girl's name
Catherine
KATH-rin (English)
- Origin Greek
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 9
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 1,118,469
the United States
#314
2025 births
Catherine is a girl's name of Greek origin whose meaning is unknown — the familiar reading of pure is a later reshaping, not the original sense. It charts in all seven markets, from 243rd in Northern Ireland to 1,206th in France.
- Catherine is a name of Greek origin.
- Peaked in 1956, when 12,075 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,411 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Catherine Over Time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, which so far covers 2020 to 2025.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 8,933 |
| 1890s | 14,523 |
| 1900s | 22,056 |
| 1910s | 65,970 |
| 1920s | 79,136 |
| 1930s | 50,269 |
| 1940s | 62,269 |
| 1950s | 109,059 |
| 1960s | 77,007 |
| 1970s | 44,023 |
| 1980s | 42,631 |
| 1990s | 40,843 |
| 2000s | 29,736 |
| 2010s | 17,154 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,002 |
What Catherine Means
Catherine has no securely known meaning. It is commonly given as pure, but that reading was applied to the name centuries after it existed, by association with a Greek word it does not come from.
Where Catherine Comes From
Catherine descends from the Greek Aikaterine, whose origin is lost. It may relate to Hekate, or to a word meaning each of two, but neither is established. What is documented is the reshaping: early Christian writers associated the name with katharos, meaning pure, and the spelling shifted toward Katharina to match. The meaning everyone now quotes is therefore a piece of folk etymology that succeeded so completely it changed how the name is written. Saint Catherine of Alexandria, martyred on a spiked wheel that gives us the Catherine wheel, carried it across medieval Europe, and it has since been borne by queens of England, France and Russia.
Catherine in Use
Catherine peaked in the United States in 1956, when 12,075 babies were registered, and is falling. It charts in all seven markets — 243rd in Northern Ireland, 265th in Scotland, 284th in Ireland, 314th in the United States on 972 births, 428th in Canada, 592nd in England and Wales and 1,206th in France — across 1,118,469 lifetime births. Its ranks are unusually close together across those markets, which suggests a name distributed by long establishment rather than by any single national fashion.
How Popular Is Catherine?
In 2025, Catherine was given to 972 babies in the United States, ranking #314 that year. It ranks among the top 1,000 names in the United States.
Where Catherine 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 Catherine Is Spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Cathérine | Cathérine is a rare spelling of Catherine, written with an acute accent and recorded about 5 times, mostly in France. | 5 |
Names That Peaked Alongside Catherine
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents Who Like Catherine Also Like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Catherine over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
How to Say Catherine
- English KATH-rin /ˈkæθ.ɹɪn/
11 nicknames for Catherine
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.
Catherine 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 Catherine
Names from the same era that do not rhyme or share an initial with Catherine — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common Questions About Catherine
What does the name Catherine mean?
It is not known. The usual answer, pure, comes from a later association with the Greek katharos that the name does not derive from.
Is it Catherine or Katherine?
Both are long established. The C spelling follows the French form, the K the Greek and German.
What is a Catherine wheel?
The spiked wheel on which Saint Catherine of Alexandria was said to have been martyred, later the name of a firework.
How popular is Catherine?
314th in the United States and 243rd in Northern Ireland. It charts in all seven markets.
Is Catherine a girl's or a boy's name?
Catherine is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Catherine?
Catherine has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Catherine?
Catherine is usually shortened to Kate, Cathy, Kitty, Kathryn, Katie and Kit.
Is Catherine a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Catherine currently ranks #243 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.