Marycatherine
A feminine name combining Mary and Catherine, meaning "beloved" and "pure".
Name Census estimates that about 891 living Americans carry the first name Marycatherine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marycatherine today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marycatherine births was 1997 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marycatherine. 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.
People living today
891
~ 1 in 384,685 Americans
Peak year
1997
32 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,312
Tracked since 1914
Census
Marycatherine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,992 people with the first name Marycatherine, which placed it at #7,599 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
#7,599
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,992 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marycatherine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marycatherine is White at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.1%). 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 Marycatherine 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 Marycatherine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.0% · 1,772
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 70
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 61
- Two or more races2.5% · 50
- Black or African American2.0% · 39
Popularity
Marycatherine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marycatherine from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 247 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
Marycatherine 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 Marycatherine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marycatherines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Marycatherine, while Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marycatherine
The given name Marycatherine is a unique and intriguing combination of two classic names – Mary and Catherine. Its origins can be traced back to the Early Modern English period, around the 16th and 17th centuries, when the practice of combining multiple given names became increasingly popular among the upper classes in England.
The name Mary is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miryam, which is believed to have originated from the Egyptian word "mer," meaning "beloved." It was the name of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and has been widely revered in Christian tradition for centuries. The name Catherine, on the other hand, has its roots in the Greek name Aikaterina, which is derived from the Greek words "katharos" (pure) and "hekatos" (each of the two).
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Marycatherine can be found in the genealogical records of the aristocratic Howard family in England. Marycatherine Howard, born in 1637, was the daughter of Sir William Howard and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Knollys. This early usage of the combined name suggests its popularity among the English nobility during that period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Marycatherine. One such figure was Marycatherine Cadogan (1679-1768), a British philanthropist and the wife of William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan. She was known for her charitable work and her support for various educational institutions.
Another prominent Marycatherine was Marycatherine Fergusson (1806-1887), a Scottish writer and translator. She was known for her translations of German literature, including works by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller.
In the realm of literature, Marycatherine Crowley (1939-2017) was an American novelist and playwright. Her novel, "The Raven's Bride," published in 1994, explored themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human relationships.
The name Marycatherine has also been found in religious circles. Marycatherine Brogan (1899-1981) was an American Roman Catholic nun who served as the sixth president of the College of Saint Elizabeth in New Jersey.
Lastly, Marycatherine Davidson (1929-2019) was a British artist and sculptor, known for her large-scale public art installations and her exploration of abstract forms and materials.
While the name Marycatherine may not be as common as its individual components, it carries a rich history and a unique blend of cultural influences, reflecting the diverse tapestry of human experience.
People
Marycatherine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marycatherine as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Marycatherine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marycatherine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 891 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marycatherine 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 384,685 US residents.
Is Marycatherine a common name?
We classify Marycatherine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 945 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marycatherine most popular?
The single biggest year for Marycatherine was 1997, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marycatherine is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marycatherine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,992 people with the name Marycatherine, or 0.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,599 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 Marycatherine 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 Marycatherine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marycatherine appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,994 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 Marycatherine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marycatherine is White at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.1%). 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 Marycatherine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marycatherine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.0% (1,772 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 Marycatherine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marycatherine a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marycatherine 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 Marycatherine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marycatherine 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 Marycatherine 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 Marycatherine?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.