US Name Trends

Kathy

A pet form of Katherine, from the Greek Aikaterine.

1958peak year
No. 14best rank (1958)
334,870babies since 1880
outside top 1000 in 2025

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Kathy per year — peak 23,938▬ girls ▬ boys18801900192019401960198020002020

Kathy first shows up in the national records in 1910. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American girls in every year from 1946 to 1971. Its biggest year was 1958, when 23,938 newborn girls received the name, ranking it No. 14 nationally. All told, 334,870 Americans have been given the name since 1880.

Related names

Other spellings on record: Cathy (170,646), Kathie (15,086), Kathi (10,109), Cathie (5,586), Cathi (2,536), Cathey (2,216) (total births since 1880)

Other names that share a story: Katherine

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By the decade

DecadeBirthsBest rank
1910s57No. 2398
1920s198No. 1257
1930s1,254No. 328
1940s34,766No. 42
1950s157,930No. 14
1960s101,127No. 21
1970s22,706No. 77
1980s6,977No. 255
1990s4,312No. 503
2000s3,021No. 652
2010s1,381No. 1260
2020s402No. 2170

Births and rank shown for girls, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.

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Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.