Katelyn
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 130,614 living Americans carry the first name Katelyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Katelyn today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Katelyn births was 1993 (5,975 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Katelyn. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Katelyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Katelyn is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 157 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1990s, recent registration numbers for Katelyn have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
131K
~ 1 in 2,624 Americans
Peak year
1993
5,975 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2013 SSA rank
#931
Tracked since 1970
Census
Katelyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 117,585 people with the first name Katelyn, which placed it at #481 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
#481
National first-name rank
People counted
118K
117,585 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
38.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Katelyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katelyn is White at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.6%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Katelyn 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 Katelyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.2% · 96,705
- Hispanic or Latino7.6% · 8,914
- Two or more races3.9% · 4,542
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 3,827
- Black or African American2.5% · 2,980
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 617
Gender
Gender distribution for Katelyn
Out of the 133,974 babies given the name Katelyn since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Katelyn as a male name
- Ranked #13,118 in 2013
- 5 male births in 2013
- Peak: 2004 (28 births)
Katelyn as a female name
- Ranked #931 in 2024
- 283 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1993 (5,975 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Katelyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 117,578 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Katelyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Katelyn from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 52,863 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
Katelyn 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 Katelyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Katelyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Katelyn, while District of Columbia, Wyoming, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,607 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Katelyn
The name Katelyn is an anglicized form of the Irish name Caitlin, which is derived from the ancient Irish Gaelic name Caitlín. The name's roots can be traced back to the late 8th century in Ireland, where it originated as a pet form of the Gaelic name Caitlíona. Caitlíona is a compound name composed of the elements "caith" meaning "pure" and the diminutive suffix "-lín".
While the name Caitlin has a long history in Ireland, the spelling variation Katelyn is a more recent development that emerged in the English-speaking world. The earliest recorded use of the name Katelyn dates back to the late 19th century, likely influenced by the growing popularity of Irish names and cultural elements in the United States and other English-speaking countries.
One of the earliest known Katelyns was Katelyn Mallory, an American author and journalist born in 1888. She wrote several novels and short stories during the early 20th century. Another notable Katelyn was Katelyn Thomas, a British actress born in 1912, who appeared in numerous stage productions and films throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
In the world of literature, the name Katelyn gained recognition through the character Katelyn Kinnian, the protagonist of the popular fantasy novel series "The Chronicles of Katelyn Kinnian" by author Samantha Sommersby. The first book in the series was published in 1995.
Moving to the realm of sports, Katelyn Ohashi, an American former artistic gymnast, gained widespread attention in 2019 for her perfect 10 floor routine that went viral on social media. She was born in 1997 and competed for the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team.
Another famous Katelyn is Katelyn Tuohy, an American long-distance runner who has set numerous national records in high school and youth competitions. Born in 2002, she has already established herself as one of the most promising young talents in the sport.
While the name Katelyn has gained popularity in recent decades, its origins can be traced back to the rich cultural heritage of Ireland, where it has been a part of the linguistic and naming traditions for centuries.
People
Katelyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Katelyn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Katelyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Katelyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 130,614 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Katelyn 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 2,624 US residents.
Is Katelyn a common name?
We classify Katelyn as "Common". It ranks above 99.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 133,974 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Katelyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Katelyn was 1993, when 5,975 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Katelyn is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Katelyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 117,585 people with the name Katelyn, or 38.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #481 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 Katelyn 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 Katelyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Katelyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 117,578 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Katelyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katelyn is White at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.6%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Katelyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Katelyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.2% (96,705 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 Katelyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Katelyn a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Katelyn 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 Katelyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Katelyn 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 Katelyn 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 common is the name Katelyn?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.