Catherine
Top 1000
About Catherine
Catherine is one of the oldest and most consistently well-used girls’ names, with endless variations and nicknames. The Catherine form feels more gently old-fashioned and feminine than the more popular K versions. Most stylish nickname for Catherine right now: Kate...or Cate, a la Blanchett.
While the popularity of the Catherine form has been waning in favor of Katherine with a K, we think that might turn around since Catherine Middleton, who reportedly hates the name Kate and never uses it, became the wife of Prince William and put a modern, stylish gloss on her already classy name.
The Catherine spelling was a Top 100 name until the millennium; it reached as high as Number 18 in the 19-teens.
Catherine has been well used throughout history for saints (one of whom, Catherine of Alexandria is the patron saint of philosophers, students, craftsmen, nurses,and librarians), queens, and commoners alike.
Catherine has also been associated with some of the great romantic heroines of literature, including Heathcliff's love in Wuthering Heights and the passionate nurse Catherine Barkley in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms.
And if your're wondering why all those interchangeable C's and K's, it's because when the name was introduced into Anglo-Saxon Britain, Catherine was spelled with a C because the letter K did not yet exist in the English alphabet.
Parents may also want to consider one of the attractive foreign variations, such as Caterina.
As of October 2026, Catherine ranked #314 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #18 in 1917, Nameberry popularity #207.
Editor's take: The name Catherine is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pure".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #170 | 1,944 | 1,088.2 |
| 2015 | #177 | 1,807 | 1,012.3 |
| 2016 | #196 | 1,668 | 941.3 |
| 2017 | #198 | 1,584 | 917.5 |
| 2018 | #205 | 1,506 | 885.3 |
| 2019 | #241 | 1,312 | 781.7 |
| 2020 | #267 | 1,155 | 714.5 |
| 2021 | #323 | 1,004 | 611.9 |
| 2022 | #328 | 981 | 598.1 |
| 2023 | #330 | 933 | 581.5 |
| 2024 | #320 | 955 | 589.4 |
| 2025 | #314 | 972 | 604.8 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Catherine.
Famous Catherines
- Saint Catherine of Alexandria
4th century Roman martyr
- Saint Catherine of Siena
Italian nun
- Catherine I (born Marta Helena Skowrońska)
Empress of Russia; wife of Peter the Great
- Catherine II "The Great" (born Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt
Zerbst,Dornburg), Empress of Russia
- Catherine
Queen of Navarre in her own right
- Catherine of Valois
Queen consort of Henry V of England
- Catherine of Aragon
first Queen consort of Henry VIII of England
- Catherine Howard
fifth Queen consort of Henry VIII of England
- Catherine Parr
sixth Queen consort of Henry VIII of England
- Catherine of Braganza
Queen consort of Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland
- Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Middleton
Duchess of Cambridge, wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
- Catherine (Caterina Maria Romula di Lorenzo) de' Medici
Queen consort of Henry II of France
- Catherine of Lancaster
Queen consort of Henry III of Castile
- Catherine Sunadotter of Ymseborg
Queen consort of Eric XI of Sweden and the Goths
- Catherine of Bjurum
Queen consort of Charles VIII and I of Sweden and Norway
- Catherine of Saxe
Lauenburg, first Queen consort of Gustav I of Sweden
- Catherine Stenbock
second Queen consort of Gustav I of Sweden
- Catherine Jagiellon
Queen consort of John III of Sweden
- Catherine of Austria
Queen consort of John III of Portugal
- Catherine of Austria
Queen consort of Sigismund II Augustus of Poland
- Catherine of Bosnia
Queen consort of Stephen Thomas of Bosnia
- Catherine Ann "Kate" Bosworth
American actress
- Catherine Elise "Cate" Blanchett
Australian actress
- Catherine Ann Keener
American actress
- Catherine Zeta
Jones, Welsh actress
- Catherine "Kate" Bush
English singer,songwriter
- Catherine "Kate" Ceberano
Australian singer,songwriter
- Catherine Oxenberg
American actress; daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia
- Catherine Fabienne Dorleac Deneuve
French actress
- Catherine Lisa Bell
American actress
- Catherine Lucy Hawking
English journalist and novelist
- Catherine Tate
British actress
- Catherine Jinks
Australian author
- Catherine Curtin
American actress
- Catherine Judith "Kate" Markowitz
American singer,songwriter
- Catherine Joan "Kate" Wilkinson
New Zealand politician
- Catherine Winifred "Kate" Harcourt
New Zealand actress
- Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Pierson
singer of American band The B,52's
- Catherine "Kate" Greenaway
English children's author
- Catherine Davis "Kate" Higgins
American voice actress
- Catherine "Catt" Sadler
American entertainment news reporter
- Catherine Tate
English comedienne
- Catherine Booth
English co,founder of the Salvation Army
- Catherine Carey
Lady Knollys, cousin and Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I
- Catherine Willoughby
12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
- Catherine Seymour
Countess of Hertford, sister of Lady Jane Grey
- Catherine Thomson "Kate" Dickens
wife of novelist Charles Dickens
- Catherine Skinner
Australian sport shooter
- Catherine O’Hara
Canadian actress
- Catherine Elizabeth "Cate" Edwards
attorney and daughter of former U.S. Senator John Edwards
- Catherine Paiz
YouTuber from "The ACE Family"
Catherine in pop culture
- Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Catherine "Kitty" Bennet
two characters from Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice"
- Catherine "Cathy" Earnshaw
character in Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights"
- Catherine Linton
daughter of Catherine Earnshaw, character in "Wuthering Heights"
- Catherine Barkley
main love interest in Ernest Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms"
- Catherine
minor character in "The Great Gatsby"
- Catherine Willows
character from TV's 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'
- Catherine Tramell
main character in movie 'Basic Instinct'
- "Catherine
" Atlus video game and main character
- Catherine Leigh Dollanganger
from the Dollanganger Saga by V.C. Andrews
- Catherine Morland
character from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey
- Catherine Chandler
character from TV's "Beauty And The Beast"
- Catherine Martell
character on TV's "Twin Peaks"
- "Catherine
" series of novels by Juliette Benzoni
- Catherine Rollins
character on TV's 'Hawaii Five,0'
- Lavinia Catherine Swire
character from Downton Abbey
- Catherine "Charlie" Demarco
character from the TV Series Graceland
- Catherine Jane "Cat" Grant
character on TV's "Supergirl"
- Catherine Meyer
Selina's daughter on TV's "Veep"
- Catherine Wilder (née Henderson)
character in Marvel Universe
- Catherine
character in Fire Emblem Three Houses video game
Variations & nicknames
- Cathy
- Cate
- Kate
- Cat