Catherina
A feminine name derived from the Greek Katharin, meaning "pure" or "chaste".
Name Census estimates that about 733 living Americans carry the first name Catherina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Catherina today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Catherina births was 1962 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Catherina. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Catherina with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
733
~ 1 in 467,605 Americans
Peak year
1962
25 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,694
Tracked since 1900
Census
Catherina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,171 people with the first name Catherina, which placed it at #11,101 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#11,101
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,171 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Catherina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Catherina is White at 49.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Catherina described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Catherina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.2% · 576
- Hispanic or Latino21.6% · 253
- Asian and Pacific Islander13.7% · 160
- Black or African American10.9% · 128
- Two or more races4.0% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 7
Popularity
Catherina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Catherina from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 184 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Catherina 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 Catherina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Catherinas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Catherina
The name Catherina is derived from the Greek name Katharina, which itself is a feminine form of the Greek name Katharios, meaning "pure" or "clear". The name can be traced back to the late Roman era and early Christian period, around the 3rd to 5th centuries AD. It is believed to have originated in the Eastern Mediterranean region, particularly in areas with Greek cultural influence.
The name Catherina gained widespread popularity in Europe during the Middle Ages, thanks in part to the veneration of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a 4th-century Christian martyr revered for her wisdom and courage. The legend of Saint Catherine, as recorded in the Golden Legend and other hagiographic works, contributed to the name's association with purity, intelligence, and strength of character.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Catherina can be found in the Liber Vitae, a medieval monastic memorial book from the 9th century, which lists individuals for whom prayers were offered. The name also appears in various medieval charters, chronicles, and literary works from across Europe.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Catherina. One of the most famous was Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), an Italian philosopher, theologian, and mystic who played a significant role in the Western Schism and was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church. Another prominent figure was Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589), the Queen of France and influential regent during the French Renaissance.
Other noteworthy Catherinas include Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), the first wife of King Henry VIII of England; Catherine the Great (1729-1796), the Empress of Russia known for her leadership and cultural achievements; and Catherine of Alexandria (c. 287-305), the early Christian martyr and saint whose legend popularized the name.
The name Catherina has also been borne by several literary figures, such as Catherine Sedgwick (1789-1867), an American novelist and educator, and Catherine Anne Porter (1890-1980), an American journalist, essayist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. These individuals have contributed to the rich cultural and historical significance of the name Catherina over the centuries.
People
Catherina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Catherina 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
Catherina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Catherina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 733 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Catherina 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 467,605 US residents.
Is Catherina a common name?
We classify Catherina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 933 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Catherina most popular?
The single biggest year for Catherina was 1962, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Catherina is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Catherina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,171 people with the name Catherina, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,101 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Catherina in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Catherina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Catherina appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,169 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Catherina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Catherina is White at 49.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Catherina most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Catherina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.2% (576 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Catherina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Catherina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Catherina 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 Catherina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Catherina 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 Catherina 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.
How many people have Catherina as a first name?
Want to know how many Americans are named Catherina? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.