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Kitty

girl name
Origin
Greek
Syllables
2
Peak era
1890s/1960s
Today
▬ Steady

Torn between Kitty and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

diminutive of Katherine, 'pure'

The story

Read the story of Katherine →

More names with stories →

The formal names behind Kitty

Kitty is an established short form of each of these names.

Katherine · Greek origin · linked since early Christian times to katharos, "pure," though the name's true root is older and debated; borne by saints, empresses of Russia, and centuries of English queens consort. The K-classic behind Kate, Katie, Kay, and Kitty

Catherine · Greek origin · traditionally "pure"

Why we verify every short-form relationship →

Kitty 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

KittyEnglish · diminutiveKatherineEnglishCatherineFrenchKathleenIrishCaitlinIrishKatrinaGermanCatarinaPortugueseCaterinaItalian
18 more branches of this family
KatharineEnglish · variantKathrynEnglish · variantKathrineEnglish · variantKatherynEnglish · variantCathrynEnglish · variantCathleenIrish · variantCaitlynEnglish · variantKaitlynEnglish · variantKatelynEnglish · variantKatelynnEnglish · variantKarenDanish · short formKarinScandinavian · short formKarinaScandinavian · related formKateEnglish · short formKatieEnglish · short formKatyEnglish · short formKathyEnglish · short formKayEnglish · short form

Ways to honor Katherine →

How popular is Kitty around the world?

In the United States, 22 babies were named Kitty between 2020 and 2025. In Ireland, 14 girls named Kitty were born in 2025, the 294th most common name among girls that year.

Kitty is on the official records of the United States, Ireland, England and Wales, Spain and Brazil.

United States

1 in 990,000

In the United States, 22 babies were named Kitty between 2020 and 2025.

peak 1890s2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kitty peaked in the 1890s and the 1960s in nearly equal measure.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

Ireland

1 in 3,900

In Ireland, 14 girls named Kitty were born in 2025, the 294th most common name among girls that year.

1990peak 2020

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. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

See the full list for Ireland →

England and Wales

1 in 25,000

In England and Wales, 23 girls named Kitty were born in 2025, ranked 1,362nd among girls that year.

1996peak 20092025

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

See the full list for England and Wales →

Spain

1 in 1.8M

In Spain, 25 residents are named Kitty, ranked 25,866th among women, with a mean age of 51.5 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

See the full list for Spain →

Austria

last on record 2023

Kitty is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 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)

See the full list for Austria →

Brazil

At the 2022 census, 56 people in Brazil were named Kitty, ranked 61,636th, with a median age of 42.
Among people named Kitty living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.

peak 1980s1980s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

See the full list for Brazil →

Canada

last on record 2015

Kitty is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.

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)

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Montevideo City

last on record 1964

Kitty is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

See the full list for Montevideo →

Norway

last on record 2008

Kitty is not on the 2025 record for Norway, where names carried by fewer than 4 people in a year are withheld at source.

peak 19472025

share of the girls on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure

People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)

See the full list for Norway →

Scotland

last on record 2019

Kitty is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.

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

See the full list for Scotland →

South Australia

last on record 2013

Kitty is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.

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

See the full list for South Australia →

Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.

Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

When you meet Kitty

Most people given the name Kitty in the United States were born between 1940 and 1979. The Kitty you meet today is most often in her 60s or 70s.

Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.

Names that fit alongside Kitty

Kate Maggie Dora Angie Penny Eleanor

Keep exploring

What is Kitty short for?

Name trails: explore connections from Kitty →

The Kitty deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Kitty 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 Kitty fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

Does Kitty fit YOUR family?

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