Katherine

Primarily a girl's name · 100% girls

Meaning

Katherine, also spelled Catherine and other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.

From Wikipedia

Katherine first appears in the data in 1956 and has been recorded in 48 different years as a girl's name. Its single biggest year was 1982 with 400 babies (rank #23 that year). It was not in the 2025 data. The name has been declining over the last five years.

Numerology of Katherine

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Katherine yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

1Destiny numberThe leaderIndependent, pioneering, drawn to going first.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
2Soul urgeThe peacemakerDiplomatic, sensitive, partnership-minded.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
8PersonalityThe achieverDriven, capable, comfortable wielding influence.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

10,581

Total babies (all years)

Years in the data

400

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Girls

Famous people named Katherine

Katherine Johnsonmilitary flight engineer · b. 1918
Katherine Heiglfilm actor · b. 1978
Katherine Mansfielddiarist · b. 1888
Katherine Langfordswimmer · b. 1996
Katherine Anne Porteressayist · b. 1890

Stories about the name Katherine

Six nicknames and all of them good. Kate, Katie, Kat, Kathy, Kit, Kay. We gave her the full Katherine and told her she could try them all. She's been Kate since she was about four and has shown no signs of reconsidering.

— William, Boston MA, 2014

Katherine of Aragon, Katherine Hepburn, Katherine Mansfield — the name has been owned by women worth knowing for a thousand years. That mattered to us.

— Susan, Oxford (moved to New York NY), 2017

Share your Katherine story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

More popular girls' names

Other girls' names starting with K

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all girls' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1956	77	#91
1957	75	#93
1958	89	#90
1959	99	#85
1960	111	#94
1961	212	#64
1962	183	#67
1963	176	#70
1964	162	#67
1965	207	#56
1966	190	#63
1967	205	#63
1968	216	#60
1969	242	#57
1970	283	#48
1971	297	#52
1972	308	#48
1973	309	#46
1974	288	#49
1975	270	#48
1976	291	#40
1977	326	#32
1978	330	#33
1979	339	#31
1980	347	#27
1981	359	#32
1982	400	#23
1983	342	#31
1984	370	#28
1985	399	#27
1986	345	#29
1987	317	#31
1988	339	#28
1989	310	#30
1990	296	#38
1991	253	#41
1992	246	#43
1993	200	#61
1994	173	#74
1995	153	#83
1996	109	#85
1997	89	#92
1998	137	#84
2000	96	#91
2014	5	#332
2015	4	#367
2016	4	#362
2017	3	#477