Popularity of the name Kathleen, 1880–2025
Kathleen was at its most popular in 1949, when 26,357 girls were given the name: about 1 in 65 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #9. In 2025, 201 girls were named Kathleen, ranking #1,150. In all, Social Security counts 713,645 girls named Kathleen since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 1,691 boys named Kathleen.
- Peak year
- 1949
- Rank in 1949
- #9
- Babies in 1949
- 26,357
- Rank in 2025
- #1,150
- Total since 1880
- 713,645
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has slipped from #823 in 2015 to #1,150 in 2025, with 341 girls named Kathleen in 2015 and 201 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Kathleen ranked highest in the 1950s, at #15, with 224,342 girls given the name that decade. It ranked #324 in the 1880s and #1,066 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 21 in 1880 (#352), 321 in 1900 (#170), 3,158 in 1920 (#91), 5,697 in 1940 (#40), 16,085 in 1960 (#27), 3,857 in 1980 (#82), 1,585 in 2000 (#204) and 253 in 2020 (#1,004).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 26,716, in 1951. That is not its peak year: Social Security’s records hold more girls for 1951 than for 1949, so the name’s share of births was smaller. Its best rank, #9, came in its peak year.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Kathleen, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 21 | #352 |
| 1881 | 13 | #470 |
| 1882 | 22 | #377 |
| 1883 | 21 | #411 |
| 1884 | 27 | #385 |
| 1885 | 38 | #329 |
| 1886 | 43 | #318 |
| 1887 | 50 | #302 |
| 1888 | 67 | #286 |
| 1889 | 87 | #251 |
| 1890 | 105 | #239 |
| 1891 | 113 | #227 |
| 1892 | 149 | #208 |
| 1893 | 170 | #196 |
| 1894 | 168 | #205 |
| 1895 | 192 | #196 |
| 1896 | 259 | #169 |
| 1897 | 250 | #173 |
| 1898 | 306 | #163 |
| 1899 | 230 | #184 |
| 1900 | 321 | #170 |
| 1901 | 272 | #169 |
| 1902 | 325 | #159 |
| 1903 | 352 | #149 |
| 1904 | 362 | #147 |
| 1905 | 386 | #152 |
| 1906 | 412 | #143 |
| 1907 | 440 | #149 |
| 1908 | 527 | #132 |
| 1909 | 527 | #135 |
| 1910 | 622 | #131 |
| 1911 | 663 | #126 |
| 1912 | 985 | #118 |
| 1913 | 1,179 | #110 |
| 1914 | 1,475 | #110 |
| 1915 | 1,940 | #104 |
| 1916 | 2,154 | #104 |
| 1917 | 2,358 | #101 |
| 1918 | 2,629 | #99 |
| 1919 | 2,587 | #101 |
| 1920 | 3,158 | #91 |
| 1921 | 3,419 | #83 |
| 1922 | 3,466 | #80 |
| 1923 | 3,754 | #70 |
| 1924 | 3,663 | #76 |
| 1925 | 3,503 | #81 |
| 1926 | 3,277 | #83 |
| 1927 | 3,265 | #83 |
| 1928 | 3,151 | #82 |
| 1929 | 2,941 | #89 |
| 1930 | 3,074 | #84 |
| 1931 | 2,799 | #87 |
| 1932 | 2,945 | #83 |
| 1933 | 3,121 | #77 |
| 1934 | 3,279 | #74 |
| 1935 | 3,353 | #71 |
| 1936 | 3,352 | #67 |
| 1937 | 3,743 | #61 |
| 1938 | 4,228 | #58 |
| 1939 | 4,656 | #48 |
| 1940 | 5,697 | #40 |
| 1941 | 7,160 | #36 |
| 1942 | 10,696 | #24 |
| 1943 | 12,153 | #22 |
| 1944 | 13,004 | #20 |
| 1945 | 13,802 | #19 |
| 1946 | 18,760 | #16 |
| 1947 | 22,095 | #11 |
| 1948 | 23,257 | #10 |
| 1949 | 26,357 | #9 |
| 1950 | 25,706 | #10 |
| 1951 | 26,716 | #10 |
| 1952 | 25,767 | #11 |
| 1953 | 23,731 | #14 |
| 1954 | 22,455 | #14 |
| 1955 | 22,014 | #17 |
| 1956 | 21,377 | #17 |
| 1957 | 19,742 | #21 |
| 1958 | 19,205 | #21 |
| 1959 | 17,629 | #23 |
| 1960 | 16,085 | #27 |
| 1961 | 15,395 | #29 |
| 1962 | 14,188 | #29 |
| 1963 | 13,547 | #28 |
| 1964 | 13,231 | #30 |
| 1965 | 11,778 | #34 |
| 1966 | 10,491 | #37 |
| 1967 | 9,209 | #40 |
| 1968 | 8,729 | #40 |
| 1969 | 8,299 | #42 |
| 1970 | 7,410 | #45 |
| 1971 | 6,154 | #53 |
| 1972 | 5,097 | #57 |
| 1973 | 4,250 | #68 |
| 1974 | 3,953 | #76 |
| 1975 | 3,545 | #80 |
| 1976 | 3,405 | #82 |
| 1977 | 3,649 | #80 |
| 1978 | 3,743 | #79 |
| 1979 | 3,641 | #84 |
| 1980 | 3,857 | #82 |
| 1981 | 3,776 | #82 |
| 1982 | 3,949 | #77 |
| 1983 | 3,923 | #73 |
| 1984 | 3,985 | #71 |
| 1985 | 4,087 | #68 |
| 1986 | 4,129 | #68 |
| 1987 | 4,165 | #72 |
| 1988 | 3,927 | #75 |
| 1989 | 3,596 | #90 |
| 1990 | 3,670 | #92 |
| 1991 | 3,371 | #102 |
| 1992 | 3,135 | #108 |
| 1993 | 2,742 | #118 |
| 1994 | 2,430 | #130 |
| 1995 | 2,280 | #139 |
| 1996 | 2,107 | #152 |
| 1997 | 1,742 | #175 |
| 1998 | 1,739 | #171 |
| 1999 | 1,630 | #192 |
| 2000 | 1,585 | #204 |
| 2001 | 1,337 | #236 |
| 2002 | 1,208 | #262 |
| 2003 | 1,096 | #284 |
| 2004 | 1,002 | #316 |
| 2005 | 934 | #339 |
| 2006 | 878 | #371 |
| 2007 | 779 | #422 |
| 2008 | 704 | #448 |
| 2009 | 542 | #563 |
| 2010 | 495 | #594 |
| 2011 | 451 | #630 |
| 2012 | 427 | #661 |
| 2013 | 432 | #660 |
| 2014 | 422 | #674 |
| 2015 | 341 | #823 |
| 2016 | 341 | #838 |
| 2017 | 314 | #870 |
| 2018 | 306 | #883 |
| 2019 | 280 | #944 |
| 2020 | 253 | #1,004 |
| 2021 | 262 | #987 |
| 2022 | 228 | #1,095 |
| 2023 | 248 | #1,018 |
| 2024 | 223 | #1,099 |
| 2025 | 201 | #1,150 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.