ninan.org

Kathleen

Girls' name · Mid-century perennial

Living in the US
~524,500 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,150 among girls
Births in 2025
201 715,336 since 1880
Typical age
68 years, median

Kathleen popularity over time

Kathleen rank by birth year, 1880–2025Kathleen ranked #352 in 1880 and #1,150 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #9, in 1949.#10#100#1,000#1,150best #9 in 194918901920195019802010
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.

More children were named Kathleen in 1951 than in any other year — 26,749 of them. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. It has held a top-100 place in 72 separate years.

In 2025 it ranked #1,150 with 201 births. Compared with 2015, births are down 41%. Year on year the rank dropped by 51.

Babies named Kathleen per yearPeaks at 26,749 births in 1951.26,749 in 1951018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Kathleen?

An estimated 524,500 living Americans are called Kathleen. That is out of 715,336 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 Kathleen?

The typical living Kathleen is 68 years old. More of them were born in the 1950s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Kathleen a mid-century perennial name.

Your Kathleen

Ages of living people named KathleenHalf of living Kathleens are older than 68 and half younger.median 68020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Kathleen is most common

Kathleen is 2.2× as common in Pennsylvania as it is nationally. Massachusetts, Indiana and New Jersey follow.

Where Kathleen is used more than average5 states use the name Kathleen 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: 1.6× the national rateINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: 2.2× the national ratePANew Jersey: 1.5× the national rateNJConnecticut: 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: 1.4× the national rateVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: 2.0× the national rateMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: 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 Kathleen is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Pennsylvania 173 2.2×
Massachusetts 79 2.0×
Indiana 76 1.6×
New Jersey 86 1.5×
Virginia 78 1.4×

Kathleen in England and Wales

ONS recorded 34 births named Kathleen in 2025, ranking it #997. That is 24% 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 Kathleen comes from

Anglicization of Caitlín, an Irish equivalent of the English Catherine.

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

Notable people named Kathleen

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Kathleen Turner American actress 1954 66
Kathleen Lonsdale Irish crystallographer 1903–1971 38
Kathleen Ferrier English contralto singer 1912–1953 36
Kathleen Quinlan American actress 1954 34
Kathleen Sebelius United States Secretary of Health and Human Services 1948 34
Kathleen Robertson Canadian actress 1973 32
Kathleen Antonelli Irish computer programmer 1921–2006 32
Kathleen Rubins NASA astronaut selected in July 2009 1978 32
Photo credits (6)

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

Related pages

Get this data

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