Names › Girl › K › Kathleen
Girl name

Kathleen

/kæˈθlin/ · 100% girls · 201 born in 2025

Kathleen has been given to about 715,336 people in the United States since 1880. It was most common in 1951, which makes it a midcentury name.

Meaning—
Origin—
Syllables2
Pronunciation/kæˈθlin/
Nicknames—
Living in the US≈ 550,940
Median age today69 years

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Kathleen per year · SSA, ONS, NRS, CSO, INSEE and SSB
18802025
United StatesEngland & WalesScotlandIrelandFranceeach scaled to its own peak
  • Peak year1951 · 26,749
  • Born in 2025201
  • All time715,336
  • England & Wales, 202534

How popular is Kathleen?

Its best year was 1951, when 26,749 babies were given the name, ranking 10th. The typical living American called Kathleen is about 69 years old today. It is relatively most common in Pennsylvania, where it accounts for 0.02% of births.

Names that sound like Kathleen

Phonetic similarity, 0–1
  1. Cathleen0.97
  2. Kathaleen0.87
  3. Kayleen0.79
  4. Carleen0.77
  5. Kaylen0.72
  6. Kalen0.72
  7. Kathlyn0.71
  8. Jayleen0.69

Middle names for Kathleen

Ranked by flow score
  1. Kathleen Anne0.85
  2. Kathleen Rose0.81
  3. Kathleen Marie0.81
  4. Kathleen Grace0.81
  5. Kathleen Eve0.81
  6. Kathleen Jane0.81

Sibling names for Kathleen

Same era, comparable use, no clash
  1. Dennisbrother · 0.99
  2. Brucebrother · 0.96
  3. Ronaldbrother · 0.95
  4. Bonniesister · 0.93
  5. Dianasister · 0.91
  6. Janesister · 0.91

Where Kathleen is strongest

Share of 2025 births by state
  1. Pennsylvania0.02%
  2. Massachusetts0.02%
  3. Ohio0.01%
  4. Illinois0.01%
  5. North Carolina0.01%

With a common surname

Flow score against the most-used American surnames · try your own
  1. Kathleen White0.76
  2. Kathleen Moore0.76
  3. Kathleen Hill0.76
  4. Kathleen Hall0.76
  5. Kathleen Brown0.76
  6. Kathleen Young0.73

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 Kathleen

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. PronunciationCMU dictionary

Kathleen 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.