Cathi
A feminine variant of the English name Catherine of Greek origin meaning "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 1,945 living Americans carry the first name Cathi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cathi today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cathi births was 1961 (162 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cathi. 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
1.9K
~ 1 in 176,223 Americans
Peak year
1961
162 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1990 SSA rank
#13,296
Tracked since 1942
Census
Cathi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,327 people with the first name Cathi, which placed it at #6,775 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
#6,775
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,327 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cathi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cathi is White at 90.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Black (2.6%). 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 Cathi 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 Cathi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.6% · 2,109
- Two or more races2.8% · 66
- Black or African American2.6% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Popularity
Cathi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cathi from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 986 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
Cathi 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 Cathi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cathis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. California, Ohio, New York recorded the most babies named Cathi, while Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cathi
The given name Cathi is derived from the Greek name Katharina, which ultimately traces its roots back to the ancient Greek word "katharos" meaning "pure" or "clear." This name gained widespread popularity in various forms across Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period.
Cathi is a diminutive or shortened form of the name Katharina, often used as a nickname or a variant spelling. It first emerged in regions where German and English languages were spoken, as these cultures adopted and adapted the Greek name Katharina into their own linguistic traditions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cathi can be found in the writings of the 16th-century German theologian and reformer Martin Luther, who used the diminutive form "Cathi" when referring to his wife, Katharina von Bora.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Cathi. One such figure was Cathi King (1923-1976), an American actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and television shows during the mid-20th century.
Another individual worth mentioning is Cathi Herrod (born in 1958), an American lawyer and pro-life advocate who has served as the president of the Center for Arizona Policy, a prominent conservative advocacy organization.
In the literary world, Cathi Unsworth (born in 1969) is a British crime fiction author known for her gritty and atmospheric novels set in various periods of London's history.
The name Cathi has also been associated with sports figures, such as Cathi Haase (born in 1951), a former professional tennis player from the United States who achieved a career-high ranking of No. 8 in the world in 1976.
Lastly, Cathi Graham (1955-2021) was a British singer and songwriter who gained recognition as a member of the pop rock band Deaf School in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
While these are just a few examples, the name Cathi has been embraced by individuals from various walks of life throughout history, each leaving their unique mark on their respective fields and communities.
People
Cathi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cathi 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
Cathi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cathi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,945 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cathi 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 176,223 US residents.
Is Cathi a common name?
We classify Cathi as "Rare". It ranks above 93.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,536 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cathi most popular?
The single biggest year for Cathi was 1961, when 162 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cathi is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cathi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,327 people with the name Cathi, or 0.77 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,775 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 Cathi 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 Cathi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cathi appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,326 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 Cathi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cathi is White at 90.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Black (2.6%). 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 Cathi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cathi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.6% (2,109 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 Cathi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cathi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cathi 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 Cathi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cathi 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 Cathi 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 are named Cathi?
Find out how many people have the name Cathi on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.