Cathy
Cathy was given to 12 girls in 2025, #8,461 among girls’ names; 170,646 Americans have been recorded with it since 1918 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 139,000 Americans named Cathy and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (82% of everyone recorded); the median is 67 years old and half are between 62 and 71.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Cathy by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Cathy mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Cathy is “a diminutive of the female given name Catherine and of its variant forms, also used as a formal given name in the 20th century.”
/ˈkæθi/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Cathy?
#8,461 among girls’ names, 2025
Cathy fell from #2,749 in 2015 to #8,461 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 35.9 to 7.5 per million.
10,961 babies in 1958, the peak
Cathy peaked in 1958, when 10,961 babies were given it (10,942 girls, #34 among girls’ names). The 12 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 12 | #8,461 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 20 | #5,987 | 0.01 |
| 2023 | 25 | #5,153 | 0.02 |
| 2022 | 20 | #6,036 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 22 | #5,600 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 32 | #4,284 | 0.02 |
| 2019 | 30 | #4,563 | 0.02 |
| 2018 | 44 | #3,515 | 0.03 |
| 2017 | 31 | #4,497 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 53 | #3,111 | 0.03 |
Every recorded year (108)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 64 | #2,749 | 0.04 |
| 2014 | 48 | #3,336 | 0.03 |
| 2013 | 59 | #2,875 | 0.03 |
| 2012 | 56 | #3,014 | 0.03 |
| 2011 | 47 | #3,418 | 0.03 |
| 2010 | 52 | #3,165 | 0.03 |
| 2009 | 56 | #3,052 | 0.03 |
| 2008 | 61 | #2,893 | 0.03 |
| 2007 | 79 | #2,398 | 0.04 |
| 2006 | 88 | #2,190 | 0.05 |
| 2005 | 93 | #2,015 | 0.05 |
| 2004 | 104 | #1,822 | 0.06 |
| 2003 | 103 | #1,815 | 0.06 |
| 2002 | 93 | #1,898 | 0.05 |
| 2001 | 120 | #1,545 | 0.07 |
| 2000 | 119 | #1,525 | 0.07 |
| 1999 | 116 | #1,480 | 0.07 |
| 1998 | 124 | #1,381 | 0.07 |
| 1997 | 133 | #1,303 | 0.08 |
| 1996 | 129 | #1,317 | 0.07 |
| 1995 | 141 | #1,214 | 0.08 |
| 1994 | 164 | #1,095 | 0.09 |
| 1993 | 153 | #1,158 | 0.08 |
| 1992 | 186 | #1,008 | 0.10 |
| 1991 | 210 | #913 | 0.11 |
| 1990 | 209 | #914 | 0.11 |
| 1989 | 224 | #836 | 0.12 |
| 1988 | 227 | #807 | 0.13 |
| 1987 | 246 | #734 | 0.14 |
| 1986 | 273 | #671 | 0.16 |
| 1985 | 362 | #548 | 0.21 |
| 1984 | 372 | #522 | 0.22 |
| 1983 | 371 | #514 | 0.22 |
| 1982 | 486 | #443 | 0.29 |
| 1981 | 534 | #412 | 0.32 |
| 1980 | 567 | #402 | 0.34 |
| 1979 | 588 | #380 | 0.37 |
| 1978 | 639 | #340 | 0.42 |
| 1977 | 743 | #319 | 0.48 |
| 1976 | 809 | #283 | 0.55 |
| 1975 | 970 | #252 | 0.67 |
| 1974 | 1,167 | #222 | 0.80 |
| 1973 | 1,435 | #185 | 1.0 |
| 1972 | 1,736 | #169 | 1.1 |
| 1971 | 2,270 | #141 | 1.4 |
| 1970 | 2,586 | #137 | 1.5 |
| 1969 | 2,520 | #133 | 1.5 |
| 1968 | 2,400 | #134 | 1.5 |
| 1967 | 2,825 | #118 | 1.7 |
| 1966 | 3,421 | #99 | 2.0 |
| 1965 | 4,151 | #88 | 2.4 |
| 1964 | 5,502 | #75 | 2.9 |
| 1963 | 6,319 | #67 | 3.3 |
| 1962 | 7,145 | #62 | 3.6 |
| 1961 | 8,211 | #55 | 4.1 |
| 1960 | 9,130 | #46 | 4.5 |
| 1959 | 10,408 | #39 | 5.1 |
| 1958 | 10,942 | #34 | 5.4 |
| 1957 | 10,325 | #39 | 5.0 |
| 1956 | 10,132 | #36 | 5.0 |
| 1955 | 8,665 | #44 | 4.4 |
| 1954 | 7,207 | #59 | 3.7 |
| 1953 | 7,301 | #56 | 3.9 |
| 1952 | 7,011 | #56 | 3.8 |
| 1951 | 5,697 | #71 | 3.2 |
| 1950 | 5,031 | #75 | 2.9 |
| 1949 | 4,407 | #81 | 2.6 |
| 1948 | 3,561 | #104 | 2.1 |
| 1947 | 2,859 | #119 | 1.6 |
| 1946 | 1,623 | #167 | 1.0 |
| 1945 | 824 | #231 | 0.63 |
| 1944 | 680 | #264 | 0.51 |
| 1943 | 606 | #282 | 0.43 |
| 1942 | 483 | #315 | 0.36 |
| 1941 | 312 | #389 | 0.26 |
| 1940 | 195 | #496 | 0.17 |
| 1939 | 144 | #559 | 0.13 |
| 1938 | 89 | #725 | 0.08 |
| 1937 | 72 | #811 | 0.07 |
| 1936 | 53 | #943 | 0.05 |
| 1935 | 60 | #893 | 0.06 |
| 1934 | 47 | #1,009 | 0.05 |
| 1933 | 35 | #1,205 | 0.03 |
| 1932 | 29 | #1,389 | 0.03 |
| 1931 | 24 | #1,557 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 25 | #1,578 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 14 | #2,323 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 20 | #1,910 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 17 | #2,181 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 17 | #2,174 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 12 | #2,804 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 13 | #2,688 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 8 | #3,699 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 5 | #5,131 | under 0.01 |
| 1921 | 7 | #4,083 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 5 | #5,099 | under 0.01 |
| 1919 | 8 | #3,514 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 5 | #4,934 | under 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Cathy a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Cathy has been given almost only to girls: 343 boys in 108 years of records.
Girls and boys named Cathy: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Cathy, and how old are they?
139,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 82% of the 170,646 Americans ever recorded as Cathy. The median Cathy alive today is 67 years old; half are between 62 and 71.
The 2020 Census counted 146,470 people named Cathy (146,344 women and girls, 126 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 148,501 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,790 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 105,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 26,400 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 4,160 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,430 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 457 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Cathy born?
The states with the most babies named Cathy are California, Ohio and New York, with 22% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 14,552 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Ohio | 11,203 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| New York | 10,715 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 9,931 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Texas | 9,539 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 9,487 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Michigan | 7,640 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Indiana | 6,759 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| North Carolina | 6,668 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Georgia | 5,647 | not ranked | 1.3× |
Where Cathy is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Cathy is most over-represented in Indiana: since 1918 it was given 1.5 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Cathy with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 542,649 babies since 1880, Cathy is the second most given (31% of them). In 2025 it was given to 12 of their 60 babies (20%), again the second most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Cathy
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Cathy and names like it
- Compare Cathy and KathyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sCathy peaked in 1958.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Cathy since 1910.
- The top names of 1958The year the most babies were named Cathy.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Cathy alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with CMost given first.