Catlin
Derived from the surname, an English feminine name of unknown meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 1,446 living Americans carry the first name Catlin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Catlin today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Catlin births was 1988 (119 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Catlin. 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
1.4K
~ 1 in 237,036 Americans
Peak year
1988
119 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2006 SSA rank
#12,336
Tracked since 1970
Gender
Gender distribution for Catlin
Catlin is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,501 total registrations, 446 (29.7%) were male and 1,055 (70.3%) were female.
Catlin as a male name
- Ranked #12,336 in 2006
- 5 male births in 2006
- Peak: 1985 (67 births)
Catlin as a female name
- Ranked #13,643 in 2011
- 7 female births in 2011
- Peak: 1991 (69 births)
Popularity
Catlin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Catlin from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 641 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Catlin 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 Catlin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Catlins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Catlin, while Missouri, Virginia, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Catlin
The given name Catlin is an English name derived from the Old English words "catt" meaning cat and "lēah" meaning meadow or clearing. It is believed to have originated as a surname in the medieval period, referring to someone who lived near a clearing frequented by wild cats.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Catlin dates back to the 13th century in the form of "Cateline" in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire, England from 1212. The name gained popularity in the following centuries and appeared in various historical records across England.
Notable individuals with the given name Catlin include George Catlin (1796-1872), an American painter, author, and traveler who is renowned for his detailed portraits of Native American tribes. His works are considered invaluable records of the indigenous cultures of the American West during the 19th century.
Another prominent figure was Catlin Williams (1840-1907), an American soldier who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery and actions during the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863.
In the literary world, Catlin Clewitt (1868-1943) was an American author and playwright known for her works such as "The Spur of Pride" and "The Bride of the Prairie". Her novels often explored themes of love, honor, and the challenges faced by women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Catlin Daniels (1923-2013) was an American actor and television director who had a prolific career spanning over six decades. He is best remembered for his role as Dr. Paul Browning in the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" from 1970 to 1984.
In the field of sports, Catlin Matson (1910-2001) was an American track and field athlete who competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He won a silver medal in the decathlon event, establishing himself as one of the top all-around athletes of his time.
People
Catlin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Catlin 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
Catlin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Catlin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,446 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Catlin 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 237,036 US residents.
Is Catlin a common name?
We classify Catlin as "Rare". It ranks above 92.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,501 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Catlin most popular?
The single biggest year for Catlin was 1988, when 119 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Catlin is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Catlin a female name?
Yes, 70.3% of people registered as Catlin 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.