Kaitlyn
A feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "pure" or "limpid stream".
Name Census estimates that about 162,660 living Americans carry the first name Kaitlyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kaitlyn today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaitlyn births was 2000 (8,771 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaitlyn. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kaitlyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kaitlyn is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 232 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1990s, recent registration numbers for Kaitlyn have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
163K
~ 1 in 2,107 Americans
Peak year
2000
8,771 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2009 SSA rank
#652
Tracked since 1971
Census
Kaitlyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 148,535 people with the first name Kaitlyn, which placed it at #374 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
#374
National first-name rank
People counted
149K
148,535 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
49.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaitlyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaitlyn is White at 80.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.4%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Kaitlyn 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 Kaitlyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.0% · 118,818
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 12,507
- Two or more races4.3% · 6,415
- Black or African American3.4% · 5,053
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 4,920
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 822
Gender
Gender distribution for Kaitlyn
Out of the 166,573 babies given the name Kaitlyn since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kaitlyn as a male name
- Ranked #13,470 in 2009
- 5 male births in 2009
- Peak: 2004 (35 births)
Kaitlyn as a female name
- Ranked #652 in 2024
- 450 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (8,759 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaitlyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 148,542 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Kaitlyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaitlyn from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 67,647 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
Kaitlyn 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 Kaitlyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaitlyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Kaitlyn, while District of Columbia, Wyoming, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,246 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kaitlyn
The name Kaitlyn has its roots in the Gaelic language, originating from the ancient Celtic regions of Britain and Ireland. It is a modern variant of the traditional Scottish name Caitlin, which itself is derived from the ancient Irish Gaelic name Caitlín.
Caitlín is thought to be a diminutive form of the Irish Gaelic name Caitríona, which means "pure" or "virtuous." This name can be traced back to the early medieval period in Ireland, where it was likely used as a Gaelic translation of the Latin name Catharina, derived from the Greek word "katharos" meaning "pure."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Caitlín dates back to the 16th century, where it appears in Irish genealogical records and historical documents. The name gained popularity in Scotland during the Middle Ages, and variants such as Caitlin and Kaitlyn began to emerge in the English-speaking world over time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kaitlyn or its variants. One of the earliest recorded was Kaitlyn O'Neil, an Irish noblewoman who lived in the 16th century and was known for her involvement in the Irish Confederate Wars. Another was Kaitlyn MacGregor, a Scottish poet and writer who lived in the 17th century and published a collection of poems titled "The Thistle and the Rose."
In more recent history, Kaitlyn Bristowe, an American television personality and former contestant on "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette," was born in 1985. Kaitlyn Jones, an American singer and songwriter, was born in 1992 and has released several albums. Kaitlyn Lawes, a Canadian curler, was born in 1988 and won gold medals in the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics.
Caitlin Doughty, an American mortician, author, and YouTube personality, was born in 1984 and is known for her advocacy for death acceptance and her work in promoting a more open and honest discussion about death and dying. Kaitlyn Maher, an American actress, was born in 1994 and has appeared in several television shows and films.
People
Kaitlyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaitlyn 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
Kaitlyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaitlyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 162,660 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaitlyn 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 2,107 US residents.
Is Kaitlyn a common name?
We classify Kaitlyn as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 166,573 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaitlyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaitlyn was 2000, when 8,771 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaitlyn is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kaitlyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 148,535 people with the name Kaitlyn, or 49.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #374 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 Kaitlyn 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 Kaitlyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaitlyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 148,542 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Kaitlyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaitlyn is White at 80.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.4%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Kaitlyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kaitlyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.0% (118,818 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 Kaitlyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaitlyn a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Kaitlyn 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 Kaitlyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaitlyn 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 Kaitlyn 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 Kaitlyn?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.