Kate

Where Kate comes from

The dictionaries list Kate as a given name — a diminutive of the female given name Katherine and related names, also used as a formal given name — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 1 syllable
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year, and the peak
    #79 among girls with 299 babies — the first year on record, and still its best.
  2. 1979
    Kate Hudson born
    American actress and singer
  3. 1983
    Kate Mara born
    American actress
  4. 2007
    The comeback
    Back to #136 after sinking to #969 in 1956.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the female given name Katherine and related names, also used as a formal given name.
Namesakes
  • Kate Hudson · American actress and singer, born 1979
  • Kate Mara · American actress, born 1983
  • Kate Chopin · American author, 1850–1904
  • Kate Walsh · American actress, born 1967
  • Kate Capshaw · American actress who converted to Judaism, born 1953

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.