Girls' name · peaked in 1988
Caitlin name popularity since 1925
112,426 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Caitlin. Half of them were born in 1993 or earlier, so the typical Caitlin is about 33 years old in 2026. Caitlin peaked in 1988 as the #44 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 112,426
- Named Caitlin, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,333 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 112,143 girls · 283 boys
- Most popular in
- New Hampshire
- 2.47× its national share
Peak year is the year Caitlin made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Caitlin births per year, 1925–2025
1988 was the biggest year for Caitlin both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1979 and 1984, Caitlin became 8.8× more common, from 1 in 6,320 baby girls to 1 in 719.
- Steepest fall: Between 2012 and 2017, its share of baby girls fell by 78%, from 1 in 2,380 to 1 in 10,700.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Caitlin's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Caitlin.
Decade by decade
Babies named Caitlin in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1950s | 46 | 0 | #5,929 |
| 1960s | 410 | 0 | #2,000 |
| 1970s | 1,277 | 0 | #1,220 |
| 1980s | 33,584 | 171 | #77 |
| 1990s | 49,033 | 95 | #81 |
| 2000s | 22,298 | 17 | #193 |
| 2010s | 4,935 | 0 | #610 |
| 2020–25 | 560 | 0 | #2,333 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
62.9% of babies named Caitlin from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Millennial years (1981–1996). The full split by generation:
Where Caitlin is most popular
The index compares Caitlin's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Caitlin.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 2.47× | 867 |
| Massachusetts | 2.01× | 5,356 |
| Connecticut | 1.99× | 2,410 |
| Alaska | 1.96× | 326 |
| Vermont | 1.83× | 342 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Caitlin and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Caitlin (this page) | 112,143 | 1988 |
| Kaitlin | 57,355 | 1995 |
| Caitlyn | 52,603 | 1998 |
| Caitlan | 1,047 | 1988 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Caitlin's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Caitlin.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Caitlin (1988).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data