Kati
A feminine name of Hungarian origins, meaning "pure, unblemished".
Name Census estimates that about 4,510 living Americans carry the first name Kati. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kati today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kati births was 1986 (261 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kati. 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 Kati with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.5K
~ 1 in 75,999 Americans
Peak year
1986
261 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,298
Tracked since 1953
Census
Kati in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,038 people with the first name Kati, which placed it at #3,890 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
#3,890
National first-name rank
People counted
5.0K
5,038 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kati
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kati is White at 86.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.6%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Kati 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 Kati at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.2% · 4,342
- Hispanic or Latino7.6% · 382
- Two or more races2.5% · 128
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 96
- Black or African American1.2% · 62
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 28
Popularity
Kati: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kati from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 2,094 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kati 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 Kati during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Katis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. California, Texas, Michigan recorded the most babies named Kati, while North Dakota, Alabama, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 75 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kati
The name Kati is a diminutive form of the feminine name Katarina, which is derived from the Greek name Aikaterine. This name ultimately traces its roots back to the Greek word "katharos," meaning "pure." The name Kati emerged as a shortened version, likely used as a nickname or informal variant.
Kati was particularly popular in various Slavic cultures, including those of Russia, Poland, and the Balkans. The name's origin can be traced back to the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition, where it held significance as a name associated with purity and virtue.
Historically, the name Kati appeared in various medieval records and documents, though its earliest recorded use is difficult to pinpoint due to variations in spelling and regional adaptations. One notable early reference is found in the 12th-century Russian epic poem "The Tale of Igor's Campaign," where a character named Katerina is mentioned.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kati, including:
1. Kati of Racconigi (c. 1492-1578), an Italian noblewoman and regent of Montferrat.
2. Kati Popova (1829-1893), a Bulgarian educator and feminist activist known for her efforts in promoting women's education.
3. Kati Marton (born 1949), a Hungarian-American author and journalist, known for her biographies of various political figures.
4. Kati Wolf (born 1953), a Hungarian-American actress known for her roles in films like "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and "The Princess Bride."
5. Kati Terlizzi (born 1963), an Italian actress and television presenter, known for her work in Italian cinema and television.
While the name Kati has its roots in ancient Greek and Byzantine traditions, it has been embraced and adapted by various cultures throughout history, reflecting its enduring appeal and versatility across different regions and eras.
People
Kati + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kati 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
Kati: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kati?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,510 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kati 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 75,999 US residents.
Is Kati a common name?
We classify Kati as "Rare". It ranks above 96.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,771 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kati most popular?
The single biggest year for Kati was 1986, when 261 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kati is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kati in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,038 people with the name Kati, or 1.67 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,890 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 Kati 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 Kati?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kati appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,037 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Kati?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kati is White at 86.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.6%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Kati most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kati in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.2% (4,342 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 Kati in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kati a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kati 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 Kati still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kati 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 Kati 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 called Kati?
You can see how many people share the name Kati on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.