Katy is a short form of Katherine, a name of Greek origin usually explained as "pure", from katharos, though it may originally go back to the goddess Hecate. Singer Katy Perry gave the spelling a pop-culture lift in the 2010s, and Katy, Texas, is a fast-growing suburb of Houston. The name has nonetheless faded: Katy peaked at number 935 in 2002, dropped out of the top 1,000 and ranks number 2,709 in 2025, with 64 births.