Catherine Bell
There are approximately 261 people named Catherine Bell living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,313,235 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Catherine with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Bell. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
261
1 in 1,313,235
Named Catherine
349K
Alive today
Named Bell
256K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 349K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1956
Average age: 53
Estimated bearers: 256K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #106
Per 100K: 74.78
Top ancestry: White (61.1%)
First name trend
Catherine: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Catherine. The peak year was 1956 with 12,076 births. The average person named Catherine today is 53 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Bell surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Bell, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 61.1%.
- White61.1%
- Black or African American32.4%
- Two or more races2.5%
- Hispanic or Latino2.5%
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Catherine has a living-bearer frequency of 0.1018% of the US population, based on 348,984 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Bell appears at a rate of 74.78 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0748%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 261 people with the full name Catherine Bell. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Catherine
Related
Other people with the surname Bell
FAQ
Catherine Bell: questions and answers
How many people are named Catherine Bell?
We estimate approximately 261 people in the United States share the full name Catherine Bell. That works out to about 1 in 1,313,235 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.1018%) with the surname frequency (74.78 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Catherine Bell?
We classify Catherine Bell as "Very Rare". About 1 in 1,313,235 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Catherine a male or female name?
Catherine is predominantly female. Out of 668,624 total SSA registrations, 0.3% were male and 99.7% were female. See the full Catherine profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.