Catherine, Katherine, Katharine or Kathryn?

[thisbe]

Which spelling do you prefer and why?

I personally prefer Catherine. I feel it's classic, distinguished and complete. The other spellings feel, well, just less so to me. It may be due to the surge in popularity of "K" names in the past few decades.

My husband prefers Katherine because of the history of Russian royalty bearing the name Katerina or Ekaterina. We're not Russian, so I'm not sure why this is important to him, but it is.

I just want to get an idea of what other people think of the spellings!

Thanks everyone!

[lexiem]

My favorite is Kathryn. Could be because it's the name of a very close friend or because I like what I call "droopy" letters. I also feel that this spelling has more spunk and personality to it than the traditional Katherine. That said my second choice would be Catherine - I prefer the traditional French spelling to the English one.

[namefan]

I like Catherine the best for similar reasons to what you've mentioned.

[caymangirl]

I also like Catherine the best for the reasons you mentioned. I also just don't really like K names for girls, but if you did want to use the K then either of the two without the y are fine - I really do not like Kathryn. Catherine is beautiful - why mess with it? It's a gret name with lovely nicknames. :-)

[pam]

I'm torn! I like Katharine because this is the spelling Katharine Hepburn used. Also because the K spelling transitions naturally to Kate, which is still my favorite nickname for the name. But I also like Catherine because it feels softer and more old-fashioned in a pretty way to me, and because it's the spelling used for the character in one of my favorite books, Wuthering Heights!

[everwaiteing]

Those are all fully accepted spellings of the name. I had ancestors named Katharine and Catharine. If I had had several daughters, I would have used it as a middle name and would have chosen the spelling CATHERINE, which I slightly prefer. However, for someone who wants to use it as a first name with the nn Kate, I can see one of the K spellings as a better option. I would use the e (rather than a) in the middle only because I think it would result in fewer misspellings.

[saracita00]

I like it spelled Catherine because I think it looks elegant, refined, and maybe even a little bit medieval. I do prefer nn Kate though I think it's fine even if Catherine proper is spelled with a C rather than a K (Princess Kate, anyone?). Actress Cate Blanchett manages to pull off the nn with a C (though admittedly maybe only because she's Cate Blanchett).

Catherine would be a certain front-runner for a future daughter if we did not already have a son named Caspian (too matchy for my taste).

[catheyc]

My name is Catherine and before I started learning about names, that was the only one I preferred because it seemed the most classic. However, depending on where you originate from, the "original" or "classic" spelling could be any number of spellings, including Katherine and Katharine (which I believe is the original Greek spelling). The only spellings I don't like are those with "ryn" at the end because they seem like youneek versions (albeit created long ago) of the classic originals, although I admit maybe there is a culture that spells it that way that I am not aware of.

I have also known Catherines who went by Cate (which I always wished I could pull off), Cait, and Catie.

[ballerinagirl]

my fav spelling is Kathryn ((:

[megmarie]

I love the Catherine spelling. It makes me cringe, though, when people use Kate (with the k) as a nn for Catherine. If you want the nn Kate, please spell it Katherine or one of the k versions.