Katherine: Meaning, origin and popularity

Pronounced KATH-rin · 2 syllables

Katherine means “pure”, from Greek.

A given name from Ancient Greek, a popular spelling variant of Catherine.

How popular is Katherine?

Katherine was the #186 name in the US in 2025, given to 1,670 babies. It’s used less than it was: down 57% on 2011–2015. It peaked around 1900.

Babies named Katherine in the US by five-year period, relative to its peak (around 1900).

Half of US adults named Katherine are older than 44; most are between 22 and 79. (Estimated from US births by year and life tables.)

Names that real brothers and sisters of people named Katherine have, from family records on Wikidata, most common first.

Chosen by the same families or with a similar style and era.

Katherine means “pure”. It comes from Greek.

Katherine is pronounced KATH-rin.

Katherine was the #186 name in the US in 2025, given to 1,670 babies. It’s used less than it was: down 57% on 2011–2015. It peaked around 1900.

Half of US adults named Katherine are older than 44. Most are between 22 and 79.