Kathie
A feminine diminutive form of the Greek name Katherine, meaning "pure."
Name Census estimates that about 10,413 living Americans carry the first name Kathie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kathie today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kathie births was 1954 (948 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kathie. 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
- • The typical person named Kathie is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Kathies were born before 1970.
People living today
10K
~ 1 in 32,916 Americans
Peak year
1954
948 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,794
Tracked since 1918
Popularity
Kathie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kathie from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 7,066 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kathie 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 Kathie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kathies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, Ohio, New York recorded the most babies named Kathie, while Rhode Island, Vermont, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 268 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kathie
The name Kathie is derived from the Greek name Aikaterine, which in turn comes from the Greek words "katharos" meaning "pure" and "hekatos" meaning "each of the two." The name was popularized by the early Christian martyr Saint Catherine of Alexandria, who lived in the 4th century AD.
In the Middle Ages, the name Katherine or its variations like Katharina, Catharine, and Kathryn became widespread across Europe, particularly in England, Germany, France, and other parts of Western Europe. It was often associated with nobility and royalty, with various queens, princesses, and noblewomen bearing the name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kathie is found in the Middle English text "The Proverbs of Hendyng," written around 1300, where a character named "Kathie" is mentioned. In the 15th century, a woman named Kathie Barlass was recorded as owning land in Scotland.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Kathie, including Kathie Lee Gifford (born 1953), an American television host and actress; Kathie Steinhardt (1923-2017), an American writer and journalist; and Kathie Sullivan (born 1956), an American astronaut and the first American woman to walk in space.
Other famous Kathies include Kathie Browne (1919-2003), an American actress and dancer; Kathie Krause (1953-2018), an American politician and activist; and Kathie Lee Gifford (born 1953), an American television host and actress.
While the name Kathie is a diminutive form of the more common Katherine, it has its own unique charm and has been used by individuals from various walks of life throughout history, carrying on the legacy of its Greek origins and association with purity and nobility.
People
Kathie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kathie 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
Kathie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kathie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,413 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kathie 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 32,916 US residents.
Is Kathie a common name?
We classify Kathie as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,086 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kathie most popular?
The single biggest year for Kathie was 1954, when 948 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kathie is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kathie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kathie 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.