Katie
A feminine diminutive of Katherine meaning "pure" or "virginal".
Name Census estimates that about 189,568 living Americans carry the first name Katie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Katie today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Katie births was 1986 (8,371 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Katie. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Katie is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 499 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1980s, recent registration numbers for Katie have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
190K
~ 1 in 1,808 Americans
Peak year
1986
8,371 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2010 SSA rank
#582
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Katie
Out of the 241,287 babies given the name Katie 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.
Katie as a male name
- Ranked #13,300 in 2010
- 5 male births in 2010
- Peak: 1986 (38 births)
Katie as a female name
- Ranked #582 in 2024
- 518 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1986 (8,333 births)
Popularity
Katie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Katie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 73,122 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
Katie 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 Katie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Katies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Katie, while District of Columbia, Hawaii, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 4,384 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Katie
The name Katie is a diminutive form of the name Katherine, which has its roots in the Greek name Aikaterine. The name Aikaterine is derived from the Greek phrase "katharos," meaning "pure," and the name Hekaterine, which was the name of the Greek goddess of sorcery and fertility, Hecate. The name Katherine and its variations, including Katie, have been popular throughout Europe and the English-speaking world for centuries.
The earliest recorded use of the name Katherine dates back to the 4th century AD, when it was used by early Christian saints and martyrs. The name gained popularity in the Middle Ages, particularly after the legend of St. Catherine of Alexandria, a 4th-century Christian martyr, spread throughout Europe.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Katie is in the 16th century, when it was used as a diminutive form of Katherine in England. The name became increasingly popular in the 19th century, particularly in the United States, where it was often used as a nickname for Katherine.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures with the name Katie or a variation of it. One of the most famous is Katie King, an American spiritualist and medium who was born in 1858 and became known for her alleged ability to produce materialized spirit forms during séances.
Another notable Katie is Katie Sandwina, an Austrian strongwoman born in 1884, who was known for her incredible feats of strength, such as lifting horses and lifting a small car with her teeth.
Katie Mulholland, born in 1856, was a Canadian botanist and one of the first female botanists in Canada. She made significant contributions to the study of Canadian flora and was recognized for her work by being elected to the Royal Society of Canada.
Katie Steed, born in 1945, is an American retired athlete who won a gold medal in the high jump at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
Finally, Katie Couric, born in 1957, is an American journalist and author who has been a host on various television news programs, including NBC's Today Show and CBS Evening News.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Katie
People
Katie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Katie 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
Katie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Katie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 189,568 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Katie 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 1,808 US residents.
Is Katie a common name?
We classify Katie as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 241,287 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Katie most popular?
The single biggest year for Katie was 1986, when 8,371 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Katie is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Katie a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Katie 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.
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.