Caitlin
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Meaning
“Irish form of Katherine, traditionally pure”
The story
Caitlin is the Irish Caitlín, the island's own form of Katherine, traditionally pure, and Americans adopted the spelling while keeping the anglicized pronunciation KATE-lin rather than the Irish kotch-LEEN, a compromise Ireland has learned to smile about. It appears in the US record in the 1950s and climbs to a peak across the 1990s and 2000s, trailed by an army of phonetic spellings, Kaitlyn, Katelyn, Kaitlin, Katelynn, that collectively outnumbered the original many times over. The fall since has been steep across the entire family. Caitlin remains the version closest to the source, one respelling from Ireland instead of three, and its arc is the textbook case of a borrowed classic gradually conquered by its own echoes. What survives the family's decline is the form closest to the Irish original, which leaves the deepest history under the version still standing.
Caitlin across languages
One shared root links 26 names across 8 languages.
Shared root: from Greek Aikaterine, associated since early Christian times with katharos, "pure"; that later explanation does not establish the name’s original meaning
The constellation
19 more branches of this family
How popular is Caitlin around the world?
In the United States, 560 babies were named Caitlin between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 9 girls were registered as Caitlin in 2017.
Caitlin is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, Canada, Austria, Chile and Spain.
United States
1 in 39,000
In the United States, 560 babies were named Caitlin between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Caitlin peaked in the 1990s and the 2000s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 2,0002017
In South Australia, 9 girls were registered as Caitlin in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Ireland
1 in 3,200
In Ireland, 17 girls named Caitlin were born in 2025, the 247th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Caitlin, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
1 in 4,600
In Scotland, 10 girls named Caitlin were registered in 2024, the 333rd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 18,000
In England and Wales, 33 girls named Caitlin were born in 2025, ranked 1,028th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Canada
1 in 20,000
In Canada, 18 girls named Caitlin were born in 2024, ranked 1,349th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 girl named Caitlin was born in 2025, ranked 1,875th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Chile
1 in 89,000
In Chile, 2 girls were registered as Caitlin in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Spain
1 in 1.5M
In Spain, 29 residents are named Caitlin, ranked 22,477th among women, with a mean age of 26 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
last on record 2023
Caitlin is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
France
last on record 2021
Caitlin is not on the 2025 record for France, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Mexico City City
last on record 2014
Caitlin is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Caitlin is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
New Zealand
last on record 2022
Caitlin is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Not on the record in Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
How the spellings raced
Across these spellings, Kaitlyn led in the group’s busiest decade, the 1990s. So far in the 2020s, Kaitlyn leads.
Decade totals from US Social Security birth registrations. Every line uses the same scale. The 2020s covers 2020–2025.
When you meet Caitlin
Most people given the name Caitlin in the United States were born between 1980 and 2009. The Caitlin you meet today is most often in her 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Caitlin deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Caitlin truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Caitlin fits with your family’s names and surname.
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