ninan.org

Catherine

Girls' name · Mid-century perennial

Living in the US
~390,600 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#313 among girls
Births in 2025
972 669,611 since 1880
Typical age
59 years, median

Catherine popularity over time

Catherine rank by birth year, 1880–2025Catherine ranked #31 in 1880 and #313 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #18, in 1914.#100#313best #18 in 191418901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1956: 12,075 births recorded as Catherine. The name is already in use in 1880, where the data begins. It has held a top-100 place in 121 separate years.

As of 2025 the name sits at #313, with 972 births that year. The ten-year change is -46%.

Babies named Catherine per yearPeaks at 12,075 births in 1956.12,075 in 1956018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Catherine?

About 390,600 people named Catherine are alive in the United States today. That is out of 669,611 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Catherine?

Half of living Catherines are older than 59, half younger. Most living bearers were born in the 1950s. By the site’s era rules that makes Catherine a mid-century perennial name.

Your Catherine

Ages of living people named CatherineHalf of living Catherines are older than 59 and half younger.median 59020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Catherine is most common

The name is concentrated in District of Columbia, at 4.3× the national rate. Alabama, Louisiana and South Carolina follow.

Where Catherine is used more than average5 states use the name Catherine more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: 1.8× the national rateVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: 1.8× the national rateSCDistrict of Columbia: 4.3× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: 1.9× the national rateLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: 2.0× the national rateALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Catherine is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
District of Columbia 95 4.3×
Alabama 289 2.0×
Louisiana 263 1.9×
South Carolina 241 1.8×
Virginia 460 1.8×

Catherine in England and Wales

ONS recorded 66 births named Catherine in 2025, ranking it #590. That is 35% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Catherine comes from

Borrowed from French Catherine, from Ancient Greek Αἰκατερίνη, *Ἑκατερίνη, of debated meaning, possibly from ἑκάτερος (“each of the two”), or from the name of the goddess Hecate. The of the first syllable as well as the spelling with ⟨th⟩ in Latin languages, German and English, is due to a folk etymology, dating from Roman times, which associated the name with the Ancient Greek καθαρός (“pure”). The name belonged to a 4th-century saint and martyr from Alexandria who was tortured on the wheel from where the term Catherine wheel originates.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Catherine

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Catherine the Great eighth Emperor of Russia, called the Great, r. 1762–1796 (lived 1729-1796) 1729–1796 152
Catherine Zeta-Jones British actress 1969 102
Catherine Deneuve French actress 1943 92
Catherine O'Hara Canadian-American actress 1954–2026 72
Catherine of Alexandria Egyptian missionary, saint depicted with a wheel 282–305 70
Catherine Howard fifth wife of Henry VIII of England 1523–1542 67
Catherine Ashton British politician 1956 61
Catherine Parr sixth wife of Henry VIII of England; final queen consort of the House of Tudor 1512–1548 59
Photo credits (4)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

How Catherine is usually spelled

Spellings within one or two letters of each other, and how 2025 births divided between them.
SpellingBirths in 2025Share
Katherine 1,670 62%
Catherine this page 972 36%
Katherin 34 1%

Names similar to Catherine

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Same feel, less common

The same matches, limited to names given at most half as often as Catherine was in 2025.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/catherine.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).