Katrina
- Pronunciation
- [Ka-tri-na]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- Variant Of Katherine. Pure.
- Origin
- English
About the Name Katrina
Katrina is a variant of Katherine, carrying the meaning pure that the Katherine family of names has borne since the name was associated in medieval Christian tradition with the Greek katharos (pure, clean). The form Katrina represents the name's passage through German, Scandinavian, and Eastern European languages — particularly through German Katrin and its extended form — before arriving in English use as a slightly more exotic alternative to Catherine or Karen. Its four-syllable flow and the bright -ina ending give it a melodic quality that distinguishes it from the crisper two-syllable Katherine variants.
In US Social Security records, Katrina first entered the female top-1000 in 1979 and reached its peak rank of #87 just three years later in 1982, reflecting the 1980s taste for elaborated feminine names with international flavors. It maintained a steady presence through the 1990s and into the 2000s before leaving the top-1000 in 2012 after accumulating 28,889 top-1000 births. By its final tracked year it sat at #941. The name's trajectory in the mid-2000s was influenced by cultural associations that made some American parents hesitant — though it continued to be chosen by families who valued its European elegance over situational associations.
Katrina's enduring appeal lies in its combination of classical meaning, pan-European pedigree, and a cadence that works equally well in formal and informal contexts. Recorded variants include Cat, Catrina, Kat, Kattrina, and Trina — a range from the breezy single-syllable Kat to the stripped-down Trina, giving the name a rich set of nickname options that cover multiple registers of formality and affection.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Katrina
US Popularity History (1979–2012)
Annual US births named Katrina by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1980 with 3,397 girls named Katrina (girl rank #90 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2012, ranked #941 for girls (272 US births). That's 851 places below its 1980 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Katrina Most Popular?
Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Katrina the strongest states are Wisconsin, Maryland, Massachusetts.
Strongest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wisconsin | #847 | 17 |
| 2 | Maryland | #910 | 17 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | #915 | 15 |
| 4 | Ohio | #924 | 55 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | #935 | 58 |
Weakest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pennsylvania | #935 | 58 |
| 2 | Ohio | #924 | 55 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | #915 | 15 |
| 4 | Maryland | #910 | 17 |
| 5 | Wisconsin | #847 | 17 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Katrina in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
Looking for names like Katrina?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Katrina to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Katrina against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).