Catherine Names

Strong, ultramasculine, and modern, Cade shot up the popularity lists around the millennium—it was as high as Number 201 in 2001—along with cousins Caden and Cale, and has drifted along in the middle of the US Top 1000 ever since.

A short form that is given on its own to a good number of baby girls each year — Cali has been on trend in recent years along with sister names Callie and Kali, as the popular 90s and early 2000s nickname Allie has felt less fresh. The Cali spelling in particular also brings to mind the sunny state of California and all of the beachy imagery that follows.

With its friendly, sensitive, and approachable feel, Cameron is a 90’s favorite that remains popular today. It has a pleasing balance of soft and strong sounds, and holds unisex appeal, thanks to Cameron Diaz.

This Cameron variation was popularized by actress Camryn Manheim and Twitches character Camryn. But why choose Camryn over Cameron? Most people know how to pronounce the original, which has considerably more style and class.

Cayden is one of the many spellings of this popular name, made all the more popular when they're counted together. According to our annual Playground Analysis, Cayden and brothers rank a cumulative Number 14 among boys' names, given last year to more than 11,000 baby boys in the US.

One of the most popular of the trendy Caitlin variations, Katelyn points directly to components Kate and Lyn --making it a bit more traditionally feminine.

Kayla is a modern invented name that emerged in the late 1950s. Despite its similarity to the name Michaela, Kayla most likely began as a combination of the then-popular name Kay and -la suffix. Alternatively, it may be a variation of the Yiddish name Kaila, which derived from the Hebrew name Kelila. Kayla can also be considered an Anglicization of the Gaelic surname MacCaollaidhe or MacCathail.

An Old Testament name with a Gaelic lilt, Malachi entered the list in 1987.

This attractively energetic Italian version of the classic Matthew is primed to move further and further into mainstream American nomenclature. Mateo is technically the Spanish version, but many parents in the US use the two spellings interchangeably.

Matthew was the third most popular boys' name in America throughout the 1980s and '90s, and is still one of the top boy names starting with M. The New Testament Matthew is the epitome of the fashionable classic—safe and sturdy, yet with a more engaging personality than John or William.