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Kathryn vs Katrell

American parents have registered 456,515 Kathryns since 1880, against 517 Katrells. Kathryn is still ahead, with 381 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Kathryn against Katrell, 1880 to 2025 0 2.5k 5k 7.5k 10k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Kathryn Katrell

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

Kathryn has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 2022, when Kathryn had 452 and Katrell had 9.

Side by side

  Kathryn Katrell
Total US births 456,515517
Most in one year 8,51721
Babies in 2025 3817
Estimated living today 315,000500
Median age today 4825
Peak year 19522002
Best rank 48th girls3,909th boys
Rank in 2025 729th9,714th
First recorded 18801971
Girls / boys 455,423 / 1,09243 / 474

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 Kathryns alive today are over 48; half the Katrells are over 25. That is 23 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: Kathryn and Katrell.