Kayte
Feminine · Greek roots · “pure (as Katherine”
Kayte is Kate with its long a written twice: once by the ay of Kay, and again by the silent e that makes Kate a long-vowel word in the first place. The sound does not change at all; Kayte is one crisp syllable.
How old is the name Kayte?
Kayte first appears in US birth records in 1978 — 47 years ago. The typical Kayte alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 500 people named Kayte are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kayte most popular?
Kayte peaked in 1988, reaching #3306 nationally. See the whole 1988 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Aikaterine (Greek) to Kayte
The story of Kayte
Kate has been the English short form of Katherine since the Middle Ages and has long stood alone as a name. Kayte keeps its single syllable and writes it with the ay of Kay as well as Kate's own silent e, so the long a is marked twice where either mark alone would do the job. Nothing records why this spelling was chosen, and the name has no history apart from Kate.
Meaningscholars disagree
pure (as Katherine, by old association)
Kate is the traditional English short form of Katherine. Katherine's first meaning is argued; its spelling was bent long ago toward the Greek katharos, 'pure', and that reading has stuck without settling the question. Kayte is a spelling of Kate.
How the name formed
- AikaterineGreek
- Katherine
- Kate
- Kayte
Related forms: Cáit · Cadi
Pronouncing Kayte
KAYT
One syllable, rhyming with late.
Nicknames for Kayte
Limited
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
- 1978
- Most girls named
- 198829 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3306reached in 1988
- Change vs 2016
- +16.7%7 in 2017, 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.
Kayte in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cáit in Irish — related form
- Cadi in Welsh — related form
Kaytes among us
people named Kayte 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
Kayte 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
- Sounds exactly like Kate, a name with centuries of use.
- The spelling cannot be mispronounced.
- It will be written Kate almost every time, and the y will need mentioning.
- Some readers will take the extra letters for a typo; a short correction settles it.
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Kayte
Feminine · Greek roots
Frequently asked
- How many Kaytes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Kayte are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kayte in 2025?
- Kayte is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Kayte with classmates?
- Kayte 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 Kayte? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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