Cathryne
Pure, virtuous; variant of the name "Katherine".
Name Census estimates that about 269 living Americans carry the first name Cathryne. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cathryne today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cathryne births was 1916 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cathryne. 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
269
~ 1 in 1,274,180 Americans
Peak year
1916
14 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2006 SSA rank
#13,878
Tracked since 1907
Census
Cathryne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 368 people with the first name Cathryne, which placed it at #25,680 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
#25,680
National first-name rank
People counted
368
368 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cathryne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cathryne is White at 85.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and Black (4.1%). 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 Cathryne 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 Cathryne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.6% · 315
- Two or more races4.3% · 16
- Black or African American4.1% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Cathryne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cathryne from the 1900s through to the 2000s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 92 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Cathryne remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cathryne 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 Cathryne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cathryne
The name Cathryne is a variant spelling of the feminine given name Catherine, derived from the ancient Greek name Katharina. The origins of the name can be traced back to the late 4th century, when it gained popularity among early Christian communities in Alexandria, Egypt.
The name Katharina is a combination of the Greek words "katharos" meaning "pure" and "hagnos" meaning "unsullied" or "virgin." This reflects the name's association with the virtues of purity and chastity, which were highly valued in early Christian traditions. It's believed that the name was initially bestowed upon devout virgins or nuns who dedicated their lives to religious service.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name's usage can be found in the writings of St. Athanasius, the 4th-century Patriarch of Alexandria. He mentioned a young Christian martyr named Katharina, who was executed for her faith during the reign of the Roman Emperor Maximinus II in the early 4th century. This account contributed to the name's association with martyrdom and unwavering devotion to Christian beliefs.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Katharina and its variants, such as Cathryne, gained widespread popularity across Europe as Christianity spread. Several notable historical figures bore this name, including:
1. Cathryne of Alexandria (287-305 AD), the aforementioned Christian martyr revered by the Catholic Church.
2. Cathryne of Siena (1347-1380), an influential Italian philosopher, theologian, and mystic, who was canonized as a saint in 1461.
3. Cathryne of Aragon (1485-1536), Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII, known for her refusal to annul their marriage.
4. Cathryne de' Medici (1519-1589), an influential aristocrat and the wife of King Henry II of France, who played a significant role in the politics of the French Renaissance.
5. Cathryne the Great (1729-1796), the longest-reigning female ruler of Russia, who oversaw a period of significant expansion and modernization of the Russian Empire.
The name Cathryne has also been associated with various literary works and cultural references over the centuries, further solidifying its historical significance and enduring appeal across different regions and societies.
People
Cathryne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cathryne 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
Cathryne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cathryne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 269 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cathryne 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 1,274,180 US residents.
Is Cathryne a common name?
We classify Cathryne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 535 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cathryne most popular?
The single biggest year for Cathryne was 1916, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cathryne is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cathryne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 368 people with the name Cathryne, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,680 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 Cathryne 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 Cathryne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cathryne appears almost entirely female. Of the 374 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Cathryne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cathryne is White at 85.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and Black (4.1%). 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 Cathryne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cathryne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.6% (315 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 Cathryne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cathryne a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cathryne 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 Cathryne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cathryne 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 Cathryne 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 the name Cathryne?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.