Katy
Feminine · “pure”
Katy is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 20,952 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Katy is Katherine cut to two syllables, and Katherine's meaning — pure — is a Greek word attached to the name long after it first appeared in the record.
How old is the name Katy?
Katy was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Katy alive today was born around 1984, making them about 41 years old. About 18,500 people named Katy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Katy most popular?
Katy peaked in 1987, reaching #351 nationally. Today it ranks #2691, 2,340 places below that high. See the whole 1987 chart.
Katy appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Aikaterine to Katy
The story of Katy
Catherine of Alexandria was among the most venerated medieval saints, and the name spread into every Christian language with more variants than almost any other. English produced Kate, Katie, Katy and Kitty, and American families registered them all outright. Katy peaked in American records around 1885 and returned in the 1980s.
Meaningscholars disagree
pure
Through Katherine, whose earliest form Aikaterine is of unrecovered origin, possibly linked to Hecate. The Greek katharos, 'pure', was attached later and produced the th spelling. The 'pure' reading is a reinterpretation, though a very old and thoroughly settled one.
How the name formed
- Aikaterine
- Katherine
- Kate
- Katy
Related forms: Katie · Catie · Käthe
Pronouncing Katy
KAY-tee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Katy and Katie are said identically.
Nicknames for Katy
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
- 1987674 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #351reached in 1987
- Change vs 2022
- −24.7%64 in 2025, from 85
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.
Katy in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Katie in English — spelling variant
- Catie in English — spelling variant
- Käthe in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York.
Katys among us
people named Katy are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 25,114 born in 2025 was named Katy
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Katy
- #2691
- Katy on the 2025 chart
- #883
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Katy went to 64 girls in 2025, but Caty and Katty are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 77, which makes it the 883rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,808 places above the chart.
- Katy64
- Caty8
- Katty5
About 1 girl in 20,874 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 25,114 for Katy 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 Reva test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Katy's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Reva climbed just as high around 1921, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Reva's path sketches the road Katy is walking now.
Katy 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 Katy is headed
Katy 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.
Katy beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Katy in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Katherine stands behind it with more forms across more languages than almost any other name.
- Kate and Katherine are both available as fuller versions.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- Katie is the commoner spelling of the sound.
- The 'pure' meaning is a later attachment rather than the original.
- As a diminutive on the certificate it carries an informal register into adult life.
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What they receive
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Katy
Feminine · #2691 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Katys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 18,500 people named Katy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Katy?
- Katy is the most-used spelling in US records — 64 of the 77 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Caty and Katty.
- How popular is the name Katy in 2025?
- Katy ranks #2691 among US girl names in 2025, with 64 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Katy?
- About 1 in every 25,114 US girls born in 2025 was named Katy — 64 in all.
- Will my child share the name Katy with classmates?
- Katy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Katy
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Maricela#2691 · Zulema#2691 · Layana#2691 · Meher#2691 · Cyra#2691 · Aeris#2691 · Adelyne#2691 · Annmarie#2691
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Katy? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Katy and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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