Kate

KAYT

English, diminutive of Katherine

"pure"

Kate Origin and Meaning

The name Kate is a girl's name of English origin meaning "pure".

Kate, in the headlines via Catherine Middleton aka the Princess of Wales, has been as pervasive as Kathy was in the 1950s and 1960s, both as a nickname for Katherine and Kaitlyn and as a strong, classic stand-alone name.

Deriving from the classic Katherine, Kate has been used since the Middle Ages. It might have emerged from one of the possible Greek origins of the name, Aikaterine, to get that longer 'A' sound.

Kate has an image that's independent, smart, and energetic, recalling Kate Hepburn, the heroine of The Taming of the Shrew/Kiss Me Kate, and contemporary Kates: Winslet, Hudson, Moss, Spade and Beckinsale. Cate Blanchett has helped popularize an alternative spelling of the name, while Kate Sheppard was a prominent member of the New Zealand suffrage movement and played a key role in making New Zealand the first country to allow women to vote in parliamentary elections.

Kate is also the female equivalent of Jack as a favorite character name in the movies, TV, and books. It's down-to-earth yet classy, common yet cool.

Kate has always been, and remains, mega popular in Ireland, where it ranks in the Top 50. Elsewhere, it has declined in popularity since its moment in the 90s and 2000s, but nevertheless, around 640 girls received the name in the US in 2023.

Kate Rank in US Top 1000

# 478 in the US

Kate Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 284 on Nameberry

Kate Popularity

• 478 US 2023
• 284 Nameberry 2024
• 742 England 2021
• 38 Ireland 2023
• 81 New Zealand 2014
• 191 Germany 2016
• 98 Netherlands 2021

20 Names Similar to Kate

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Kate.

• Katherine
• Caroline
• Anna
• Catherine
• Claire
• Emily
• Anne
• Elizabeth
• Jane
• Emma
• Grace
• Julia
• Hannah
• Annie
• Margaret
• Ella
• Ellie
• Charlotte
• Audrey
• Alice

Famous People Named Kate

• Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Middleton Duchess of Cambridge
• Kate Elizabeth Winslet English actress
• Catherine Ann "Kate" Bosworth American actress
• Kathrin Romary "Kate" Beckinsale English actress
• Katherine Kiernan Maria "Kate" Mulgrew American actress
• Catherine "Kate" Bush English singer,songwriter
• Kathleen "Kate" Capshaw American actress
• Kate Cary English novelist
• Kate Elliott pen name of American novelist Alis A. Rasmussen
• Katherine "Kate" Chopin American author
• Kate Wolf (born Kathryn Louise Allen) American singer songwriter
• Katrina Elizabeth "Kate" DiCamillo American children's novelist
• Katie Irene "Kate" Gosselin American TV personality
• Kate Garry Hudson American actress
• Kate Rooney Mara American actress; sister of Rooney Mara
• Kathleen Mary Louise "Kate" O'Brien Irish novelist
• Kate O'Toole Irish actress
• Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Pierson American singer
• Katherine Noel "Kate" Spade American fashion designer
• Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall Scottish singer,songwriter
• Katherine Elizabeth "Kate" Upton American supermodel
• Kate Micucci American singer, songwriter, and actress
• Kate Atkinson English novlist
• Kathleen Erin "Kate" Walsh American actress
• Kathryn "Kate" McKinnon American actress and comedian
• Kate Moss English supermodel
• Katrien "Kate" Ryan Belgian singer
• Kate Anna Rusby English singer,songwriter
• Kate Tsui (Tsz shan), Hong Kong actress; Miss Hong Kong 2004
• Kate Todd Canadian actress and singer
• Kate Taylor American singer
• Katherine Patricia "Kate" Flannery American actress
• Kate Marie Nash English singer,songwriter
• Kathryn "Kate" Smith American singer
• Kate Lauren French American actress
• Kate del Castillo Mexican Actress
• Kate Vernon Canadian actress
• Kate Levering American actress
• Kate Lynn Nauta American model and actress
• Patricia Colleen "Kate" Nelligan Canadian actress
• Kate Zambreno American novelist
• Kate Marie Ziegler American swimmer
• Kate Elizabeth Voegele American singer
• Kate Jenkinson Australian actress
• Kate Earl American singer
• Kate Isitt English actress
• Kate O'Hearn Canadian novelist
• Kate Ashfield British actress
• Kate O'Mara (born Frances Meredith Carroll) English actress
• Kate White American editor and novelist
• Kate Elizabeth Hansen American luger
• (Lucy) Kate Jackson American actress
• Elli Kate Norkett Welsh Rugby player
• Kate Griffiths (b. 2012) daughter of YouTube vloggers Beau & Emily Griffiths from the channel A Griffiths Life Vlogs

Kate in Pop Culture

• Katherina "Kate" Minola main character in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew"
• 'Kiss Me Kate' musical by Cole Porter based on "The Taming of the Shrew"
• Kate Lloyd character in "The Thing" series
• Katherine "Kate" Austen main character on TV's "Lost"
• Kate Wetherall character in "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
• Kate/Katarine character in book series "The City of Flamespell"
• Kate "Puck" Connolly character in "The Scorpio Races" by Maggie Stiefvater
• Kate text editor for KDE software
• Kate Gordon character in "The Basic Eight" by Daniel Handler
• Kate Randall character on TV's "Pretty Little Liars"
• Kate Pearson character on TV's "This Is Us"
• Kate Daniels title character in book series by Ilona Andrews
• Kate Bettany main character on British TV's 'Bedlam'
• Kate Lockley a minor character on TV's 'Angel'
• Kate character in James Patterson's Maximum Ride
• "Kissing Kate " novel by Lauren Myracle
• Katherine "Kate" Kavanagh minor character in '50 Shades of Grey'
• Katherine "Kate" Fitzgerald character in Jodi Picoult's "My Sister's Keeper"
• Caitlin "Kate" Todd character on TV's "NCIS"
• Kate Monster character in musical 'Avenue Q'
• Katherine "Kissin' Kate" Barlow character in Louis Sachar's "Holes"
• Katherine "Kate" Beckett character on TV's 'Castle'
• Kate Bishop aka Hawkeye Marvel comics character
• Kate Curtis character in movie "2012"
• Kate Moreau character on TV's "White Collar"
• Kate Reed character on TV's "Fairly Legal"
• Kate Moretti character on TV's "Perception"
• Kate Callahan character on TV's "Criminal Minds"
• Kate Watzen main character in Shelly Jarvis' "The Dreamwalker."
• Kate Fleming character on British TV series "Line of Duty"
• Kate aka Offred character in film version of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale"
• "Kate Is Great" song by Bouncing Souls
• "Kate " song by Ben Folds Five
• "Kate Crackernuts " English fairy tale and its main character
• "Kate " novel by Valerie Sherrard
• Katherine "Kate" Sanders character in TV series "Lizzie McGuire"
• Kate Beverly Marsh character in video game "Life Is Strange"
• Kate Harker main character in Monsters of Verity by Victoria Schwab
• Kate McReary character in the video game "Grand Theft Auto 4"
• Kate (The Chaser) a character from Slender: The Arrival
• Kate Carter Character in "Twisters"