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Cato

#2,803 in 2025Boys' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Cato has been given to 675 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #2,803 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 45 recorded.

Babies named Cato, 2025

1 in 73,700

Cato over time, 1880–2025

Boys
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Cato: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Latin

What Cato means

Cato has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Cato

One of the source’s documented entries for Cato records a meaning of wise.

A separate documented entry treats Cato as a diminutive of Catharina. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Latin Cato. A cognomen made particularly famous by Cato the Elder and Younger, members of the gens Porcia.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Cato (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Cato is used in English and Norwegian. Its origins include Latin.

Cato comes through Latin Cato.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Cato is pronounced /ˈkeɪ.toʊ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 675 boys were recorded with the name Cato between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 45 in 2025; its best national rank was #715 in 1891.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #3,278 in 2020 to #2,803 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #4,312 in 2015 to #2,803 in 2025.

How common is Cato?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 73,700
45 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 38,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,803
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
51,066 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Cato sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 51,066 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Cato. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Catos were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Cato was born before 2015 — so the typical Cato is around 10 today.

Median birth year
2015
About 10 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
32.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
68.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
533
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 32.1% of all recorded uses (217).

Is Cato rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+253
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+475
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+1,509
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.96×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (45)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
33.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#715
1891

Spellings of Cato

Cato is not the most common spelling — Carl is, with 50.8% against Cato's 0.07%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Cato is used

Across 1910–2025, Cato was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 763,445 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Colorado1 in —
  3. 3Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Cato has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Cato around the world

Where Cato ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2001–2024
    #5,120
    in 2024
  • Norway
    1880–2015
    #511
    in 2015
  • Canada
    2019–2019
    #2,943
    in 2019
  • South Australia
    1998–2008
    #726
    in 2008

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Cato by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,803
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 475
Best rank ever
#715
1891
Peak year
2025
45 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
675
Count in 2025
45

Names similar to Cato

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

KatoCathyCatlinCatonMatoCatarinoDonatoRenatoMasatoPlatoMinatoCathanCatrellCatcherHayatoCataldoAmatoCatalinoCathalCatchYamatoAtoCatherineChato

Sibling names for Cato

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Cato

Top names of 2025, Cato's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1891Boys' names starting with CAncient Roman NamesLatin Boy Names