Kathrin
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "pure" or "innocent".
Name Census estimates that about 987 living Americans carry the first name Kathrin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kathrin today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kathrin births was 1990 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kathrin. 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 Kathrin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
987
~ 1 in 347,269 Americans
Peak year
1990
36 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2021 SSA rank
#16,438
Tracked since 1914
Census
Kathrin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,847 people with the first name Kathrin, which placed it at #7,983 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
#7,983
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,847 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kathrin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kathrin is White at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Kathrin 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 Kathrin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.1% · 1,571
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 120
- Two or more races3.4% · 63
- Black or African American2.9% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 5
Popularity
Kathrin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kathrin from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 206 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
Kathrin 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 Kathrin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kathrins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kathrin
Kathrin is a German feminine given name derived from the ancient Greek name Katharina, which itself is a combination of the Greek words katharos meaning "pure" and the name Aikaterine. The name Katharina was likely introduced to German-speaking regions by Greek missionaries during the Middle Ages.
In medieval times, the name was rendered in various spellings such as Katharina, Katherina, and Kathrin. The abbreviated form Kathrin gained popularity in certain regions of Germany and Switzerland. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Kathrin von Bora (1499-1552), the wife of the German Protestant Reformer Martin Luther.
Another notable historical figure with the name Kathrin was Kathrin Linsert (1669-1754), a German educator and writer who established one of the earliest schools for girls in Berlin. Her works on pedagogy and ethics were influential in shaping educational practices of the time.
In the arts, Kathrin Türk (1927-2023) was a renowned German actress and theater director known for her performances in plays by Bertolt Brecht and her work with the Berliner Ensemble. She was awarded the prestigious Deutscher Filmpreis for her contributions to German cinema.
Kathrin Ackermann (1944-2014) was a Swiss artist and sculptor whose works explored themes of nature, mythology, and the human form. Her sculptures and installations can be found in public spaces and galleries across Europe.
Kathrin Perez (1957-2010) was a German writer and journalist known for her novels and essays on contemporary issues. Her book "Ausgeliefert" (Delivered), published in 2003, received critical acclaim for its exploration of themes of identity and belonging.
While the name Kathrin has its roots in ancient Greek and was popularized in medieval Europe, it has continued to be a widely used name across German-speaking regions and beyond, carrying a rich historical and cultural significance.
People
Kathrin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kathrin 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
Kathrin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kathrin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 987 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kathrin 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 347,269 US residents.
Is Kathrin a common name?
We classify Kathrin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,214 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kathrin most popular?
The single biggest year for Kathrin was 1990, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kathrin is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kathrin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,847 people with the name Kathrin, or 0.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,983 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 Kathrin 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 Kathrin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kathrin appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,842 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Kathrin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kathrin is White at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Kathrin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kathrin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.1% (1,571 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 Kathrin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kathrin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kathrin 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 Kathrin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kathrin 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 Kathrin 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 have the name Kathrin?
Want to know how many people have the name Kathrin? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.