Katrin
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 999 living Americans carry the first name Katrin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Katrin today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Katrin births was 1977 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Katrin. 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 Katrin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
999
~ 1 in 343,097 Americans
Peak year
1977
37 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,352
Tracked since 1951
Census
Katrin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,142 people with the first name Katrin, which placed it at #7,196 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
#7,196
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,142 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Katrin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katrin is White at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Katrin 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 Katrin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.3% · 1,892
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 96
- Two or more races2.6% · 55
- Black or African American2.2% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Popularity
Katrin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Katrin from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 208 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Katrin 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 Katrin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Katrins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Katrin
The name Katrin has its origins in the ancient Greek language. It is a feminine form of the name Katharos, which means "pure" or "clear." The name first appeared in written records during the Byzantine era, around the 5th century AD, when it was used by Greek-speaking Christians living in the Eastern Roman Empire.
In the Middle Ages, the name spread to other parts of Europe, particularly in regions with strong Greek cultural influences, such as Italy and parts of Eastern Europe. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Saint Katrin of Vadstena, a 14th-century Swedish mystic and writer.
The name Katrin has been used throughout history by various notable figures. One of the most famous was Katrin the Great, the 18th-century Empress of Russia (1729-1796), who is renowned for her military conquests, cultural achievements, and efforts to modernize Russia.
Another prominent historical figure with the name Katrin was Katrin of Aragon (1485-1536), the first wife of King Henry VIII of England. Despite her failure to produce a male heir, Katrin was a highly educated and influential queen consort during the early years of the English Reformation.
In the world of literature, the name Katrin is associated with Katrin Mansfield (1888-1923), the celebrated New Zealand-born writer and pioneer of the modern short story. Her works, such as "The Garden Party" and "Miss Brill," are widely studied and admired for their innovative style and psychological depth.
The name Katrin has also been borne by notable artists, such as Katrin Kollwitz (1867-1945), a German painter and printmaker renowned for her poignant depictions of the hardships faced by the working class during the early 20th century.
Another historical figure with the name Katrin was Katrin the Great (1020-1083), a Byzantine empress who played a crucial role in the consolidation of the Macedonian dynasty and the expansion of the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Katrin
People
Katrin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Katrin 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
Katrin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Katrin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 999 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Katrin 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 343,097 US residents.
Is Katrin a common name?
We classify Katrin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,091 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Katrin most popular?
The single biggest year for Katrin was 1977, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Katrin is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Katrin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,142 people with the name Katrin, or 0.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,196 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 Katrin 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 Katrin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Katrin appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,139 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Katrin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Katrin is White at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Katrin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Katrin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.3% (1,892 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 Katrin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Katrin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Katrin 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 Katrin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Katrin 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 Katrin 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 have the name Katrin?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Katrin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.