Kata
A Japanese feminine name meaning "to add".
Name Census estimates that about 51 living Americans carry the first name Kata. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kata today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kata births was 1994 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kata. 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 Kata. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
51
~ 1 in 6,720,673 Americans
Peak year
1994
6 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2011 SSA rank
#18,175
Tracked since 1974
Popularity
Kata: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kata from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 22 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kata 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 Kata 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 Kata
The name Kata is derived from the Greek language and has its origins in ancient Greece. It is believed to be a shortened form of the name Aikaterina, which means "pure" or "unblemished".
In ancient Greek mythology, Kata was the name of one of the Oceanids, the three thousand daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. Kata was specifically associated with the Nile River and was considered a minor goddess of rivers and streams.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kata can be found in the works of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who mentioned a woman named Kata from the city of Miletus in his writings from the 5th century BC.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kata. One such person was Kata Lomb (1909-2003), a Hungarian painter and graphic artist known for her abstract and figurative works. Another was Kata Bethlen (1700-1759), a Hungarian noblewoman and philanthropist who founded several schools and hospitals in Transylvania.
In the field of literature, Kata Begusch (1892-1974) was an Austrian writer and poet who published several collections of poetry and short stories. Kata Dalström (1858-1923) was a Swedish actress and theater director who founded her own theater company in Stockholm.
Kata Kon (1932-2021) was a Cambodian dancer and choreographer who played a significant role in preserving and promoting traditional Khmer dance forms. She was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri honor by the Indian government in 2012 for her contributions to the arts.
While the name Kata has its roots in ancient Greece, it has been adopted and used in various cultures around the world, with variations in spelling and pronunciation. However, its core meaning of "pure" or "unblemished" has remained consistent throughout its long history.
People
Kata + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kata 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
Kata: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kata?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 51 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kata 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 6,720,673 US residents.
Is Kata a common name?
We classify Kata as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 53 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kata most popular?
The single biggest year for Kata was 1994, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kata is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kata a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kata 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.