Kathryn
A feminine form of the name Katherine, from the Greek meaning "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 293,017 living Americans carry the first name Kathryn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kathryn today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kathryn births was 1952 (8,517 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kathryn. 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 Kathryn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kathryn is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,092 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1950s, recent registration numbers for Kathryn have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
293K
~ 1 in 1,170 Americans
Peak year
1952
8,517 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2009 SSA rank
#717
Tracked since 1880
Census
Kathryn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 316,033 people with the first name Kathryn, which placed it at #162 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
#162
National first-name rank
People counted
316K
316,033 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
104.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
91.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kathryn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kathryn is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Kathryn 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 Kathryn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.5% · 289,271
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 9,038
- Two or more races2.4% · 7,657
- Black or African American1.7% · 5,353
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 3,645
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1,069
Gender
Gender distribution for Kathryn
Out of the 456,128 babies given the name Kathryn since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kathryn as a male name
- Ranked #11,732 in 2009
- 6 male births in 2009
- Peak: 1989 (38 births)
Kathryn as a female name
- Ranked #717 in 2024
- 391 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1952 (8,504 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kathryn appears almost entirely female. Of the 316,032 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Kathryn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kathryn from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 77,933 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
Kathryn 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 Kathryn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kathryns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Pennsylvania, California, New York recorded the most babies named Kathryn, while Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8,565 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kathryn
Kathryn is a feminine given name derived from the ancient Greek name Katharine, which itself originated from the Greek name Aikaterine. The name Aikaterine is derived from the Greek words "katharos" meaning "pure" and "hegen" meaning "to lead". The name gained popularity during the medieval era in Europe.
The name Kathryn emerged as an English variant spelling of the name Katherine. It is believed that the name Kathryn came into use in the late 15th century, with its earliest recorded use dating back to the 16th century. The name has been consistently popular throughout the English-speaking world since then.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Kathryn was Kathryn Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII of England. Kathryn Howard was born in the early 16th century and was executed in 1542 for alleged adultery.
In the 17th century, Kathryn Philips, a celebrated English poet, was born in 1632 and is known for her contributions to the literary world during that period.
Another notable Kathryn from history was Kathryn Kuhlman, an American evangelist and faith healer who was born in 1907 and died in 1976. She gained prominence for her healing crusades and is remembered as one of the most influential figures in the charismatic Christian movement.
Kathryn Hepburn, the legendary American actress, was born in 1907 and passed away in 2003. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest actresses of all time and won four Academy Awards for Best Actress.
Kathryn Bigelow, the American filmmaker, was born in 1951 and is known for her groundbreaking work in the action and war film genres. She became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director for her film "The Hurt Locker" in 2010.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Kathryn
People
Kathryn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kathryn 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
Kathryn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kathryn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 293,017 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kathryn 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 1,170 US residents.
Is Kathryn a common name?
We classify Kathryn as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 456,128 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kathryn most popular?
The single biggest year for Kathryn was 1952, when 8,517 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kathryn is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kathryn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 316,033 people with the name Kathryn, or 104.64 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #162 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 Kathryn 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 Kathryn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kathryn appears almost entirely female. Of the 316,032 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 Kathryn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kathryn is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Kathryn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kathryn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.5% (289,271 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 Kathryn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kathryn a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Kathryn 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 Kathryn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kathryn 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 Kathryn 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 common is the name Kathryn?
Find out how many people have the name Kathryn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.