Girls' name · since 1880
Catherine
Catherine has 667,789 recorded births since 1880 in federal Social Security data, most heavily in 1956 -- full year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state rankings follow.
- #39 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #313 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 667,789
- born since 1880
- 1950s
- peak decade
667,789 babies have been named Catherine since 1880, making it today's #313 girls' name.
Catherine has 667,789 recorded births among girls since 1880, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #313 as of the latest data, more common than 98% of girls, busiest in the 1950s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.
- #39 of 72,339 all-time among girls
- #313 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
- 667,789 born since 1880
- 1950s peak decade
Data updated Aug 2026
The verdict
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Catherine ranks #39 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #313 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 667,789 born since 1880, peaking in the 1950s.
- #39 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #313 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 667,789
- born since 1880
- 1950s
- peak decade
Catherine's 667,789 recorded births place it above 99.94% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.
51 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by New York.
How Catherine compares
667,789 Top 1% higher than 99% of 17,297 names currently given to girls
Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.
Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data
How the numbers stack up
Catherine's all-time total is 1,776x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.
| Metric | Catherine | Median girls name (Kyann) | #1 girls name (Olivia) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time total births | 667,789 | 376 | 567,345 |
| Peak-year births | 12,056 | 21 | 19,840 |
Catherine's usage pattern, beyond the headline number
Divide Catherine's SSA record in two at 1953 and the more recent half accounts for 50% of all births, the earlier half the remaining 50%, a genuinely balanced usage pattern. Its calmest year was 1881, with only 635 births recorded -- set against the 1956 peak of 12,056, that's the full swing in one name's fortunes.
Catherine popularity over time - girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025
- Peak year (1956)
- 12,056
- Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
Catherine popularity over time - boys
1,822 total births recorded since 1884 (Catherine as boys' name)
Catherine by decade
1950s is the heaviest window (108,839 births, 16% of the file).
1950s was Catherine's strongest decade.
108,839 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 16% of all-time use.
Catherine births by decade
Total births in each ten-year window
- 1880s 8,915
1880s
8,915 births
- 1890s 14,502
1890s
14,502 births
- 1900s 22,006
1900s
22,006 births
- 1910s
1910s
65,823 births
- 1920s
1920s
78,881 births
- 1930s
1930s
50,027 births
- 1940s
1940s
62,086 births
- 1950s
1950s
108,839 births
- 1960s
1960s
76,788 births
- 1970s
1970s
43,864 births
- 1980s 42,437
1980s
42,437 births
- 1990s 40,763
1990s
40,763 births
- 2000s 29,702
2000s
29,702 births
- 2010s 17,154
2010s
17,154 births
- 2020s 6,002
2020s
6,002 births
What this shows Peak: 1950s at 108,839 births (16% of all-time use).
How Catherine compares to similarly-sized names
Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Catherine's total volume
Catherine by state
Where Catherine concentrates geographically, total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | New York | | 79,230 | 11.9% |
| #2 | Pennsylvania | | 56,931 | 8.5% |
| #3 | California | | 43,605 | 6.5% |
| #4 | Illinois | | 33,809 | 5.1% |
| #5 | New Jersey | | 27,457 | 4.1% |
| #6 | Massachusetts | | 27,131 | 4.1% |
| #7 | Ohio | | 26,912 | 4.0% |
| #8 | Texas | | 24,867 | 3.7% |
79,230 of 667,789 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Catherine appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
How popular is the name Catherine? ▼
Where does Catherine sit in the SSA name archive? ▼
When was Catherine most popular? ▼
Where is Catherine most popular? ▼
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What to do with Catherine's data
- Catherine's decade-level peak was the 1950s (108,839 total births); usage has since declined to 6,002 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
- New York records the most Catherines (79,230 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. New York names
Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.
Keep exploring Catherine
Nearby Names Like Catherine
Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Catherine
Compare Catherine side by side: Catherine vs Cathy Catherine vs Catalina Catherine vs Cathleen
Related Names
Names with a similar popularity rank to Catherine
Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span
Two nationwide peer axes for Catherine: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.
Similar peak year (~1956)
Similar record span (~145 yrs)
Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.
Data Sources
Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).
Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Catherine draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.