Marykathryn
Mary indicates bitterness; Kathryn derives from the Greek meaning pure.
Name Census estimates that about 487 living Americans carry the first name Marykathryn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marykathryn today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marykathryn births was 1994 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marykathryn. 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
487
~ 1 in 703,808 Americans
Peak year
1994
20 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,589
Tracked since 1961
Census
Marykathryn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,062 people with the first name Marykathryn, which placed it at #11,892 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
#11,892
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,062 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
92.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marykathryn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marykathryn is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Marykathryn 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 Marykathryn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.8% · 986
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 35
- Two or more races1.7% · 18
- Black or African American1.0% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Marykathryn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marykathryn from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 156 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
Marykathryn 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 Marykathryn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marykathryns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marykathryn
The given name Marykathryn is a combination of the names Mary and Kathryn, both of which have rich histories and origins. Mary is a name derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miryam, which means "bitter" or "beloved". It was the name of the biblical Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The name Kathryn, on the other hand, is a variant of the Greek name Katharina, which means "pure".
The name Mary has been a popular name for centuries, particularly in the Christian tradition. It first appeared in the Bible and has been widely used throughout the world since then. Some notable historical figures named Mary include Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587), the famous Scottish monarch; Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), the English writer and philosopher; and Mary Shelley (1797-1851), the author of the novel "Frankenstein".
The name Kathryn also has a long history, with roots dating back to ancient Greece. It was later adopted by various European cultures and became popular during the Middle Ages. Some notable historical figures named Kathryn include Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003), the iconic American actress; Katharine Graham (1917-2001), the American publisher and first female head of a Fortune 500 company; and Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929), the American writer best known for her poem "America the Beautiful".
The combination of these two names, Marykathryn, is relatively uncommon, but it has been used throughout history. One notable figure with this name was Marykathryn Grant (1797-1837), an American educator and writer who established one of the first schools for women in the United States. Another was Marykathryn Albright (1889-1966), an American journalist and author who wrote several books on women's history and issues.
While the name Marykathryn is not as widely used as its individual components, it carries a rich cultural and historical legacy, combining the meanings and traditions of two timeless names. It represents a unique blend of reverence, purity, and strength, reflecting the diverse influences and experiences that have shaped the lives of those who have borne this name throughout the ages.
People
Marykathryn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marykathryn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Marykathryn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marykathryn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 487 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marykathryn 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 703,808 US residents.
Is Marykathryn a common name?
We classify Marykathryn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 507 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marykathryn most popular?
The single biggest year for Marykathryn was 1994, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marykathryn is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marykathryn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,062 people with the name Marykathryn, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,892 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 Marykathryn 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 Marykathryn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marykathryn appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,062 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 Marykathryn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marykathryn is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Marykathryn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marykathryn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.8% (986 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 Marykathryn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marykathryn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marykathryn 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 Marykathryn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marykathryn 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 Marykathryn 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 Marykathryn?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.