Katelen
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially derived from Greek meaning "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 215 living Americans carry the first name Katelen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Katelen today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Katelen births was 2000 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Katelen. 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 Katelen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
215
~ 1 in 1,594,206 Americans
Peak year
2000
14 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2010 SSA rank
#15,961
Tracked since 1986
Census
Katelen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 208 people with the first name Katelen, which placed it at #37,486 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
#37,486
National first-name rank
People counted
208
208 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Katelen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katelen is White at 64.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.5%) and Black (6.7%). 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 Katelen 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 Katelen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.9% · 135
- Hispanic or Latino13.5% · 28
- Black or African American6.7% · 14
- Two or more races5.8% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.3% · 9
Popularity
Katelen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Katelen from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 101 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
Katelen 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 Katelen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Katelens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Katelen
The given name Katelen is a relatively modern name that does not have a long historical lineage. It is believed to be an anglicized spelling of the French name Catelene or Catelaine, which in turn derives from the Latin name Catellina. The origin of the name can be traced back to the Latin word "catella," meaning "little cat."
In the Middle Ages, names derived from animal references were quite common, particularly among the lower classes. The name Catellina was likely given to a young girl who was perceived as playful or agile, much like a kitten. Over time, the name evolved into various spellings, such as Catalina, Caterina, and eventually, the English form Katelen.
While there are no significant historical figures bearing the exact name Katelen, some notable individuals have shared similar variations. One of the earliest recorded instances is Catalina de Erauso (1592-1650), a Spanish nun who famously escaped her convent and lived as a man under the name Antonio de Erauso, becoming a soldier in the Spanish colonies.
Another famous bearer of the name was Catalina de Aragón (1485-1536), the first wife of King Henry VIII of England. Her refusal to annul their marriage was a significant factor in the English Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England.
In the literary world, Caterina Sforza (1463-1509) was an Italian noble woman renowned for her patronage of the arts and her fierce defense of her family's territories. Her life inspired numerous works of literature, including Ludovico Ariosto's epic poem "Orlando Furioso."
A more contemporary figure was Caterina Valente (1931-2022), an Italian-Swiss singer and actress who enjoyed a successful career spanning over seven decades. She was particularly popular in Germany and was honored with numerous awards for her contributions to the entertainment industry.
While not as prominent as some of the aforementioned individuals, there have been a few notable Katelens throughout history. Katelen Van Hecke (born 1992) is a Belgian professional tennis player who has achieved success on the ITF Women's Circuit. Additionally, Katelen Acker (born 1988) is an American actress known for her roles in films such as "The Stepfather" and "The Truth About Angels."
People
Katelen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Katelen 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
Katelen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Katelen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 215 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Katelen 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 1,594,206 US residents.
Is Katelen a common name?
We classify Katelen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 221 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Katelen most popular?
The single biggest year for Katelen was 2000, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Katelen 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 Katelen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 208 people with the name Katelen, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,486 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 Katelen 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 Katelen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Katelen appears almost entirely female. Of the 203 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 Katelen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katelen is White at 64.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.5%) and Black (6.7%). 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 Katelen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Katelen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.9% (135 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 Katelen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Katelen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Katelen 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 Katelen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Katelen 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 Katelen 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 Katelen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.