Kathleene vs Kathy
American parents have registered 334,870 Kathys since 1880, against 523 Kathleenes. Kathy is still ahead, with 48 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Kathleene Kathy
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 113 years in which either name was published, Kathy for 111 years and Kathleene for 2 years. The lead changed hands 4 times.
Side by side
| Kathleene | Kathy | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 523 | 334,870 |
| Most in one year | 32 | 23,983 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 48 |
| Estimated living today | 270 | 275,000 |
| Median age today | 73 | 66 |
| Peak year | 1947 | 1958 |
| Best rank | 1,697th girls | 14th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 3,249th |
| First recorded | 1915 | 1910 |
| Girls / boys | 523 / 0 | 334,131 / 739 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Kathleenes alive today are over 73; half the Kathys are over 66. That is 7 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Kathleene and Kathy.