Katti
A feminine Hindu name derived from Sanskrit meaning "braid, tress, or lock".
Name Census estimates that about 181 living Americans carry the first name Katti. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Katti today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Katti births was 1989 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Katti. 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
181
~ 1 in 1,893,670 Americans
Peak year
1989
16 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
1996 SSA rank
#12,613
Tracked since 1977
Census
Katti in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 218 people with the first name Katti, which placed it at #36,419 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
#36,419
National first-name rank
People counted
218
218 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Katti
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katti is White at 77.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.8%) and Black (2.8%). 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 Katti 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 Katti at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.5% · 169
- Hispanic or Latino13.8% · 30
- Black or African American2.8% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 6
- Two or more races1.8% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 3
Popularity
Katti: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Katti from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 114 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Katti remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Katti 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 Katti 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 Katti
The given name Katti has its roots in the ancient Sanskrit language of the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "katti," which means "dagger" or "sword." It is believed to have originated as a moniker for warriors or individuals known for their valor and bravery during the medieval period in India.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Katti can be found in the epic Mahabharata, a renowned Sanskrit text that dates back to the 8th or 9th century BCE. In this ancient scripture, Katti is mentioned as the name of a valiant warrior who fought alongside the Pandava brothers in the great battle of Kurukshetra.
During the reign of the Chola dynasty in the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, between the 9th and 13th centuries CE, the name Katti gained popularity among the ruling class and military elite. It was a common practice for kings and princes to bestow the name Katti upon their sons as a symbol of strength and courage.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Katti Mudali served as a trusted advisor and military strategist to the Vijayanagar Empire, which ruled over a significant portion of southern India. His tactical acumen and unwavering loyalty to the empire earned him a place in the historical records of the time.
Another historical figure bearing the name Katti was Katti Veeran, a revered warrior and folk hero from the 18th century. He was known for his bravery in fighting against the British East India Company and his efforts in protecting the local population from oppressive policies. Katti Veeran's legacy has been celebrated through folk tales, songs, and annual festivals in certain parts of Tamil Nadu.
In the 20th century, Katti Padma Rao was a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer. Born in 1926, she was instrumental in popularizing and preserving the traditional Kuchipudi dance form. Her contributions to the world of dance earned her numerous accolades, including the prestigious Padma Bhushan award from the Government of India.
While the name Katti has its origins in Sanskrit and has been historically associated with valor and warrior spirit, it has transcended cultural boundaries and continues to be used across various parts of the world, often as a testament to the strength and resilience embodied by those who bear this name.
People
Katti + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Katti 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
Katti: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Katti?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 181 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Katti 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 1,893,670 US residents.
Is Katti a common name?
We classify Katti as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 191 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Katti most popular?
The single biggest year for Katti was 1989, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Katti is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Katti in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 218 people with the name Katti, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,419 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 Katti 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 Katti?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Katti appears almost entirely female. Of the 223 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Katti?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katti is White at 77.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.8%) and Black (2.8%). 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 Katti most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Katti in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.5% (169 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 Katti in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Katti a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Katti 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 Katti still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Katti 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 Katti 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 Katti?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Katti, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.