Katherina
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "pure, blessed".
Name Census estimates that about 1,360 living Americans carry the first name Katherina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Katherina today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Katherina births was 1991 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Katherina. 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 Katherina with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 252,025 Americans
Peak year
1991
46 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,152
Tracked since 1889
Census
Katherina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,844 people with the first name Katherina, which placed it at #7,992 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
#7,992
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,844 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Katherina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katherina is White at 55.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.2%). 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 Katherina 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 Katherina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.7% · 1,027
- Hispanic or Latino25.2% · 464
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.2% · 170
- Black or African American6.1% · 112
- Two or more races3.2% · 59
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 12
Popularity
Katherina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Katherina from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 309 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
Katherina 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 Katherina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Katherinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Katherina, while New Jersey, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Katherina
The name Katherina originated from the Greek name Katharina, which is derived from the ancient Greek word 'katharos' meaning 'pure' or 'clear'. It is a variant of the name Katherine, which was also derived from the same Greek root.
The name Katherina gained popularity during the early Christian era, as it was borne by several early Christian saints and martyrs. One of the most notable was St. Katharina of Alexandria, who is said to have been a Christian martyr in the 4th century AD. Her story was widely circulated in the Middle Ages, contributing to the widespread use of the name across Europe.
In the Byzantine Empire, the name Katherina was popular among the nobility and royalty. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is Katherina of Braganza, a Portuguese princess who married King Charles II of England in 1662.
During the Renaissance period, the name Katherina was particularly popular in Italy, where it was often spelled as Caterina. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Caterina de' Medici, who was born in 1519 and served as the Queen of France from 1547 until her death in 1589.
In Russia, the name Katherina was also widely used among the aristocracy. One of the most renowned Russian Emperors, Catherine the Great, was born in 1729 with the name Sophia Augusta Frederica, but adopted the name Catherina (later anglicized to Catherine) upon her conversion to the Russian Orthodox faith.
Other notable historical figures with the name Katherina include:
1. Katherina von Bora (1499-1552), a former nun who married Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation.
2. Katherina Kepler (1546-1622), the mother of the famous astronomer Johannes Kepler.
3. Katherina Blum (1670-1706), a German writer and poet.
4. Katherina Lescova (1920-1976), a Russian writer and playwright.
5. Katherina Reiche (1923-2004), a German physicist and pioneer in the field of radiation protection.
The name Katherina has been used across various cultures and time periods, reflecting its enduring popularity and historical significance.
People
Katherina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Katherina 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
Katherina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Katherina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,360 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Katherina 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 252,025 US residents.
Is Katherina a common name?
We classify Katherina as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,663 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Katherina most popular?
The single biggest year for Katherina was 1991, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Katherina is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Katherina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,844 people with the name Katherina, or 0.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,992 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 Katherina 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 Katherina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Katherina appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,838 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Katherina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katherina is White at 55.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.2%). 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 Katherina most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Katherina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.7% (1,027 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 Katherina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Katherina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Katherina 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 Katherina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Katherina 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 Katherina 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 many people share the name Katherina?
Find out how many Americans are named Katherina on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.