How rare is the name Caitlin?

102,632 people in the United States have the first name Caitlin, about 1 in 2,943. It ranks #544 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CAITLIN

#544

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
102,632
About
1 in 2,943
This common or more
60%
Who bears it

Of the 102,632 people named Caitlin, 86.7% reported their origin as White, 5% as Hispanic or Latino and 4.1% as two or more races. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Caitlin peaked in 1988, when 7,274 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19552025
Peak year
1988
Births that year
7,274
In 2025*
78 ▼99%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 112,426 babies have been given the name since 1955. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Caitlin by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1990s, when it ranked #153. The largest share of babies named Caitlin, 62.9%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1950s#8,32746
1960s#2,906410
1970s#1,7061,277
1980s#17633,755
1990s#15349,128
2000s#33322,315
2010s#1,1584,935
2020s#3,715560
Baby boom 1946–640.1%
Generation X 1965–802%
Millennials 1981–9662.9%
Generation Z 1997–1232.3%
2013 and later2.7%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Caitlin is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Caitlin has been most common in New Hampshire (2.5×), Alaska (2.1×), and Connecticut (2×), and least common in Mississippi (0.44×).

110,483 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Caitlin

#542 Maya · 103,000#543 Dakota · 102,684#545 Armando · 102,571#546 Alma · 102,369

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Caitlin, most common first.

#928 Caitlyn · 48,237#4,453 Caitlynn · 4,185#9,428 Catlin · 1,473#12,997 Caitlan · 940#14,098 Catlyn · 842#17,167 Catalin · 647#25,763 Caitlen · 366#26,555 Catelin · 350

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