How common is the name Catherine?

410,557 people in the United States have the first name Catherine, about 1 in 736. It ranks #113 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CATHERINE

#113

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
410,557
About
1 in 736
This common or more
32.1%
Who bears it

Of the 410,557 people named Catherine, 80.5% reported their origin as White, 6.5% as Hispanic or Latino and 6.2% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Catherine peaked in 1956, when 12,075 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1956
Births that year
12,075
In 2025*
972 ▼92%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 669,611 babies have been given the name since 1880. 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.

Catherine by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1900s, when it ranked #38. The largest share of babies named Catherine, 27.6%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#608,933
1890s#5314,523
1900s#3822,056
1910s#4165,970
1920s#5379,136
1930s#7950,269
1940s#9162,269
1950s#71109,059
1960s#10277,007
1970s#14144,023
1980s#14042,631
1990s#18340,843
2000s#24929,736
2010s#41917,154
2020s#6626,002
Before 19013.8%
Greatest Generation 1901–2722.7%
Silent Generation 1928–4514.1%
Baby boom 1946–6427.6%
Generation X 1965–8012.1%
Millennials 1981–9610.3%
Generation Z 1997–126.8%
2013 and later2.6%

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 Catherine is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Catherine has been most common in District of Columbia (1.9×), Massachusetts (1.8×), and Delaware (1.7×), and least common in Utah (0.47×).

621,756 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 Catherine

#111 Christian · 415,787#112 Jack · 415,678#114 Megan · 409,941#115 Frank · 407,086

Spelled almost the same

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

#3,369 Catharine · 6,285#4,063 Cathrine · 4,767#4,406 Caterina · 4,259#9,853 Catherin · 1,384#10,379 Catheryn · 1,291#11,131 Catherina · 1,169#12,800 Catharina · 961#19,898 Cathern · 525

Also a last name

As a last name, Catherine ranks #49,659 of 156,621, with 457 people. See Catherine as a last name

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