Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Catherine?
Births per year, rank history and how many Catherines are alive today.
Catherine (female), once a common girls' name, is now an uncommon choice for new babies in England and Wales, ranked 590th in 2025 with 66 given the name. This spelling of the name peaked in 1964, when around 3,800 babies were given the name, the 19th most popular that year. It has declined since 1964; the 2025 figure is roughly 2% of its peak. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 170,000 babies have been named Catherine in England and Wales since 1904. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Catherine is one spelling of a name also recorded as Katharine, Katherine and Kathryn; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Catherine you are most likely to meet is around 62 years old - or else around 29: the name has two living generations. Half of all Catherines born in England and Wales are between 36 and 67, and there are at least 130,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 34% chance that at least one of them will be called Catherine.
How many babies are named Catherine each year?
Includes all spellings: Catherine, Katharine, Katherine, Kathryn. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Catherine spelling rank?
Where does the Katharine spelling rank?
Where does the Katherine spelling rank?
Where does the Kathryn spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Catherine most popular?
Catherine peaked in 1964, when around 3,800 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Catherine?
At least 130,000 people named Catherine in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Catherine?
Most living Catherines are between 36 and 67; the most common age is about 62. There is a second cluster around 29.
Is Catherine becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1964 peak.