Katrin
Feminine · “unknown”
Katrin is the same name as Katherine, arriving from the other side of Europe. It is standard in Germany, ordinary in Sweden and Estonia, and recognizable in Russian. In America it is rare, and it now carries something none of its relatives asked for: a storm name that the World Meteorological Organization retired, and that took a whole family of spellings down with it.
How old is the name Katrin?
Katrin first appears in US birth records in 1951 — 74 years ago. The typical Katrin alive today was born around 1985, making them about 40 years old. About 1,000 people named Katrin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Katrin most popular?
Katrin peaked in 1977, reaching #2381 nationally. See the whole 1977 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From a Greek name of unrecovered meaning to Katrin
The story of Katrin
In the last week of August 2005 a storm crossed the Gulf of Mexico, the levees failed, and most of a major American city went under water. The World Meteorological Organization keeps rotating lists of hurricane names and retires any name attached to a disaster severe enough that reusing it would be inappropriate, which is why that particular storm name will never be issued again. The effect on the names themselves is measurable and quick: the whole cluster of spellings dropped away within two years and has not recovered. It is one of the very few things that can end a name's American career in a single season.
Meaningscholars disagree
unknown, though long read as pure
The Greek original behind every form of this name has never been explained, and the association with the Greek word for pure is a medieval graft rather than an etymology. Katrin is a continental short form of the full name, not an American abbreviation of it — German, Scandinavian and Baltic speakers have written it this way for a long time. What the spelling loses is the ending that would identify which national version of the name it came from, and that is why it cannot be assigned to one country.
How the name formed
- a Greek name of unrecovered meaning
- Katharina established across the German-speaking world
- Katrin as a standard continental short form
- appears in American records in the 1950s
- the whole family falls away after 2005
Related forms: Kathrin · Katrin · Katrin · Katya
Pronouncing Katrin
kah-TREEN
Two syllables, stress at the back, in German and Swedish alike. American readers regularly front the stress, KAT-rin, which is a different name in the ear even though it is the same one on the page.
Nicknames for Katrin
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
- 1951
- Most girls named
- 197737 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2381reached in 1977
- Change vs 2022
- −37.5%5 in 2023, from 8
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.
Katrin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kathrin in German — spelling variant
- Katrin in Swedish — same name
- Katrin in Estonian — same name
- Katya in Russian — related form
Katrins among us
people named Katrin 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
Katrin 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 works without alteration in German, Swedish, Estonian and English, which very few spellings manage.
- Kat and Katya are both available and both sound current rather than historic.
- It is a genuinely ancient name in an unfussy modern spelling.
- The hurricane association is strong in America and will be there for another generation at least.
- The stress is unsettled between the continental and the American reading.
- It will be written Katrina, Kathryn and Kathrin by nearly everyone who hears it once.
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What they receive
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Katrin
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Katrins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Katrin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Katrin in 2025?
- Katrin is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Katrin with classmates?
- Katrin 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 Katrin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Katrin and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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