Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and other variations, is a feminine

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

. 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 Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and Virginity, virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a ...

. In the early Christian era it came to be associated with the Greek adjective (), 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 The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

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 French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. Less-common variants in English include ''Katharine'', ''Catharine'', ''Cathryn'', ''Katheryn'', ''Katharyn'', ''Kathryne'', ''Katheryne'', ''Katherin'', and ''Kathrine''.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 Cathleen is a feminine given name in the English language. It is a variant form of '' Kathleen''. Notable people with the name include: * Cathleen Chaffee, American curator, art historian, writer * Cathleen Falsani, American journalist and writer ...

'', 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 Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding white woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand * House of Karen, a historic ...

'', 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 (

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; sometimes also ''hypocoristic''), or pet name, is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for Isabel or ''Bob (given name), Bob'' fo ...

s), associated with ''Katherine'' or one of its variants: * (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

) * Aikaterine (

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

) * Cáit ( Irish) * Irish language">Irish) * Caitlín (Irish language">Irish) * Caitlyn or Caitlín">Irish language">Irish) * Caitlín (Irish language">Irish) * Caitlyn or Caitlin (English language">English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

) * Caitria ( Irish) * Caitrín (

Irish) * Caitríona (

Irish) * Caja (Danish language">Danish) * Catherine, Katarina, Katherine, Katerina (Indonesian language">Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

) * Cajsa ( Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

) *

Caren (Welsh language">Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

) * Carin (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

) * Carina ( Portuguese) * Carine (

; ''Karien'' in

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

) * Caryn (

) * Cat (

) * Cát Linh (

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

) * Cătălina (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

) * Catalina (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

) * Catant (

) * Catarina ( Galician,

, Portuguese,

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and High ...

) *

Cate Cate is a feminine given name and a variant of Kate (given name), Kate. The name has Latin, French, English, and Welsh origins. It literally means either 'pure' or 'blessed', depending on the context. The name Catherine is popular in Christian cou ...

(

) * Cateline (Old French) * Cathelijne (

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

) * Cateliña ( Galician) * Caterina ( Catalan,

) * Caterine (Old French) * Cathanne (

) * Cathareau (

) *

Catharina Catharina is a feminine given name, the Dutch and Swedish spelling of the name Catherine. In the Netherlands, people use a great number of short forms in daily life, including ''Carine'', ''Catelijne'', ''Cato'', ''Ina'', '' Ineke'', ''Kaat'', ''K ...

(

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

) * Catharine (

) * Catherin (

) * Catherina (

) *

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, 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 Ch ...

(

) * Catherne (17th century English) * Cathey (

Nordic Nordic most commonly refers to: * Nordic countries, the northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their North Atlantic territories * Scandinavia, a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern ...

) *

Cathie Cathie is both a feminine given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name: * Cathie Adams (born 1950), American politician * Cathie Beck (born 1955), American journalist and writer * Cathie Black (born 1944), American edu ...

(

) *

(

Hiberno-English Hiberno-English or Irish English (IrE), also formerly sometimes called Anglo-Irish, is the set of dialects of English native to the island of Ireland. In both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, English is the first language in e ...

) * Cathrin (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

) * Cathrine ( Scandinavian) ** Cathrinus (Latinized, male) * Cathryn (

) *

Cathy ''Cathy'' is an American gag-a-day comic strip, drawn by Cathy Guisewite from 1976 until 2010. The comic follows Cathy, a woman who struggles through the "four basic guilt groups" of life: food, love, family, and work. The strip gently pokes fu ...

(

) * Cati (

) * Catia (

) * Cátia ( Portuguese) * Catie (

) * Catina (

) * Catinca (

) * Catja ( Danish) * Catlin (Middle English) * Cato (

) * Catraoine ( Irish) * Catreena ( Manx) * Catreeney ( Manx) * Catrien (

) * Catrin (

) * Catrina (

) * Catrine (

) * Catrinel (

) *

Catrìona Catriona is a feminine given name in the English language. It is an Anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish Caitríona or Scottish Gaelic Catrìona, which are forms of the English Katherine (given name), Katherine. Bearers of the name Caitr ...

(

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

) * Catterina (

) * Catuxa ( Galician) * Caty (

) *

Ecaterina Ecaterina is a Romanian female first name meaning Catherine (disambiguation), Catherine. Notable persons with that name include: *Ecaterina Andronescu (born 1948), Romanian politician and engineer *Ecaterina Arbore ( 1874 – 1937), Romanian-Soviet ...

(

) * : ka, ეკა * ''

Ekaterina Ekaterina is a Russian feminine given name, and an alternative transliteration of the Russian Yekaterina. Katya and Katyusha are common diminutive forms of Ekaterina. Its Western counterpart is Catherine (Katherine). Notable people with the na ...

'': ( Bulgarian,

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

) * , or : *

( Latvian) * : ka, ეკატერინე * : (

Hong Kong Cantonese Hong Kong Cantonese is a dialect of Cantonese spoken primarily in Hong Kong. As the most commonly spoken language in Hong Kong, it shares a recent and direct lineage with the Guangzhou ( Canton) dialect. Due to the colonial heritage of Hong ...

) * : () * : () * (

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

) * (

) * Jekaterina (

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

) * Kaarat ( Greenlandic) * Kaarin (

...

) *

Kaarina Kaarina (; , i.e. "Catherine of Alexandria, Saint Catherine's") is a town in Finland, located in the region of Southwest Finland. It lies south of the regional capital, Turku. The population of Kaarina is approximately , while the Turku sub-regi ...

( Finnish) * Kaatje (

) * Kaća (

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

) * : () * Kadara: () * Kadarine: () * Kadi (

...

) * Kadri (

...

) * Kaety (

) * (

) * Kai (

...

) * Kaia (

...

, Norwegian) * Kaie (

...

) * Kaight (

) *

Kaija Kaija is a contemporary feminine personal name thought to have arisen as a Finnic variant of the name Katrin, or alternatively from Katariina. Among the people who share this name are: * Kaija Aarikka (1929-2014), Finnish designer * Kaija Juu ...

( Finnish) * Kaila (

) * Kailan (

) * Kailani ( Hawaiian) * Kaili (

...

) * Kailie (

) * Kailua ( Hawaiian) * : , . (Also

) * Kena: , . (Also English) * Kera: ; * Keri, Kerry: ; ; . (Also Hawaiian) * : . (Also

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

) * Kairi or Kairia (

...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

) * Kaisa (name), Kaisa (

...

, Finnish) * ''Kai Sa Lin'': (Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese) ** ''Kai Se Lin'': zh, s=凯瑟琳 (Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese) * Kaisu ( Finnish) * Kait (

) * Kaitlan (

) * Kaitlane (

) * Kaitlin (

) * Kaitline (

) * Kaitlyn (

) * Kaitlynne (

) * Kaitrin (

) * Kaitrina (

) * Kaity (

) * Kaj (name), Kaj (

, male) * Kaja ( Scandinavian,

...

, Polish language, Polish) * Kajsa (

) * Kakalina ( Hawaiian) * Kalena ( Hawaiian) * Kalina ( Hawaiian) * Katerina (Albanian language, Albanian) * : * Kara (name), Kara (

, ,

) * (

) * (Sami) *

: derived from the Danish short form of Katherine ( Danish,

, Norwegian,

) * Karena (

) * Karenina (

, Scandinavian, Russian language, Russian) * Karentina (

, Scandinavian, Russian language, Russian) * Kari ( Norwegian) * Karia ( Norwegian) * Karien (

, ''Carine'' in French) * (

) * Karin (given name), Karin (

...

, Faroese language, Faroese, Finnish,

) * Karina (name), Karina (

) * Karine ( Armenian language, Armenian;

) * Karoun (

, Armenian language, Armenian) * Kary ( Norwegian) * Karyn (

) * Karyna (

, Polish language, Polish) * : * : * Kat (

) * Kata (given name), Kata (Croatian language, Croatian, Finnish, Hungarian language, Hungarian) * Katalin (Basque language, Basque, Hungarian language, Hungarian) * Katalina (Basque language, Basque, Esperanto, Hungarian language, Hungarian) * Katariina (

...

, Finnish) * Katarin (Basque language, Basque, Breton language, Breton) * Katarína (Slovak language, Slovak) * Katarina (given name), Katarina (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian, Esperanto,

, Hungarian language, Hungarian,

, Slovene language, Slovene,

) * Katarine (

) * Katarino (Esperanto) * Katarzyna (Polish language, Polish) ** Kasia (Polish language, Polish) ** (Polish language, Polish) ** (Polish language, Polish) * Kate (given name), Kate (Croatian language, Croatian,

) * Katelijn (

) * Katelijne (

) * Katelin (

) * Kateline (Middle English) * Katell (Breton language, Breton) * Katelyn (

) * Katelynn (

) * Katelynne (

) * Katen (

) * Katenka (Russian language, Russian) * Kateri (Mohawk language, Mohawk) * Katerien (Afrikaans language, Afrikaans,

) * Katerine (

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

) * : * : * Katia (

) * ( Portuguese) * Katia: * Kateřina (Czech language, Czech) * Katerina (; Albanian language, Albanian, Bulgarian, Latin,

, Russian language, Russian) * Katerine (Middle English) * Katerino (Esperanto) * Kateryna (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian) * Katerynka (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian) * Katey (

) * : . (Also

) * : * : * Kathani (Hindi language, Hindi,

) * Kathanna (

) * Kathanne (

) * Kathareau (

) * Katharina (

, Latin) * Katharine (

) * : * Käthe (

) * Kathelijne (

) * Katherina (

) * Katherne (17th century English) * Katheryn (

) * Katheryne (

) * Kathey (Gaelic languages, Gaelic) * Kathi (

) * Kathie (

) * Kathianna (

) * Kathianne (

) * Kathlaura (

) * Kathlauren (

) * Kathlaurie (

) * Kathleanna (

) * Kathleanne (

) * Kathleen (

) * Kathlyn (

) * Kathreena (Malayalam language, Malayalam) * Kathrina (

) * Kathrin (

) * Kathru (Malayalam language, Malayalam) * Kathryn (

) * Kathy (

) * Kati (

...

, Finnish, Hungarian language, Hungarian) * ''Katya, Katia, Katja'': ; * Katica (Croatian language, Croatian, Czech language, Czech,

, Slovene language, Slovene, Hungarian language, Hungarian) * Katie (

) * Katika ( Danish) * : * Κatina, Katinja (Esperanto) * Katinka (

, Hungarian language, Hungarian, Russian language, Russian) * Katixa (Basque language, Basque) * Katja (Croatian language, Croatian,

, Finnish,

, Russian language, Russian, Slovene language, Slovene, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian) * Katka (Czech language, Czech, Russian language, Russian) * Káťa (Czech language, Czech) * Kačka (Czech language, Czech) * Kačenka (Czech language, Czech) * Katlyn (

) * Kätlin (

...

) * : ka, კატო * Kató (Hungarian language, Hungarian) * Katóka (Hungarian language, Hungarian) * Katre (

...

) * Katri ( Finnish) * Katrian (

, Dutch language, Flemish Dutch) * Katriana ( Portuguese,

) * Katrianna ( Danish,

, Norwegian,

) * Katrianne (

) * Katrien (

, Dutch language, Flemish Dutch) * Katriin (

...

) * Katriina ( Finnish) * Katrijn (

, also 'Katryn' in

and

) * Katriona (

) * Katrin (

...

, Faroese language, Faroese,

) * Katrina (given name), Katrina (

) * Katrīna ( Latvian) * Katrine (;

, Scottish Gaelic, Scandinavian) * Katrinka (

, Russian language, Russian) * Katrusia (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian) * Katryn (

, spelt in ) * Katushka (Russian language, Russian) * Katuška (Czech language, Czech) * Katy (given name), Katy (

) * Katya (Russian language, Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian) * Kay (

) * Kaye (

) * Kerry (

) * ''Keta'': ka, ქეთა * ''Ketevan'': ka, ქეთევან * ''Keti'': ka, ქეთი * Ketlen * Ketlin (

...

) * ''Keto'': (Georgian language, Georgian) * Ketrina (Albanian language, Albanian) * Kitty (English) * Koto (Hungarian language, Hungarian) * Kotryna (Lithuanian language, Lithuanian) * Kyla (

) * Kysa (Finnish) * Nienke (

) * Nynke (West Frisian language, Frisian) * Reina (given name), Reina (

, Yiddish language, Yiddish) * Riin (

...

) * Riina (given name), Riina (

...

, Finnish) * Rina (Croatian language, Croatian) * Triin (

...

) * Triinu (

...

) * Trijn (

) * Trijntje (

) * Trina (name), Trina (

) * Trinchen (

) * Trine ( Danish,

) * Trīne ( Latvian) * Trinette (

) * Triona (disambiguation), Tríona ( Irish)

Notable people

Notes and references

External links

* Name statistics for Northern Ireland: ** * Name statistics for Scotland: ** {{cite web , title=Babies' First Names , url=https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/names/babies-first-names , website=National Records of Scotland , date=31 May 2013 , publisher=Government of the United Kingdom , language=en Feminine given names Given names Given names of Greek language origin English-language feminine given names