Kaityln
A feminine name of Celtic origin meaning "pure" or "kern" meaning "daughter of the battle chief".
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the first name Kaityln. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kaityln today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaityln births was 2004 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaityln. 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
124
~ 1 in 2,764,148 Americans
Peak year
2004
11 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2009 SSA rank
#14,408
Tracked since 1988
Census
Kaityln in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 396 people with the first name Kaityln, which placed it at #24,370 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
#24,370
National first-name rank
People counted
396
396 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaityln
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaityln is White at 75.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.6%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Kaityln 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 Kaityln at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.8% · 300
- Hispanic or Latino11.6% · 46
- Two or more races5.1% · 20
- Black or African American4.8% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Kaityln: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaityln from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 59 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kaityln 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 Kaityln 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 Kaityln
The name Kaitlyn is an English feminine name that emerged in the late 20th century as a variant of the traditional name Caitlin. The name Caitlin itself is derived from the Irish Gaelic name Caitlín, which is a diminutive form of the name Caitlín óg, meaning "young Caitlín" or "little Caitlín."
The name Caitlín óg is believed to have its roots in the Old Irish name Caillín, which was originally a pet form of the Gaelic word "caille" meaning "young woman" or "girl." The name Caillín, in turn, is thought to be derived from the Old Irish word "caill" meaning "veil" or "covering," possibly referring to the traditional head coverings worn by young women in ancient Irish culture.
While the name Caitlín has a long history in Ireland, the variant spelling Kaitlyn is a more recent development. The earliest recorded instances of the name Kaitlyn date back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, when it began to gain popularity as a modern adaptation of the traditional Irish name.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who have borne the name Caitlín or its variants. One of the earliest recorded examples is Caitlín Ní Uallacháin (1566-1617), an Irish noblewoman and poet from County Clare. Another prominent figure was Caitlín Máire Ní Dhuibhir (1734-1808), an Irish poet and songwriter from County Limerick.
In more recent times, the name Kaitlyn has been carried by several individuals, including Kaitlyn Bristowe (born 1985), an American television personality who starred on the reality show "The Bachelorette." Another notable figure is Kaitlyn Weaver (born 1989), a Canadian ice dancer who competed in the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics.
Other famous individuals with the name Kaitlyn include Kaitlyn Lawes (born 1988), a Canadian curler who won a gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and Kaitlyn Hunt (born 1995), an American known for her controversial legal case involving a same-sex relationship with a minor.
While the name Kaitlyn is a relatively modern form, it carries the rich cultural heritage and linguistic roots of the traditional Irish name Caitlín, with its origins dating back to ancient Gaelic words and traditions.
People
Kaityln + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaityln 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
Kaityln: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaityln?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 124 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaityln 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 2,764,148 US residents.
Is Kaityln a common name?
We classify Kaityln as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 127 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaityln most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaityln was 2004, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaityln is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kaityln in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 396 people with the name Kaityln, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,370 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 Kaityln 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 Kaityln?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaityln appears almost entirely female. Of the 395 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 Kaityln?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaityln is White at 75.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.6%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Kaityln most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kaityln in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.8% (300 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 Kaityln in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaityln a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaityln 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 Kaityln still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaityln 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 Kaityln 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 Americans are named Kaityln?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.