Recorded 1910–2025 · United States
Kathy was most popular in 1958, when 23,983 American babies were given the name — ranking #35 that year. In 2025 it ranked #5,745, with 48 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 334,870 people named Kathy.
Kathy first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1910, which makes it about 115 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 113 of the 116 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 334,870 American births named Kathy between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 279,017 are estimated to be alive today.
48 American babies were named Kathy in 2025, ranking #5,745 that year.
Kathy is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 64 births a year, against 151 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -58% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Kathy is a girl’s name — 99.8% of the 334,870 Americans given it were girls and 0.2% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 279,017 Americans named Kathy are alive today — 83% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 67 years old, and half are between 62 and 71. That is a narrow band: Kathy arrived and faded within about a decade rather than staying in steady use.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Greek · short form of Katherine
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Kathy on the interactive charts
About · Privacy · Contact
Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org