Katleen
A feminine form of the name Katherine, meaning "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 162 living Americans carry the first name Katleen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Katleen today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Katleen births was 1953 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Katleen. 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
162
~ 1 in 2,115,768 Americans
Peak year
1953
14 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2009 SSA rank
#18,734
Tracked since 1941
Census
Katleen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 560 people with the first name Katleen, which placed it at #19,065 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
#19,065
National first-name rank
People counted
560
560 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Katleen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katleen is White at 71.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.3%) and Black (6.8%). 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 Katleen 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 Katleen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.8% · 402
- Hispanic or Latino14.3% · 80
- Black or African American6.8% · 38
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 22
- Two or more races2.3% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Popularity
Katleen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Katleen from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 76 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Katleen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Katleen 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 Katleen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Katleen
The name Katleen has its origins in the ancient Greek language, derived from the word "katharos," meaning "pure" or "unsullied." This name was particularly popular in the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages, where it was associated with virtues of purity and innocence.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Katleen can be traced back to the 5th century AD, where it appeared in various Byzantine texts and historical records. One notable individual was Saint Katleen of Constantinople, a nun who lived in the 6th century and was renowned for her pious life and charitable works.
During the Middle Ages, the name Katleen gained popularity across Europe, particularly in regions with strong Greek cultural influences, such as Italy and parts of the Balkan peninsula. It was often associated with nobility and aristocracy, as many noble families adopted Greek names for their daughters.
In the 12th century, a notable figure bearing the name Katleen was Katleen of Aquitaine, a French noblewoman and patron of the arts. She played a significant role in promoting the development of courtly love literature and poetry during her time.
Another historical figure worth mentioning is Katleen of Aragon, a 15th-century Spanish princess and wife of King Henry VIII of England. Her marriage to the English monarch was famously annulled, leading to the English Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England.
In the 16th century, Katleen Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII, was a notable figure in English history. Known for her intelligence and advocacy for Protestant reforms, she played a crucial role in the religious and political landscape of Tudor England.
During the Renaissance, the name Katleen was particularly popular among artists and intellectuals, who often drew inspiration from classical Greek culture. One such individual was the Italian painter Katleen Vigri, born in 1413, whose works adorned many churches and palaces across Italy.
As the name Katleen continued to spread across Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Kathleen, Caitlin, and Catriona, depending on the regional linguistic influences. Despite these variations, the name's core meaning and association with purity and virtue remained consistent throughout its historical journey.
People
Katleen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Katleen 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
Katleen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Katleen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 162 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Katleen 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 2,115,768 US residents.
Is Katleen a common name?
We classify Katleen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 203 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Katleen most popular?
The single biggest year for Katleen was 1953, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Katleen 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 Katleen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 560 people with the name Katleen, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,065 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 Katleen 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 Katleen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Katleen leans strongly female. 559 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Katleen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katleen is White at 71.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.3%) and Black (6.8%). 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 Katleen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Katleen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.8% (402 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 Katleen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Katleen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Katleen 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 Katleen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Katleen 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 Katleen 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 named Katleen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.