Cathern
A feminine variant of Katherine, meaning "pure" or "virgin" of Greek origin.
Name Census estimates that about 333 living Americans carry the first name Cathern. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cathern today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cathern births was 1930 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cathern. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Cathern is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Catherns were born before 1967.
People living today
333
~ 1 in 1,029,292 Americans
Peak year
1930
29 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
1988 SSA rank
#12,099
Tracked since 1882
Popularity
Cathern: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cathern from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 229 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cathern 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 Cathern during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Catherns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cathern
The name Cathern has its origins in the ancient Celtic and Gaelic languages, tracing back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Irish Gaelic name "Caithriona," which means "pure" or "virgin." This name was popular among the Celtic tribes of Ireland and Scotland during the 5th to 10th centuries AD.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Cathern can be found in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient Irish chronicle that dates back to the 15th century. The annals record the life of Saint Cathern of Leinster, an Irish nun and abbess who lived in the 7th century AD. She is revered as the patroness of the Ui Bairrche people of County Carlow.
During the Middle Ages, the name Cathern gained popularity across Europe, particularly in regions with strong Celtic cultural influences. In England, the name was often anglicized as "Catherine" or "Katherine," but the original Gaelic form, "Cathern," remained in use among Irish and Scottish communities.
Notable historical figures who bore the name Cathern include Cathern O'Toole, an Irish chieftain and Lord of Imaile in the 12th century. Another prominent figure was Cathern MacKinnon, a Scottish clan chief from the Isle of Skye, who lived in the 15th century and was renowned for her bravery during clan battles.
In the realm of literature, the name Cathern appears in the ancient Irish epic poem "The Cattle Raid of Cooley" (Tain Bo Cuailnge), where a character named Cathern is mentioned as a handmaiden to the legendary Queen Medb of Connacht.
Other notable Catherns throughout history include Cathern O'Byrne, an Irish noblewoman and heiress from County Wicklow in the 16th century, and Cathern Lamont, a Scottish poet and songwriter from the 17th century, known for her contributions to the literary tradition of the Scottish Highlands.
People
Cathern + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cathern 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
Cathern: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cathern?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 333 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cathern 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 1,029,292 US residents.
Is Cathern a common name?
We classify Cathern as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,080 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cathern most popular?
The single biggest year for Cathern was 1930, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cathern is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cathern a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cathern 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.
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.