girl's name
Cataleya
kat-uh-LAY-uh
- Origin Modern coinage
- Gender Girl
- Letters 8
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 17,663
the United States
#239
2025 births
Cataleya is a girl's name taken from the cattleya orchid, and its use is traceable to a single film. It first appears in United States birth records in 2011, the year the film Colombiana was released with a central character of that name.
- Cataleya is a name of Modern coinage origin.
- Peaked in 2024, when 1,315 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,523 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 2011.
Cataleya over time
Births per decade in the United States, 2010s 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 |
|---|---|
| 2010s | 5,435 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,520 |
What Cataleya means
Cataleya refers to the cattleya orchid, a genus native to Central and South America. The flower is named after William Cattley, a nineteenth-century English horticulturist who first cultivated it in Europe, so the name ultimately honors a person rather than describing a quality.
Where Cataleya comes from
Cataleya comes from the cattleya orchid, named in 1824 by the botanist John Lindley for William Cattley, an English merchant and plant collector who succeeded in flowering a specimen sent from Brazil. The orchid is the national flower of Colombia. The name reached wide use through the 2011 film Colombiana, whose protagonist is named Cataleya after the flower; United States birth records register the name for the first time that same year and show it inside the top 250 by 2025. Sources describing it as "of Colombian origin" are describing the film's setting and the flower's national status rather than a Colombian naming tradition.
Cataleya in use
Cataleya honors, at several removes, a nineteenth-century English merchant who managed to make a Brazilian orchid bloom in Europe.
How popular is Cataleya?
In 2025, Cataleya was given to 1,314 babies in the United States, ranking #239 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Cataleya 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.
How Cataleya is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Cataléya | Cataléya is Cataleya written with an acute accent, used in France, where it ranks #1,127. | 345 |
| Catalëya | Catalëya is a rare spelling of Cataleya, written with a diaeresis and recorded about 80 times, mostly in France. | 80 |
| Cataleÿa | Cataleÿa is a variant spelling of Cataleya, recorded in France. | 5 |
| Catalèya | Catalèya is a rare spelling of Cataleya, written with a grave accent and recorded about 5 times, mostly in France. | 5 |
Names that peaked alongside Cataleya
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Cataleya also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Cataleya over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Cataleya
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.
Cataleya 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.
Sibling names for Cataleya
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Cataleya — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Cataleya
What does the name Cataleya mean?
It refers to the cattleya orchid, named after the English horticulturist William Cattley.
Is Cataleya a Colombian name?
The orchid is Colombia's national flower and the film that popularized the name is set there, but it is not a traditional Colombian name.
When did Cataleya become a name?
US birth records first register it in 2011, the year the film Colombiana was released.
How popular is the name Cataleya?
In 2025, Cataleya was given to 1,314 babies in the United States, ranking #239 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Cataleya a girl's or a boy's name?
Cataleya is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Cataleya most popular?
Cataleya peaked in 2024, when 1,315 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Cataleya?
Cataleya is usually shortened to Leya.
Is Cataleya a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Cataleya currently ranks #149 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.