Kaethe
German feminine form of the Greek name Katherine, meaning "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 18 living Americans carry the first name Kaethe. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kaethe today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaethe births was 1961 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaethe. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kaethe. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
18
~ 1 in 19,041,908 Americans
Peak year
1961
5 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1995 SSA rank
#14,449
Tracked since 1961
Census
Kaethe in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 202 people with the first name Kaethe, which placed it at #38,178 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
#38,178
National first-name rank
People counted
202
202 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaethe
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaethe is White at 90.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.5%). 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 Kaethe 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 Kaethe at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.1% · 182
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 7
- Two or more races1.0% · 2
- Black or African American0.5% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Kaethe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaethe from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 10 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Kaethe remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kaethe 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 Kaethe 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 Kaethe
The given name Kaethe has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically in the Old High German era dating back to around the 8th century. The name is a variant of the more common Katharina or Catherine, derived from the ancient Greek name Aikaterine, meaning "pure" or "unmarried."
In its early Germanic form, Kaethe was likely spelled as Cāthī or Cāthīn, eventually evolving into the modern German spelling of Käthe. This name was primarily used in German-speaking regions of Central Europe, particularly in areas that are now parts of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been used as a Christian name among Germanic tribes during the Middle Ages, likely influenced by the spread of Christianity in the region.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kaethe can be found in the German literary work "Parzival" by Wolfram von Eschenbach, written in the early 13th century. In this epic poem, a character named Kāthē is mentioned as a maiden in the court of King Arthur.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kaethe. One example is Kaethe Kollwitz (1867-1945), a renowned German artist and sculptor known for her powerful works depicting the hardships of working-class life and the tragedies of war.
Another notable figure is Kaethe Menzinger (1888-1959), a German-American artist and teacher who played a significant role in the development of modern dance education in the United States.
In the field of psychology, Kaethe Wolf (1906-1986) was a German-American psychologist known for her contributions to the study of child development and her work on the concept of "critical periods" in language acquisition.
In literature, Kaethe Winkler (1888-1976) was a German author and children's book writer who gained recognition for her stories and novels set in rural Saxony.
Lastly, Kaethe Dorsch (1922-2005) was a German actress and voice artist who had a successful career in both film and television, lending her voice to various animated characters.
While the name Kaethe has its roots in the Germanic languages and has been associated with notable individuals throughout history, it is important to note that the popularity and usage of names can vary across regions and cultures over time.
People
Kaethe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaethe as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kaethe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaethe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 18 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaethe 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 19,041,908 US residents.
Is Kaethe a common name?
We classify Kaethe as "Very Rare". It ranks above 38.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 20 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaethe most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaethe was 1961, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaethe is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kaethe in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 202 people with the name Kaethe, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,178 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 Kaethe 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 Kaethe?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaethe appears almost entirely female. Of the 206 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Kaethe?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaethe is White at 90.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.5%). 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 Kaethe most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kaethe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.1% (182 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 Kaethe in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaethe a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaethe 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 Kaethe still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaethe 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 Kaethe 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 Kaethe as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.