Kate

What Kate means

Form of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”

diminutive of the female given name Katherine || Borrowed from French Catherine, from Ancient Greek Αἰκατερίνη (Aikaterínē), *Ἑκατερίνη (*Hekaterínē), of debated meaning, possibly from ἑκάτερος (hekáteros, “each of the two”), or from the name of the goddess Hecate.

Source: Wiktionary, “Kate” (revision 94540734) and “Catherine” (revision 93813067), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Kate?

US: Falling: down from #222 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #393 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1880, when 299 girls got the name (#79 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 2,790 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 8,170 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,982 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in ND (2.96 per 1,000 girls), UT (1.58 per 1,000 girls), ID (1.54 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Kate is #520 in the US and #1079 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Kate were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Kit208 US · 8 E&W
• Kitt28 US
• Cate11 US
• Kade10 US
• Cade6 US
• Kaede5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Kate

Girls

• Kaylee#255Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #61 in 2015, #255 in 2025
• Natalie#89Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2006, with 10,951 babies; 2,736 in 2025
• Kylie#204Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2003, with 5,558 babies; 1,491 in 2025
• Faith#254Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #90 in 2015, #254 in 2025
• Abigail#41“my Father's joy”^*
• Maggie#294Diminutive of Margaret, meaning “pearl”^*

For a brother

• Preston#299Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #299 vs #914 in 2025
• Kaleb#295“dog”^*
• Ethan#24“firmness, strong, or long-lived”^*
• Evan#153“God is gracious”^*
• Chase#192Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2009, with 7,394 babies; 1,904 in 2025
• Caleb#58possibly “dog”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Kate’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.