Katarzyna
Around 600,000 Polish women carry it, but it's rarely given now: just 221 newborn girls last year. From Greek, its old sense was "pure": clear and unclouded.
Katarzyna Pronunciation
Katarzyna is pronounced kah-tah-ZHIH-nah (/kataˈʐɨna/).
What Katarzyna means
Where Katarzyna comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Katarzyna comes from the Greek Aikaterine, a name older than the meaning now attached to it. The sense of pure was fastened on later, drawn from the Greek word katharos, once the name had entered Christian use. So the origin is Greek. The meaning, czysta, followed.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria carried the name across medieval Europe, and it broke into local forms as it spread. England kept Katherine, the north had Katrina, and Poland held onto the full Katarzyna. Kasia does the daily work, at home and in the school register.
On 25 November, the feast of Saint Catherine, a Polish class register can hold more than one Kasia. The name has stayed common in Poland for a very long time. Its root is Greek, its short meaning czysta, pure.
How many people are named Katarzyna
1 in 37 women in Poland is named Katarzyna. 603,602 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #4 among female names.
Katarzyna's popularity over time
221 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #176 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #4 name among living women, even as it slips to #176 among newborns.
Where Katarzyna is most popular
Katarzyna is most popular in Lesser Poland, 26% above the national average (384 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Świętokrzyskie (+16%) and Lublin (+15%). It is least common in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Silesian, 13% and 12% below average respectively.
-
Lesser Poland384 girls born+26%
-
Świętokrzyskie86 girls born+16%
-
Lublin158 girls born+15%
-
Opole69 girls born+12%
-
Subcarpathian178 girls born+10%
-
Lower Silesian214 girls born+2%
-
Lubusz68 girls born+2%
-
Podlaskie87 girls born−1%
-
West Pomeranian112 girls born−1%
-
Pomeranian191 girls born−3%
-
Warmian-Masurian92 girls born−4%
-
Masovian437 girls born−8%
-
Greater Poland266 girls born−8%
-
Łódź153 girls born−10%
-
Silesian269 girls born−12%
-
Kuyavian-Pomeranian127 girls born−13%
Katarzyna as a middle name
Katarzyna is a first name for 603,602 women in Poland and a middle name for another 417,647, a 59/41 split — almost evenly. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 3rd, between Anna (896,998) and Barbara (403,010).
-
1
1,481,845Maria
-
2
896,998Anna
-
3417,647Katarzyna
-
4
403,010Barbara
-
5
372,483Ewa
When Katarzyna celebrates name day
Katarzyna appears 5 times in the Polish name day calendar. The main date is 13 February.