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BabyNames
Girl name#2 of girl names

Catherine

Pronounced K AE1 TH ER0 AH0 N (ARPABET)

  • 3 syllables
  • Peaked 1956
  • 145 years in use
  • 4 spellings
Compare

How popular is Catherine?

Catherine is a girls' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 1,825,746 children — the 2nd most common girls' name on record.

It is falling away, down 51% on the previous decade. Its best single year was 1956, when 27,272 children were given it.

Four other spellings are counted in that total — Katherine, Kathryn, Katharine and one more — because they are pronounced identically.

012,50025,00037,50050,00018901920195019802010
195627,272

Spelling variants

These spellings sound identical to Catherine and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.

  • Katherine
  • Kathryn
  • Katharine
  • Catharine

Nicknames

Common short forms: Kate, Katie, Kathy, Kitty, Kay.

Characteristics

  • 3 syllables
Phonetic detail
Pronunciations:
K AE1 TH ER0 AH0 N · K AE1 TH ER0 IH0 N · K AE1 TH R IH0 N
Stress pattern:
100 · 100 · 10
Syllables:
3

Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.

Names like Catherine

Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.

Sibling names for Catherine

Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.

Frequently asked questions

How popular is the name Catherine?
Catherine ranks 2nd among girls' names in US records, with 1,825,746 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 43,571.
Is Catherine a unisex name?
No. Catherine is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
When was Catherine most popular?
1956, when 27,272 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
What are common nicknames for Catherine?
Kate, Katie, Kathy, Kitty, Kay. These are recorded as separate names in their own right, so each has its own page and its own popularity curve.
How else is Catherine spelled?
Katherine, Kathryn, Katharine, Catharine. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.