Girls' name · peaked in 1958
Kathy name popularity since 1925
334,746 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Kathy. Half of them were born in 1958 or earlier, so the typical Kathy is about 68 years old in 2026. Kathy peaked in 1958 as the #14 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 334,746
- Named Kathy, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #3,274 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.8% girls
- 334,007 girls · 739 boys
- Most popular in
- West Virginia
- 1.96× its national share
Peak year is the year Kathy 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.
Kathy births per year, 1925–2025
1958 was the biggest year for Kathy both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1937 and 1942, Kathy became 7.7× more common, from 1 in 6,780 baby girls to 1 in 879.
- Steepest fall: Between 1971 and 1976, its share of baby girls fell by 59%, from 1 in 431 to 1 in 1,060.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Kathy's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Kathy.
Decade by decade
Babies named Kathy 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 | 131 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 1,254 | 0 | #671 |
| 1940s | 34,766 | 78 | #101 |
| 1950s | 157,930 | 296 | #22 |
| 1960s | 101,127 | 248 | #54 |
| 1970s | 22,706 | 88 | #160 |
| 1980s | 6,977 | 29 | #370 |
| 1990s | 4,312 | 0 | #564 |
| 2000s | 3,021 | 0 | #884 |
| 2010s | 1,381 | 0 | #1,690 |
| 2020–25 | 402 | 0 | #3,274 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
76.2% of babies named Kathy from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Kathy is most popular
The index compares Kathy'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 Kathy.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 1.96× | 5,771 |
| Kentucky | 1.71× | 9,609 |
| Indiana | 1.60× | 12,656 |
| Iowa | 1.59× | 6,787 |
| Tennessee | 1.47× | 10,369 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Kathy 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kathy (this page) | 334,007 | 1958 |
| Cathy | 170,252 | 1958 |
| Kathie | 15,071 | 1954 |
| Kathi | 10,109 | 1958 |
| Kathey | 1,600 | 1956 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Kathy's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Kathy.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Kathy (1958).
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