Kaytlin
A feminine name of American-English origin meaning "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 3,244 living Americans carry the first name Kaytlin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kaytlin today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaytlin births was 1999 (201 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaytlin. 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 Kaytlin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.2K
~ 1 in 105,658 Americans
Peak year
1999
201 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,153
Tracked since 1984
Census
Kaytlin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,818 people with the first name Kaytlin, which placed it at #5,882 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
#5,882
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,818 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaytlin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaytlin is White at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.1%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Kaytlin 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 Kaytlin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.5% · 2,213
- Hispanic or Latino10.1% · 286
- Two or more races5.5% · 156
- Black or African American3.5% · 100
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 26
Popularity
Kaytlin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaytlin from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,478 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kaytlin 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 Kaytlin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaytlins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 29 states and territories. Texas, California, Missouri recorded the most babies named Kaytlin, while Mississippi, Arizona, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 59 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kaytlin
The name Kaytlin is a modern English variant of the ancient feminine name Caitlin, which has its origins in the Gaelic languages of Ireland and Scotland. The original Gaelic form was Caitlín, derived from the compound words "cait" meaning "pure" and "lín" meaning "young woman" or "little battle."
In its earliest known usage, the name Caitlín appeared in Irish and Scottish records dating back to the Middle Ages. It was particularly popular among families of Celtic descent in regions like Munster, Connacht, and the Scottish Highlands. As the name spread and evolved over centuries, various spellings emerged, including Caitlin, Kaitlyn, and the modern English form, Kaytlin.
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, some historians believe it may have been used as a diminutive form of the name Katherine, which has Greek roots and means "pure." However, this connection is speculative, and the name's true origins lie firmly in the Gaelic languages.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Caitlín was an Irish noblewoman from the 12th century, Lady Caitlín Ní Lochlainn, who was a prominent figure in the Uí Lochlainn dynasty of Ulster. Another notable bearer of the name was Caitlín Dubh, a 16th-century Irish chieftain's wife known for her poetry and influence in Gaelic literary circles.
In more recent history, the name gained popularity in the English-speaking world, and several notable figures have borne the various spellings. Caitlin Thomas (1913-1994) was a British author and the wife of the renowned poet Dylan Thomas. Caitlyn Jenner (born 1949) is an American media personality, former Olympic athlete, and transgender rights activist.
Other famous individuals with variations of the name include Kaitlyn Bristowe (born 1985), an American television personality and former contestant on "The Bachelor"; Kaitlin Olson (born 1975), an American actress known for her role in the sitcom "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"; and Kaitlyn Dever (born 1996), an American actress who gained recognition for her roles in films like "Booksmart" and "Dopesick."
People
Kaytlin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaytlin 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
Kaytlin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaytlin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,244 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaytlin 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 105,658 US residents.
Is Kaytlin a common name?
We classify Kaytlin as "Rare". It ranks above 95.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,324 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaytlin most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaytlin was 1999, when 201 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaytlin is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kaytlin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,818 people with the name Kaytlin, or 0.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,882 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 Kaytlin 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 Kaytlin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaytlin appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,817 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Kaytlin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaytlin is White at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.1%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Kaytlin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kaytlin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.5% (2,213 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 Kaytlin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaytlin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaytlin 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 Kaytlin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaytlin 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 Kaytlin 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 Americans are named Kaytlin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.