Girls' name · peaked in 1987
Katy name popularity since 1925
19,966 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Katy. Half of them were born in 1986 or earlier, so the typical Katy is about 40 years old in 2026. Katy peaked in 1987 as the #351 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 19,966
- Named Katy, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,709 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 100.0% girls
- 19,961 girls · 5 boys
- Most popular in
- Texas
- 2.59× its national share
Peak year is the year Katy 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.
Katy births per year, 1925–2025
1987 was the biggest year for Katy both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1973 and 1978, Katy became 2.6× more common, from 1 in 8,890 baby girls to 1 in 3,480.
- Steepest fall: Between 1986 and 1991, its share of baby girls fell by 40%, from 1 in 2,620 to 1 in 4,360.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Katy's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Katy.
Decade by decade
Babies named Katy 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 | 264 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 543 | 0 | #917 |
| 1940s | 706 | 0 | #1,054 |
| 1950s | 935 | 0 | #1,248 |
| 1960s | 1,445 | 0 | #843 |
| 1970s | 2,473 | 0 | #714 |
| 1980s | 5,926 | 5 | #362 |
| 1990s | 3,486 | 0 | #654 |
| 2000s | 2,212 | 0 | #1,057 |
| 2010s | 1,491 | 0 | #1,547 |
| 2020–25 | 480 | 0 | #2,709 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
40.7% of babies named Katy from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Millennial years (1981–1996). The full split by generation:
Where Katy is most popular
The index compares Katy'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 Katy.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 2.59× | 3,112 |
| Oklahoma | 2.17× | 434 |
| Washington | 1.69× | 432 |
| Minnesota | 1.41× | 395 |
| California | 1.38× | 2,246 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Katy 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Katy (this page) | 19,961 | 1987 |
| Katie | 213,404 | 1986 |
| Kati | 4,772 | 1986 |
| Kattie | 3,911 | 1910 |
| Katey | 2,359 | 1992 |
| Katty | 1,004 | 2000 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Katy's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Katy.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Katy (1987).
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