Names › Girl › C › Catherine
Girl name

Catherine

/ˈkæθɚən/ · 100% girls · #314 in the US for girls, 2025

Catherine has been given to about 669,611 people in the United States since 1880. It was most common in 1956, which makes it a midcentury name.

Meaning—
Origin—
Syllables3
Pronunciation/ˈkæθɚən/
Nicknames—
Living in the US≈ 417,863
Median age today62 years

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Catherine per year · SSA, ONS, NRS, CSO, INSEE and SSB
18802025
United StatesEngland & WalesScotlandIrelandFranceNorwayeach scaled to its own peak
  • Peak year1956 · 12,075
  • Born in 2025972
  • All time669,611
  • England & Wales, 2025#593 · 66

How popular is Catherine?

Catherine ranks 314th among American girls in 2025, with 972 born that year. Its best year was 1956, when 12,075 babies were given the name, ranking 28th. The typical living American called Catherine is about 62 years old today. It is relatively most common in District of Columbia, where it accounts for 0.18% of births.

Names that sound like Catherine

Phonetic similarity, 0–1
  1. Katherine0.98
  2. Catharine0.88
  3. Cathrine0.88
  4. Katharine0.86
  5. Kathrine0.86
  6. Kathryne0.80
  7. Katheryn0.70
  8. Madeline0.67

Middle names for Catherine

Ranked by flow score
  1. Catherine Rose0.89
  2. Catherine Marie0.89
  3. Catherine Grace0.89
  4. Catherine Louise0.89
  5. Catherine Mae0.88
  6. Catherine Quinn0.88

Sibling names for Catherine

Same era, comparable use, no clash
  1. Raymondbrother · 0.96
  2. Peterbrother · 0.95
  3. Lawrencebrother · 0.95
  4. Kathrynsister · 0.94
  5. Marthasister · 0.93
  6. Leeeither · 0.93

Where Catherine is strongest

Share of 2025 births by state
  1. District of Columbia0.18%
  2. Alabama0.07%
  3. Kentucky0.07%
  4. West Virginia0.06%
  5. Connecticut0.06%

With a common surname

Flow score against the most-used American surnames · try your own
  1. Catherine White0.84
  2. Catherine Nguyen0.84
  3. Catherine Moore0.84
  4. Catherine Hill0.84
  5. Catherine Hall0.84
  6. Catherine Brown0.84

How to read these numbers

Every score on this page is explained
  1. Phonetic similarity0–1
  2. Middle-name flow0–1
  3. Sibling fit0–1
  4. Living population estimatemethod
  5. PronunciationCMU dictionary

Sources for Catherine

Every figure on this page is public record
  1. United States1880–2025
  2. England & Wales1996–2025
  3. Scotland1974–2020
  4. Ireland1998–2019
  5. France1900–2025
  6. Norway1945–2025
  7. PronunciationCMU dictionary

Catherine across America

Share of 2025 births in each state. Darker means more common.
ME
WA
VT
NH
MT
ND
MN
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
ID
SD
IA
IL
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
NV
WY
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
CA
UT
CO
KS
AR
TN
NC
DC
AZ
NM
OK
LA
MS
AL
SC
AK
TX
GA
FL
HI
raremost common

Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.