Girls' name · peaked in 1914
Catherine name popularity since 1925
514,919 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Catherine. Half of them were born in 1959 or earlier, so the typical Catherine is about 67 years old in 2026. Catherine peaked in 1914 as the #18 name for girls, and it ranked #314 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 514,919
- Named Catherine, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1914
- #18 for girls that year
- In 2025
- #314
- for girls in 2025 (972 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 513,441 girls · 1,478 boys
- Most popular in
- District of Columbia
- 1.96× its national share
Peak year is the year Catherine 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.
Catherine births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1956. Measured as a share of all babies, Catherine peaked earlier, in 1914.
- Steepest fall: Between 2005 and 2010, Catherine's share of baby girls fell by 44%, from 1 in 619 to 1 in 1,100.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Catherine's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Catherine.
Decade by decade
Babies named Catherine 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 | 35,779 | 147 | – |
| 1930s | 50,027 | 242 | #42 |
| 1940s | 62,086 | 183 | #50 |
| 1950s | 108,839 | 220 | #28 |
| 1960s | 76,788 | 219 | #57 |
| 1970s | 43,864 | 159 | #73 |
| 1980s | 42,437 | 194 | #65 |
| 1990s | 40,763 | 80 | #90 |
| 2000s | 29,702 | 34 | #109 |
| 2010s | 17,154 | 0 | #177 |
| 2020–25 | 6,002 | 0 | #314 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
35.9% of babies named Catherine from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Catherine is most popular
The index compares Catherine'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 Catherine.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 1.96× | 4,696 |
| Massachusetts | 1.71× | 21,052 |
| Delaware | 1.64× | 1,764 |
| Rhode Island | 1.61× | 2,950 |
| New York | 1.57× | 61,648 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Catherine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Catherine (this page) | 513,441 | 1914 |
| Katherine | 561,074 | 1988 |
| Catharine | 7,532 | 1883 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Catherine's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Catherine.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Catherine (1914).
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