Katia
A feminine diminutive of Katherine, of Greek origin meaning "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 6,081 living Americans carry the first name Katia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Katia today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Katia births was 1996 (272 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Katia. 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 Katia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.1K
~ 1 in 56,365 Americans
Peak year
1996
272 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,853
Tracked since 1960
Census
Katia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 11,445 people with the first name Katia, which placed it at #2,266 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
#2,266
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
11,445 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
61.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Katia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katia is Hispanic at 61.8%. The next largest groups are White (24.9%) and Black (9.9%). 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 Katia 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 Katia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino61.8% · 7,071
- White24.9% · 2,854
- Black or African American9.9% · 1,128
- Two or more races2.1% · 239
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 123
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 30
Popularity
Katia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Katia from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,975 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Katia 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 Katia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Katias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Katia, while Tennessee, Indiana, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 196 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Katia
Katia is a feminine given name with its origins in Greek culture and language. The name is derived from the Greek word "katharos," meaning pure or clear. It is believed to have been in use as early as the 5th century BCE in ancient Greece.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name can be found in the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who lived from 428 BCE to 348 BCE. In his dialogues, he mentions a character named Katia, suggesting that the name was in circulation during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Katia. One such example is Katia of Alexandria, a Christian martyr who lived in the 3rd century CE. She was executed during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Decius.
In the 16th century, Katia Koshkina (1532-1588) was a Russian noblewoman and courtier during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. She was known for her influence and involvement in court intrigues.
Another prominent Katia was Katia Kabanova (1855-1922), a Russian writer and feminist activist. She was an advocate for women's rights and education and authored several novels and short stories.
In the 20th century, Katia Mann (1883-1980) was a German writer and the wife of the renowned novelist Thomas Mann. She played a significant role in preserving her husband's literary legacy and was actively involved in the cultural scene of their time.
Katia Pascariu (1957-2010) was a Romanian actress renowned for her performances on stage and in films. She received numerous accolades, including the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994 for her role in the movie "Prea târziu" (Too Late).
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Katia, illustrating its enduring presence across different cultures and time periods.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Katia
People
Katia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Katia 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
Katia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Katia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,081 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Katia 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 56,365 US residents.
Is Katia a common name?
We classify Katia as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,245 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Katia most popular?
The single biggest year for Katia was 1996, when 272 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Katia is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Katia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 11,445 people with the name Katia, or 3.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,266 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 Katia 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 Katia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Katia appears almost entirely female. Of the 11,440 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Katia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katia is Hispanic at 61.8%. The next largest groups are White (24.9%) and Black (9.9%). 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 Katia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Katia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.8% (7,071 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 Katia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Katia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Katia 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 Katia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Katia 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 Katia 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 Katia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.