Kat

Girls' name

Diminutive of Katharine or Katherine

Kat has been given to 45 babies in the U.S. since 2007. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 2007, with 9 recorded.

Babies named Kat, 2023

1 in 474,000

Kat over time, 1880–2025

Girls

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Kat: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Katharine or Katherine

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Kat means

Kat is a diminutive of Katharine or Katherine.

Origin, language, and formation

Kat is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Katharine and Katherine.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 45 girls were recorded with the name Kat between 2007 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 9 in 2007; its best national rank was #12,134 in 2007.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Kat?

Kat had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2023, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2023: 1 in 474,000; 7 of 3,314,783 births
Among girls only: 1 in 229,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2023: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 328,234 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Kat sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2023 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 328,234 children born in 2023 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kat. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kats were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kat was born before 2013 — so the typical Kat is around 12 today.

Median birth year: 2013; About 12 years old
Biggest decade: 2000s; 42.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 45; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2000s — 42.2% of all recorded uses (19).

Is Kat 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: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 2007 (9)
Years since peak: 18; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 22.2% average annual change
Best rank ever: #12,134; 2007

Kat around the world

Where Kat 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.

South Australia
2003–2003
#739
in 2003

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Kat by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #12,134; 2007
Peak year: 2007; 9 that year
First recorded: 2007
Last recorded: 2023
All-time count: 45
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Kat

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

Kata Kath Katen Katin Katika Katona Kattya Katori Katri Katyra Barkat Katine Katena Katira Kattia Kathry Katlen Katlan Katti Kately Katrell Katria Katsuko Katlynd

Sibling names for Kat

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

For a sister

Jailyn Neveah Marlen Jaylyn Lupita Rhianna Marin Yuliana

For a brother

Jaeden Nikhil Jamarcus Slade Brandt Nevin Davian Isai

Explore around Kat

Top names of 2007, Kat's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 2007 Girls' names starting with K Catherine Variations & Nicknames