Norman French Cateline, which Irish took as Caitlin, and English speakers heard that as Kathleen. The Irish form became enormously popular in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and it produced a crowd of respellings: Kathlyn, Kathlynn, Cathleen and Kathaleen. The -lyn ending in this one belongs to the same American habit that produced Marilyn and Carolyn, in which the final syllable of an existing name is rewritten as a fashionable suffix.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Katherine's origin is not established. The Greek Aikaterine is the earliest form and cannot be explained; the association with katharos, pure, came later and reshaped the spelling, which is why Latin wrote Katharina. A connection to the goddess Hecate has been proposed and is not accepted. Pure is the traditional gloss and is a medieval reading rather than an etymology.
How the name formed
- Aikaterine
- Katharina
- Cateline
- Caitlín
- Kathlyn
Related forms: Caitlín · Kathleen · Cathline · Kathrin
Pronouncing Kathlyn
KATH-lin
Two syllables, stress in front. It is said the same as Kathleen with the last vowel shortened, and some families make no distinction at all.
Nicknames for Kathlyn
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
- 1897
- Most girls named
- 1948117 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #557reached in 1914
- Change vs 2022
- +366.7%28 in 2025, from 6
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.
Kathlyn in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Caitlín in Irish — related form
- Kathleen in English — spelling variant
- Cathline in French — related form
- Kathrin in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Kathlyns among us
people named Kathlyn are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 57,402 born in 2025 was named Kathlyn
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Kathlyn 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 Kathlyn is headed
Kathlyn is on a steep climb — if the curve holds, 2030 could see around 100% more babies given the name than today. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Kathlyn beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kathlyn in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It connects to one of the largest and best-traveled name families in Europe.
- It offers short forms across several generations, from Kit to Kat.
- Two syllables with the stress in front sit well against almost any surname.
- Kathleen and Kathlyn are close enough that the fuller name will be written instead.
- The meaning usually printed for it, pure, is a medieval guess rather than a fact.
- The -lyn ending places the name firmly in the first half of the last century.
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What they receive
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Kathlyn
Feminine · #4758 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kathlyns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,300 people named Kathlyn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kathlyn in 2025?
- Kathlyn ranks #4758 among US girl names in 2025, with 28 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kathlyn?
- About 1 in every 57,402 US girls born in 2025 was named Kathlyn — 28 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kathlyn with classmates?
- Kathlyn will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kathlyn
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Marylou#4758 · Landon#4758 · Lexa#4758 · Alysia#4758 · Ixchel#4758 · Parisa#4758 · Jumana#4758 · Berenice#4758
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kathlyn? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kathlyn and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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