Katarzyna
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "pure" or "innocent."
Name Census estimates that about 699 living Americans carry the first name Katarzyna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Katarzyna today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Katarzyna births was 1998 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Katarzyna. 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 Katarzyna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
699
~ 1 in 490,350 Americans
Peak year
1998
41 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,690
Tracked since 1980
Census
Katarzyna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,166 people with the first name Katarzyna, which placed it at #3,408 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
#3,408
National first-name rank
People counted
6.2K
6,166 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
99.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Katarzyna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katarzyna is White at 99.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.3%) and Black (0.2%). 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 Katarzyna 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 Katarzyna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White99.1% · 6,112
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 20
- Black or African American0.2% · 13
- Two or more races0.2% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 3
Popularity
Katarzyna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Katarzyna from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 309 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
Katarzyna 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 Katarzyna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Katarzynas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Illinois, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Katarzyna, while New Jersey, New York, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 115 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Katarzyna
Katarzyna is a feminine given name of Polish origin, derived from the Greek name Aikaterine, which means "pure" or "innocent." The name is closely related to the English name Katherine and the German name Katharina.
The name Katarzyna has its roots in the early Christian era, when it was given to girls in honor of St. Catherine of Alexandria, a 4th-century Christian martyr. The name gained popularity throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Katarzyna can be found in the chronicles of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where it was used by members of the nobility and the royal family. Queen Katarzyna Jagiellonka (1526-1583), the wife of King John III of Sweden, was a prominent bearer of the name during the 16th century.
In the 17th century, Katarzyna Tarnowska (1619-1656) was a Polish noblewoman and philanthropist who established several hospitals and schools in the city of Krakow. Katarzyna Zamoyska (1630-1670), a member of the powerful Zamoyski family, was known for her involvement in the Polish-Swedish War.
During the 18th century, Katarzyna Opalińska (1680-1735) was a renowned poet and playwright, who wrote several works in the Polish language. Katarzyna Kossakowska (1718-1808) was a member of the Polish nobility and a supporter of the Polish Enlightenment movement.
In the 19th century, Katarzyna Sowińska (1819-1894) was a Polish novelist and playwright who wrote works that explored the social and political issues of her time. Katarzyna Wazówna (1594-1594), the daughter of King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland, was a short-lived but significant figure in Polish history.
Throughout its history, the name Katarzyna has been borne by many notable women in Poland and other Slavic countries, reflecting its enduring popularity and cultural significance in the region.
People
Katarzyna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Katarzyna 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
Katarzyna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Katarzyna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 699 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Katarzyna 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 490,350 US residents.
Is Katarzyna a common name?
We classify Katarzyna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 721 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Katarzyna most popular?
The single biggest year for Katarzyna was 1998, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Katarzyna is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Katarzyna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,166 people with the name Katarzyna, or 2.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,408 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 Katarzyna 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 Katarzyna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Katarzyna appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,166 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 Katarzyna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katarzyna is White at 99.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.3%) and Black (0.2%). 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 Katarzyna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Katarzyna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.1% (6,112 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 Katarzyna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Katarzyna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Katarzyna 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 Katarzyna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Katarzyna 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 Katarzyna 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 called Katarzyna?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Katarzyna at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.