Girls' name · peaked in 1880
Katharine name popularity since 1925
33,448 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Katharine. Half of them were born in 1980 or earlier, so the typical Katharine is about 46 years old in 2026. Katharine peaked in 1880 as the #172 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 33,448
- Named Katharine, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1880
- #172 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #4,935 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 100.0% girls
- 33,437 girls · 11 boys
- Most popular in
- Connecticut
- 2.92× its national share
Peak year is the year Katharine 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.
Katharine births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1982. Measured as a share of all babies, Katharine peaked earlier, in 1880.
- Fastest rise: Between 1977 and 1982, Katharine became 2× more common, from 1 in 3,520 baby girls to 1 in 1,790.
- Steepest fall: Between 2005 and 2010, its share of baby girls fell by 56%, from 1 in 6,140 to 1 in 14,000.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Katharine's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Katharine.
Decade by decade
Babies named Katharine 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 | 1,072 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 1,724 | 0 | #484 |
| 1940s | 2,789 | 0 | #424 |
| 1950s | 3,712 | 0 | #440 |
| 1960s | 3,114 | 0 | #566 |
| 1970s | 3,848 | 0 | #517 |
| 1980s | 7,860 | 11 | #293 |
| 1990s | 5,315 | 0 | #520 |
| 2000s | 2,881 | 0 | #842 |
| 2010s | 915 | 0 | #2,146 |
| 2020–25 | 207 | 0 | #4,935 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
34.2% of babies named Katharine from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Millennial years (1981–1996). The full split by generation:
Where Katharine is most popular
The index compares Katharine'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 Katharine.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | 2.92× | 913 |
| District of Columbia | 2.79× | 371 |
| Massachusetts | 2.39× | 1,641 |
| Maryland | 1.80× | 792 |
| New Jersey | 1.62× | 1,283 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Katharine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Katharine (this page) | 33,437 | 1880 |
| Katherine | 561,074 | 1988 |
| Catharine | 7,532 | 1883 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Katharine's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Katharine.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Katharine (1880).
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