girl's name
Kathleen
kath-LEEN
- Origin Irish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 8
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 736,115
Ireland
#379
2025 births
Kathleen is a girl's name anglicizing the Irish Caitlín, a form of Catherine, and it inherits that name's genuinely unknown meaning. It ranks 379th in Ireland and 1158th in the United States, so it has held its ground at home far better than abroad.
- Kathleen is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in 1951, when 26,749 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 16,494 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Kathleen over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 389 |
| 1890s | 1,942 |
| 1900s | 3,924 |
| 1910s | 16,606 |
| 1920s | 33,679 |
| 1930s | 34,708 |
| 1940s | 153,343 |
| 1950s | 224,736 |
| 1960s | 121,252 |
| 1970s | 45,025 |
| 1980s | 39,578 |
| 1990s | 24,865 |
| 2000s | 10,065 |
| 2010s | 3,809 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,415 |
What Kathleen means
Kathleen has no securely known meaning, because Catherine does not. The familiar reading of pure comes from a later folk association rather than from the name's actual source.
Where Kathleen comes from
Kathleen anglicizes the Irish Caitlín, which came into Irish from the Old French Cateline, itself from Catherine — a name whose Greek original, Aikaterine, has no established derivation. The reading pure was attached to Catherine centuries after it existed, through an association with katharos, so Kathleen inherits a meaning that was never the original. In Irish the name is said with the stress on the second syllable and the t sounded as a soft ch; the English Kathleen flattens that. It became strongly associated with Irish identity in nineteenth-century America through emigration, and through songs like I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen, which was written by a German-American who had never been to Ireland.
Kathleen in use
Kathleen peaked in the United States in 1951, when 26,749 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It ranks 379th in Ireland on 11 births, 505th in Northern Ireland, 1026th in England and Wales, 1158th in the United States on 201 and 7347th in France, across 736,115 lifetime births in six of the seven markets. Ranking nearly eight hundred places higher in Ireland than in America is unusual for a name whose volume is overwhelmingly American.
How popular is Kathleen?
In 2025, Kathleen was given to 201 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Kathleen 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 Kathleen
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Kathleen also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Kathleen over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Kathleen
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.
Kathleen 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 Kathleen
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Kathleen — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Kathleen
What does the name Kathleen mean?
Not securely known. It anglicizes the Irish Caitlín, from Catherine, whose own meaning is lost.
Is Kathleen the same as Caitlin?
Yes — Caitlín is the Irish form and Kathleen the anglicization of it.
Is Kathleen an Irish name?
The form is Irish, though the name itself came into Irish from French and ultimately Greek.
How popular is Kathleen?
379th in Ireland and 1158th in the United States — it has held far better at home.
Is Kathleen a girl's or a boy's name?
Kathleen is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Kathleen?
Kathleen has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Kathleen?
Kathleen is usually shortened to Kath and Kathy.
Is Kathleen a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Kathleen currently ranks #379 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.