Katherine

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Feminine given name

title: "Katherine" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["feminine-given-names", "given-names", "given-names-of-greek-language-origin", "english-language-feminine-given-names"] description: "Feminine given name" topic_path: "general/feminine-given-names" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Feminine given name ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox given name"]

FieldValue
nameKatherine/Catherine
imageCarlo Crivelli 014.jpg
image_size200
captionCatherine of Alexandria, by Carlo Crivelli. The name Catherine became famous in Christian communities because of this early saint.
genderFemale
nicknameKate, Kath, Cat, Cattie, Cate, Catey, Cath, Catie, Caite, Kathy, Kathie, Kathi, Katie, Katey, Katy, Kay, Kat, Katya, Katyusha, Katja, Kati, Kit, Kitty, Kasia, Cathy, Cathie
languageoriginGreek
related names
regionAncient Greece
::

| name = Katherine/Catherine | image = Carlo Crivelli 014.jpg | image_size = 200 | caption = Catherine of Alexandria, by Carlo Crivelli. The name Catherine became famous in Christian communities because of this early saint. | pronunciation = | gender = Female | nickname = Kate, Kath, Cat, Cattie, Cate, Catey, Cath, Catie, Caite, Kathy, Kathie, Kathi, Katie, Katey, Katy, Kay, Kat, Katya, Katyusha, Katja, Kati, Kit, Kitty, Kasia, Cathy, Cathie | languageorigin = Greek | related names = | footnotes = |region=Ancient Greece}}

Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.

In the early Christian era it came to be associated with the Greek adjective καθαρός (katharos), meaning 'pure'. This influenced the name's English spelling, giving rise to variants Katharine and Catharine. The spelling with a middle 'a' was more common in the past. Katherine, with a middle 'e', was first recorded in England in 1196 after being brought back from the Crusades.

Popularity and variations

Anglophone use

In Britain and America, Catherine and its variants have been among the 100 most popular names since 1880. Amongst the most common variants are Katherine and Kathryn. The spelling Catherine is common in both English and French. Less-common variants in English include Katharine, Catharine, Cathryn, Katheryn, Katharyn, Kathryne, Katheryne, Katherin, and Kathrine.Historical popularity statistics for United States

    • For names given to girls 1912–2011, ranking positions were: Kathleen (33rd), Catherine (40th), Katherine (42nd), Kathryn (72nd).
    • For the 100 years 1922–2021, ranking of the same names were: Kathleen (31st), Katherine (42nd), Catherine (48th), Kathryn (76th). The spelling variants Katharine and Catharine (with a middle 'a') did not appear in the top 100 for the time period 1912–2021.Recent (21st century) popularity statistics for United States―name variant with (rank) shown in brackets:

, the variant spelling Katharine (with a middle 'a') has not appeared in the top 1000 most popular girls' names since 2006, in which year it ranked 905th most-given girls' name, the count being 293 registrations; while Catharine is not present in the top one-thousand list after 1996, when it ranked 983 with a count of 109 registrations.Popularity statistics for England and Wales for years 2001, 2011, and 2021―name variant with (rank) shown in brackets:

  • The last appearance of Katharine in the top 1000 was in 2008 at a rank of 817th and a count . There is no record of the spelling Catharine appearing in the top 100 girls' names in England and Wales.

Diminutives include: Katie, Katy, Kate, Kathy, Kathe, Kath, Kay, Kat, Katja or Katya, Kota, Katyusha, Katrya, Kitty, Kit, Kasia; many of these are also sometimes given as independent names.

Kathleen or Cathleen, Anglicized forms of the Irish Caitlín, have become established in the US among people with no Irish background, but is less popular in England and Wales. The form Karen, of Danish origin, is now often considered an independent name in English.

Language variants

The following is a list of various forms of the name Katherine, all ultimately associated with a common Greek-language origin of uncertain meaning but influenced by the , 'pure'. These forms are in use as a given name in the language noted, or were formerly. The list includes short or pet forms (hypocorisms), associated with Katherine or one of its variants:

Notable people

Main article: List of people named Katherine

References

  1. Withycombe, E. G.. (1976). "The Concise Dictionary of English Christian Names". Omega Books.
  2. UK government Office for National Statistics. "Baby Names, England and Wales, 1904-1994".
  3. De Felice, Emidio. (1995). "Dizionario dei nomi italiani". Mondadori.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

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