Cataleah
A unique invented name potentially blending "Cata" from Catarina with "Leah".
Name Census estimates that about 102 living Americans carry the first name Cataleah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cataleah today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cataleah births was 2013 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cataleah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
102
~ 1 in 3,360,337 Americans
Peak year
2013
15 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,771
Tracked since 2012
Popularity
Cataleah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cataleah from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 69 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Cataleah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cataleah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Cataleah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cataleahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cataleah
The name Cataleah is a relatively modern invention, with no clear origins from any particular language or culture. There are no definitive historical references or ancient texts that mention this name, as it seems to have emerged in more recent times.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cataleah can be found in the United States in the early 20th century. Cataleah Johnson (1902-1987) was an African American educator and civil rights activist from Mississippi. She dedicated her life to promoting equal education opportunities for Black students in the segregated South.
Another notable bearer of the name was Cataleah Tomkins (1920-2005), a British artist known for her abstract expressionist paintings. Her works were exhibited in galleries across Europe and the United States, and she is considered a pioneer in the field of modern art.
In literature, the name Cataleah appears in the novel "The Crimson Thread" by Katharine Lee Bates, published in 1923. The character Cataleah Whitmore is a young woman from a wealthy family who defies societal norms and becomes a nurse during World War I.
A more contemporary figure with the name Cataleah is the American singer-songwriter Cataleah Monique, born in 1985. She is known for her soulful R&B and neo-soul music, and has released several albums and singles since the early 2000s.
Lastly, Cataleah Bhutto (1963-2007) was a Pakistani politician and activist. She was the daughter of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and served as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, advocating for human rights and democracy in her country.
While the name Cataleah may not have a deep-rooted historical background, these individuals have contributed to shaping its modern significance and leaving their mark in various fields, from education and art to literature, music, and politics.
People
Cataleah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cataleah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cataleah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cataleah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 102 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cataleah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,360,337 US residents.
Is Cataleah a common name?
We classify Cataleah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 103 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cataleah most popular?
The single biggest year for Cataleah was 2013, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cataleah is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Cataleah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cataleah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cataleah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Cataleah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cataleah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Cataleah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Cataleah?
Want to know how many Americans are named Cataleah? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.