Katharina
Katharina was given to 18 girls in 2025, #6,439 among girls’ names; 2,121 Americans have been recorded with it since 1881 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,830 Americans named Katharina and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (86% of everyone recorded); the median is 33 years old and half are between 22 and 47.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Katharina by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Katharina mean?
Wiktionary, German section
Katharina is “a female given name, equivalent to English Catherine”
[kataˈʁiːna]
Meaning: Wiktionary, German section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Katharina?
#6,439 among girls’ names, 2025
Katharina fell from #4,656 in 2015 to #6,439 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 16.8 to 11.2 per million.
58 babies in 1991, the peak
Katharina peaked in 1991, when 58 girls were given it, #2,250 among girls’ names. The 18 births of 2025 are 31% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 18 | #6,439 | 11.2 |
| 2024 | 15 | #7,413 | 9.3 |
| 2023 | 11 | #9,289 | 6.9 |
| 2022 | 20 | #6,095 | 12.2 |
| 2021 | 20 | #6,061 | 12.2 |
| 2020 | 21 | #5,748 | 13.0 |
| 2019 | 16 | #7,182 | 9.5 |
| 2018 | 17 | #6,941 | 10.0 |
| 2017 | 20 | #6,171 | 11.6 |
| 2016 | 20 | #6,285 | 11.3 |
Every recorded year (108)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 30 | #4,656 | 16.8 |
| 2014 | 21 | #6,101 | 11.8 |
| 2013 | 21 | #6,128 | 12.0 |
| 2012 | 28 | #5,035 | 15.9 |
| 2011 | 16 | #7,604 | 9.1 |
| 2010 | 25 | #5,506 | 14.1 |
| 2009 | 24 | #5,793 | 13.1 |
| 2008 | 26 | #5,505 | 13.7 |
| 2007 | 30 | #4,875 | 15.6 |
| 2006 | 22 | #6,021 | 11.6 |
| 2005 | 39 | #3,767 | 21.1 |
| 2004 | 37 | #3,858 | 20.1 |
| 2003 | 34 | #3,983 | 18.6 |
| 2002 | 50 | #2,951 | 27.8 |
| 2001 | 50 | #2,891 | 27.8 |
| 2000 | 38 | #3,479 | 20.9 |
| 1999 | 38 | #3,344 | 21.4 |
| 1998 | 42 | #3,038 | 23.8 |
| 1997 | 33 | #3,489 | 19.0 |
| 1996 | 43 | #2,818 | 24.5 |
| 1995 | 44 | #2,751 | 25.0 |
| 1994 | 51 | #2,479 | 28.6 |
| 1993 | 58 | #2,245 | 32.1 |
| 1992 | 48 | #2,588 | 26.0 |
| 1991 | 58 | #2,250 | 30.9 |
| 1990 | 36 | #3,106 | 19.0 |
| 1989 | 38 | #2,892 | 20.6 |
| 1988 | 38 | #2,760 | 21.3 |
| 1987 | 25 | #3,567 | 14.4 |
| 1986 | 29 | #3,161 | 16.9 |
| 1985 | 32 | #2,891 | 18.6 |
| 1984 | 20 | #3,916 | 11.9 |
| 1983 | 24 | #3,377 | 14.4 |
| 1982 | 17 | #4,423 | 10.0 |
| 1981 | 24 | #3,479 | 14.4 |
| 1980 | 22 | #3,664 | 13.3 |
| 1979 | 14 | #4,939 | 8.7 |
| 1978 | 16 | #4,352 | 10.4 |
| 1977 | 8 | #7,174 | 5.2 |
| 1976 | 18 | #3,733 | 12.3 |
| 1975 | 15 | #4,241 | 10.3 |
| 1974 | 19 | #3,485 | 12.9 |
| 1973 | 17 | #3,703 | 11.7 |
| 1972 | 18 | #3,455 | 11.8 |
| 1971 | 12 | #4,663 | 7.2 |
| 1970 | 21 | #3,155 | 12.0 |
| 1969 | 28 | #2,475 | 16.6 |
| 1968 | 18 | #3,104 | 11.0 |
| 1967 | 27 | #2,348 | 16.4 |
| 1966 | 28 | #2,275 | 16.5 |
| 1965 | 22 | #2,642 | 12.5 |
| 1964 | 24 | #2,560 | 12.7 |
| 1963 | 23 | #2,580 | 11.9 |
| 1962 | 29 | #2,233 | 14.7 |
| 1961 | 12 | #3,882 | 5.9 |
| 1960 | 20 | #2,773 | 9.9 |
| 1959 | 18 | #2,813 | 8.9 |
| 1958 | 17 | #2,915 | 8.5 |
| 1957 | 18 | #2,772 | 8.8 |
| 1956 | 16 | #2,985 | 8.0 |
| 1955 | 9 | #4,218 | 4.6 |
| 1954 | 12 | #3,403 | 6.2 |
| 1953 | 13 | #3,189 | 6.9 |
| 1952 | 5 | #5,969 | 2.7 |
| 1951 | 10 | #3,606 | 5.6 |
| 1950 | 10 | #3,551 | 5.8 |
| 1949 | 6 | #4,965 | 3.5 |
| 1946 | 5 | #5,314 | 3.2 |
| 1932 | 5 | #4,745 | 4.7 |
| 1930 | 7 | #3,859 | 6.2 |
| 1924 | 6 | #4,755 | 4.8 |
| 1922 | 5 | #5,399 | 4.2 |
| 1921 | 12 | #2,856 | 9.7 |
| 1920 | 7 | #4,185 | 5.8 |
| 1917 | 10 | #2,979 | 9.2 |
| 1916 | 10 | #2,930 | 9.6 |
| 1915 | 7 | #3,615 | 7.1 |
| 1914 | 6 | #3,396 | 7.9 |
| 1913 | 6 | #3,018 | 9.6 |
| 1912 | 6 | #2,799 | 10.8 |
| 1907 | 5 | #2,213 | 15.7 |
| 1906 | 5 | #2,084 | 16.9 |
| 1903 | 6 | #1,689 | 22.9 |
| 1901 | 9 | #1,181 | 37.6 |
| 1899 | 7 | #1,329 | 30.0 |
| 1898 | 8 | #1,317 | 30.9 |
| 1894 | 5 | #1,589 | 22.4 |
| 1892 | 7 | #1,218 | 33.0 |
| 1891 | 6 | #1,272 | 32.3 |
| 1890 | 7 | #1,150 | 36.8 |
| 1888 | 10 | #869 | 56.0 |
| 1887 | 6 | #1,088 | 41.1 |
| 1886 | 7 | #944 | 48.4 |
| 1885 | 7 | #876 | 52.6 |
| 1884 | 5 | #1,091 | 38.8 |
| 1883 | 6 | #871 | 53.4 |
| 1882 | 5 | #974 | 46.4 |
| 1881 | 6 | #787 | 65.3 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Katharina a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Katharina has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 108 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Katharina: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Katharina, and how old are they?
1,830 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 86% of the 2,121 Americans ever recorded as Katharina. The median Katharina alive today is 33 years old; half are between 22 and 47.
The 2020 Census counted 3,803 people named Katharina (3,802 women and girls, 1 man or boy). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,757 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.2 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 201 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 280 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 570 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 526 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 248 |
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 Katharina born?
The states with the most babies named Katharina are California, New York and Texas, with 84% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 116 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| New York | 67 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Texas | 39 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Florida | 11 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Illinois | 10 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Colorado | 5 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| New Jersey | 5 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Virginia | 5 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Washington | 5 | not ranked | 0.1× |
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 Katharina 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 739,886 babies since 1880, Katharina is the seventh most given (<1% of them). In 2025 it was given to 18 of their 1,966 babies (<1%), the sixth most given that year.
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.
More about Katharina and names like it
- Compare Katharina and KatherineBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sKatharina peaked in 1991.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Katharina since 1910.
- German namesWiktionary’s origin for Katharina: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1991The year the most babies were named Katharina.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Katharina alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with KMost given first.