Kathyrn
Pure, unsullied feminine name of Greek origin.
Name Census estimates that about 2,015 living Americans carry the first name Kathyrn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kathyrn today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kathyrn births was 1953 (105 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kathyrn. 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.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 170,101 Americans
Peak year
1953
105 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2018 SSA rank
#14,720
Tracked since 1882
Census
Kathyrn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,361 people with the first name Kathyrn, which placed it at #6,706 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
#6,706
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,361 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kathyrn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kathyrn is White at 86.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.9%) and Black (4.3%). 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 Kathyrn 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 Kathyrn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.4% · 2,040
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 116
- Black or African American4.3% · 102
- Two or more races2.7% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 15
Popularity
Kathyrn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kathyrn from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 866 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
Kathyrn 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 Kathyrn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kathyrns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kathyrn, while West Virginia, Nebraska, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kathyrn
The name Kathryn derives from the Greek name Katharina, a feminine form of the masculine name Katharios, which means "pure" or "innocent." The name's roots can be traced back to the early Christian era and its use in Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
The earliest known record of the name Katharina dates back to the 4th century AD, when it was used by a Christian saint and martyr, Saint Catherine of Alexandria. This early association with a revered figure helped establish the name's popularity throughout the Byzantine Empire and beyond.
As the name spread across Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, including Katherina, Katerina, and eventually, the English form Kathryn. One of the earliest recorded instances of this spelling can be found in medieval English records from the 13th century.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Kathryn. One of the most famous was Kathryn Howard (c. 1523-1542), the fifth wife of King Henry VIII of England. Her tragic fate, being executed for adultery, has made her a prominent figure in English history.
Another well-known Kathryn was Kathryn Kuhlman (1907-1976), an American evangelist and faith healer who gained widespread recognition for her healing crusades and television ministry in the mid-20th century.
In the realm of literature, Kathryn Stockett (born 1969) is the author of the critically acclaimed novel "The Help," which explores the lives of African American maids and their white employers in the 1960s American South.
The name Kathryn has also been borne by notable figures in science and politics, such as Kathryn D. Sullivan (born 1951), the first American woman to walk in space, and Kathryn Bigelow (born 1951), the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director for her film "The Hurt Locker."
While the name Kathryn has endured through centuries, its popularity has fluctuated over time, reflecting changing cultural and societal trends. Nonetheless, its rich history and associations with strength, purity, and resilience have ensured its continued use and appreciation.
People
Kathyrn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kathyrn 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
Kathyrn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kathyrn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,015 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kathyrn 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 170,101 US residents.
Is Kathyrn a common name?
We classify Kathyrn as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,172 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kathyrn most popular?
The single biggest year for Kathyrn was 1953, when 105 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kathyrn is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kathyrn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,361 people with the name Kathyrn, or 0.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,706 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 Kathyrn 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 Kathyrn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kathyrn appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,367 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 Kathyrn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kathyrn is White at 86.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.9%) and Black (4.3%). 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 Kathyrn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kathyrn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.4% (2,040 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 Kathyrn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kathyrn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kathyrn 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 Kathyrn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kathyrn 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 Kathyrn 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 Kathyrn?
Find out how many people have the name Kathyrn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.