Kathy
Kathy was given to 48 girls in 2025, #3,274 among girls’ names; 334,870 Americans have been recorded with it since 1910 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 272,000 Americans named Kathy and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (81% 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 Kathy by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Kathy mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Kathy is “a diminutive of the female given names Katherine and Kathleen, also used as a formal given name.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Kathy?
#3,274 among girls’ names, 2025
Kathy fell from #1,690 in 2015 to #3,274 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 70.6 to 29.9 per million.
23,983 babies in 1958, the peak
Kathy peaked in 1958, when 23,983 babies were given it (23,938 girls, #14 among girls’ names). The 48 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 48 | #3,274 | 0.03 |
| 2024 | 64 | #2,708 | 0.04 |
| 2023 | 60 | #2,834 | 0.04 |
| 2022 | 75 | #2,437 | 0.05 |
| 2021 | 72 | #2,469 | 0.04 |
| 2020 | 83 | #2,183 | 0.05 |
| 2019 | 76 | #2,365 | 0.05 |
| 2018 | 91 | #2,107 | 0.05 |
| 2017 | 111 | #1,849 | 0.06 |
| 2016 | 159 | #1,451 | 0.09 |
Every recorded year (113)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 126 | #1,690 | 0.07 |
| 2014 | 142 | #1,539 | 0.08 |
| 2013 | 139 | #1,560 | 0.08 |
| 2012 | 176 | #1,335 | 0.10 |
| 2011 | 171 | #1,352 | 0.10 |
| 2010 | 190 | #1,261 | 0.11 |
| 2009 | 204 | #1,222 | 0.11 |
| 2008 | 268 | #992 | 0.14 |
| 2007 | 294 | #921 | 0.15 |
| 2006 | 294 | #903 | 0.15 |
| 2005 | 286 | #884 | 0.15 |
| 2004 | 283 | #869 | 0.15 |
| 2003 | 308 | #803 | 0.17 |
| 2002 | 362 | #694 | 0.20 |
| 2001 | 343 | #716 | 0.19 |
| 2000 | 379 | #652 | 0.21 |
| 1999 | 361 | #647 | 0.20 |
| 1998 | 386 | #618 | 0.22 |
| 1997 | 389 | #591 | 0.22 |
| 1996 | 445 | #530 | 0.25 |
| 1995 | 409 | #564 | 0.23 |
| 1994 | 455 | #539 | 0.25 |
| 1993 | 444 | #540 | 0.25 |
| 1992 | 474 | #507 | 0.26 |
| 1991 | 472 | #503 | 0.25 |
| 1990 | 477 | #503 | 0.25 |
| 1989 | 469 | #502 | 0.25 |
| 1988 | 522 | #435 | 0.29 |
| 1987 | 517 | #433 | 0.30 |
| 1986 | 572 | #397 | 0.33 |
| 1985 | 617 | #370 | 0.36 |
| 1984 | 670 | #343 | 0.40 |
| 1983 | 765 | #303 | 0.46 |
| 1982 | 879 | #277 | 0.52 |
| 1981 | 956 | #258 | 0.57 |
| 1980 | 1,010 | #255 | 0.61 |
| 1979 | 1,112 | #234 | 0.69 |
| 1978 | 1,134 | #221 | 0.74 |
| 1977 | 1,406 | #190 | 0.92 |
| 1976 | 1,382 | #186 | 0.94 |
| 1975 | 1,689 | #160 | 1.2 |
| 1974 | 1,920 | #146 | 1.3 |
| 1973 | 2,371 | #124 | 1.6 |
| 1972 | 3,032 | #108 | 2.0 |
| 1971 | 3,863 | #91 | 2.3 |
| 1970 | 4,797 | #77 | 2.7 |
| 1969 | 4,751 | #77 | 2.8 |
| 1968 | 4,677 | #76 | 2.9 |
| 1967 | 5,406 | #64 | 3.3 |
| 1966 | 6,319 | #59 | 3.7 |
| 1965 | 7,762 | #54 | 4.4 |
| 1964 | 10,377 | #39 | 5.5 |
| 1963 | 12,215 | #34 | 6.3 |
| 1962 | 14,757 | #27 | 7.5 |
| 1961 | 16,385 | #25 | 8.1 |
| 1960 | 18,478 | #21 | 9.1 |
| 1959 | 21,814 | #15 | 10.8 |
| 1958 | 23,938 | #14 | 11.9 |
| 1957 | 20,237 | #20 | 9.9 |
| 1956 | 17,177 | #20 | 8.6 |
| 1955 | 15,324 | #22 | 7.8 |
| 1954 | 14,175 | #23 | 7.3 |
| 1953 | 13,400 | #23 | 7.1 |
| 1952 | 12,369 | #29 | 6.7 |
| 1951 | 10,406 | #35 | 5.8 |
| 1950 | 9,090 | #38 | 5.3 |
| 1949 | 8,451 | #42 | 4.9 |
| 1948 | 6,148 | #55 | 3.6 |
| 1947 | 5,697 | #64 | 3.2 |
| 1946 | 4,179 | #79 | 2.7 |
| 1945 | 2,753 | #101 | 2.1 |
| 1944 | 2,417 | #110 | 1.8 |
| 1943 | 2,033 | #136 | 1.5 |
| 1942 | 1,537 | #159 | 1.1 |
| 1941 | 947 | #199 | 0.78 |
| 1940 | 604 | #256 | 0.53 |
| 1939 | 365 | #328 | 0.33 |
| 1938 | 246 | #426 | 0.22 |
| 1937 | 157 | #527 | 0.15 |
| 1936 | 136 | #563 | 0.13 |
| 1935 | 99 | #671 | 0.09 |
| 1934 | 79 | #751 | 0.08 |
| 1933 | 45 | #1,042 | 0.04 |
| 1932 | 58 | #928 | 0.05 |
| 1931 | 40 | #1,136 | 0.04 |
| 1930 | 29 | #1,446 | 0.03 |
| 1929 | 35 | #1,269 | 0.03 |
| 1928 | 18 | #2,052 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 35 | #1,374 | 0.03 |
| 1926 | 34 | #1,373 | 0.03 |
| 1925 | 9 | #3,513 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 13 | #2,744 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 12 | #2,824 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 17 | #2,227 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 15 | #2,435 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 10 | #3,225 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 11 | #2,899 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 8 | #3,667 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 8 | #3,515 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 8 | #3,411 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 10 | #2,802 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 7 | #3,028 | 0.01 |
| 1910 | 5 | #2,594 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Kathy a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Kathy has been given almost only to girls: 739 boys in 113 years of records.
Girls and boys named Kathy: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Kathy, and how old are they?
272,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 81% of the 334,870 Americans ever recorded as Kathy. The median Kathy alive today is 67 years old; half are between 62 and 71.
The 2020 Census counted 288,053 people named Kathy (287,828 women and girls, 225 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 290,721 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 | 5,800 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 203,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 48,300 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 8,890 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 4,640 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,240 |
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 Kathy born?
The states with the most babies named Kathy are California, Ohio and Texas, with 20% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 27,189 | #2,190 | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 21,566 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Texas | 19,076 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 18,440 | #1,508 | 0.9× |
| Illinois | 18,076 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Michigan | 16,313 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| New York | 16,110 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Indiana | 12,656 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| North Carolina | 12,001 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Tennessee | 10,369 | not ranked | 1.4× |
Where Kathy is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Kathy is most over-represented in West Virginia: since 1910 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 Kathy 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, Kathy is the most given (62% of them). In 2025 it was given to 48 of their 60 babies (80%), again the 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 Kathy
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 Kathy and names like it
- Compare Kathy and CathyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sKathy peaked in 1958.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Kathy since 1910.
- The top names of 1958The year the most babies were named Kathy.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Kathy alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with KMost given first.