| Katherine | Chloe | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Pure | Green shoot; blooming |
| Origin | Greek | greek |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | KATH-rin | KLOH-ee |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1880 | 1880 |
| Peak year | 1990 (11,625) | 2009 (11,922) |
| In 2025 | 1,670 | 6,203 |
| Trend | Declining | Declining |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Katherine | Chloe |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 10,675 | 37,588 |
| 2010s | 34,144 | 85,316 |
| 2000s | 65,356 | 96,503 |
| 1990s | 96,885 | 25,858 |
| 1980s | 99,175 | 3,605 |
| 1970s | 54,048 | 645 |
| 1960s | 50,619 | 204 |
| 1950s | 66,855 | 296 |
| 1940s | 39,912 | 543 |
| 1930s | 25,193 | 778 |
| 1920s | 42,745 | 746 |
| 1910s | 36,884 | 850 |
| 1900s | 12,105 | 478 |
| 1890s | 9,408 | 622 |
| 1880s | 6,922 | 357 |
Katherine comes from the Greek Aikaterine, of debated origin, long associated with katharos, “pure.” A name of saints, empresses and queens, it offers an unusual wealth of nicknames.
From Greek 'chloe' (Χλόη) meaning 'green shoot, young growth of a plant'. It was an epithet of the harvest goddess Demeter marking the fresh green of spring.
Chloe is more popular than Katherine today: about 6,203 US babies were given the name Chloe in 2025, compared with 1,670 named Katherine.
Katherine means Pure (Greek origin), while Chloe means Green shoot; blooming (greek origin).
In US records, Katherine first appears in 1880 and Chloe in 1880, so Katherine has the longer recorded history.