girl's name
Caitlyn
KAYT-lin
- Origin Irish
- Gender Girl
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 63,490
Scotland
#360
2023 births
Caitlyn is the third spelling of one name on this site, alongside Caitlin and Kaitlin — all descend from Catherine by way of Old French and Irish, and all three are large enough to hold separate pages.
- Caitlyn is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in 1998, when 2,943 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 46,696 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1968.
Caitlyn over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1960s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 5 |
| 1970s | 71 |
| 1980s | 4,483 |
| 1990s | 22,003 |
| 2000s | 19,794 |
| 2010s | 5,652 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 629 |
What Caitlyn means
Caitlyn means pure by convention rather than derivation. It inherits Catherine's meaning, and Catherine's Greek original has never been traced to any source word. The gloss was applied long after the name existed.
Where Caitlyn comes from
Caitlyn respells the Irish Caitlín, which came from the Old French Cateline, itself from Catherine — the Greek Aikaterine, which has no secure derivation. The pure gloss comes from a later association with katharos, clean, applied long after the name existed. The -lyn ending is American and belongs to the same productive pattern that gave Ashlyn, Jaclyn and Katelyn, which is why one Irish name now supports half a dozen spellings.
Caitlyn in use
Caitlyn peaked in the United States in 1998, when 2,943 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 487th in Northern Ireland, 1350th in England and Wales on 24 births, 2504th in the United States on 71 and 6952nd in France on 5, across 63,490 lifetime births in five of the seven markets we track. England and Wales ran its own peak of 353 births in 2005.
How popular is Caitlyn?
In 2025, Caitlyn was given to 71 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Caitlyn is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Caitlyn
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Caitlyn also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Caitlyn over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Caitlyn
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Caitlyn in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Dutch
- Caitlin
Sibling names for Caitlyn
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Caitlyn — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Caitlyn
What does the name Caitlyn mean?
Pure by convention, through Catherine — whose own root is unexplained.
How many spellings are there?
Caitlin, Caitlyn, Kaitlin and Katelyn are all substantial enough to have their own pages here.
Where does the -lyn ending come from?
An American pattern that also gave Ashlyn and Jaclyn.
How popular is Caitlyn?
2504th in the United States, down from a 1998 peak of 2,943 births.
Is Caitlyn a girl's or a boy's name?
Caitlyn is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
What are the nicknames for Caitlyn?
Caitlyn is usually shortened to Cait.
Is Caitlyn a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Caitlyn currently ranks #487 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.