Kittie
Feminine · “pure”
Kittie is Katherine at three removes. Kit was the medieval English clipping, Kitty the affectionate stretch, and Kittie the nineteenth-century American spelling — and along the way the word became a name for cats.
How old is the name Kittie?
Kittie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Kittie alive today was born around 1916, making them about 109 years old. About 600 people named Kittie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kittie most popular?
Kittie peaked in 1880, reaching #252 nationally. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Aikaterine to Kittie
The story of Kittie
Katherine was among the commonest women's names in medieval England and produced short forms in every direction, of which Kit was one — used for men named Christopher as well. Kitty followed as the affectionate form, and became so ordinary a name that it was applied to cats, which is why the animal word exists. Kittie is the American -ie spelling, registered as a legal name and peaking around 1885.
Meaningscholars disagree
pure
Through Katherine, whose received meaning is the Greek katharos, 'pure'. That reading arrived after the name did: the earliest 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
- Aikaterine
- Katherine
- Kit
- Kitty
- Kittie
Related forms: Kitty · Caitlín · Käthe
Pronouncing Kittie
KIT-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Kittie and Kitty are said identically.
Nicknames for Kittie
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
- 188963 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #252reached in 1880
- Change vs 1983
- 0.0%6 in 1988, 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.
Kittie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kitty in English — spelling variant
- Caitlín in Irish — related form
- Käthe in German — related form
Kitties among us
people named Kittie 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
Kittie 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
- Katherine stands behind it, one of the largest name families in European history.
- Kit is available as a plainer and much more modern-sounding form.
- Short, bright and easy for a very young child to say.
- The word is now the ordinary English term for a cat, which came from the name rather than the other way round.
- It is strongly period-coded to the late nineteenth century.
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What they receive
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Kittie
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Kitties are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Kittie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kittie in 2025?
- Kittie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Kittie with classmates?
- Kittie 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 Kittie? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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