How Many People Are Named Katherine?
An estimated 456,593 people in the United States have the first name Katherine. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #91 overall. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 42 years old, and Katherine peaked in popularity in 1990 with 11,659 births that year. It has a similar number of bearers to Lauren (455,613).
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Katherine as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Katherine paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Katherine is overwhelmingly female, 1,824 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
456,593
About 1 in 751 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.7% confidence
Average Age
42
years old
Peak Year
1990
11,659 births
Total Registered
651,062
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Katherine
Katherine is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 651,062 total births registered, 99.7% were female.
Katherine as a male name
Ranked #8,385 in 2015
9 male births in 2015
Peak: 1989 (94 births)
Katherine as a female name
Ranked #175 in 2024
1,740 female births in 2024
Peak: 1990 (11,627 births)
Katherine: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Katherine span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1980s, when 99,626 babies were registered. Katherine has declined significantly from its peak in the 1980s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Katherine by Decade
How has Katherine tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 6,927 | 5 | 6,922 | |
| 1890s | 9,413 | 5 | 9,408 | |
| 1900s | 12,139 | 34 | 12,105 | |
| 1910s | 36,965 | 81 | 36,884 | |
| 1920s | 42,911 | 166 | 42,745 | |
| 1930s | 25,332 | 139 | 25,193 | |
| 1940s | 40,041 | 130 | 39,911 | |
| 1950s | 67,001 | 147 | 66,854 | |
| 1960s | 50,774 | 156 | 50,618 | |
| 1970s | 54,255 | 203 | 54,052 | |
| 1980s | 99,626 | 450 | 99,176 | |
| 1990s | 97,053 | 168 | 96,885 | |
| 2000s | 65,474 | 119 | 65,355 | |
| 2010s | 34,160 | 21 | 34,139 | |
| 2020s | 8,991 | 0 | 8,991 | |
Katherine by State
Birth registrations for Katherine span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Texas. The lowest are in Wyoming, Alaska, Delaware. On average, about 12,168 Katherines were registered per state.
Katherine + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Katherine as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Katherine
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
Katherine: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Katherine?
We estimate approximately 456,593 people named Katherine are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 751 Americans share this first name.
Is Katherine a common name?
Katherine is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.9% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 651,062 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Katherine most popular?
Katherine reached peak popularity in 1990, when 11,659 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Katherine is approximately 42 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Katherine a female name?
Katherine is predominantly female. 99.7% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Katherine Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Katherine Smith, Katherine Johnson, Katherine Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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