🔥Catherine

Greek
"pure"

Catherine Origin and Meaning

The name Catherine is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pure".

Catherine is one of the oldest and most consistently well-used girls’ names, with endless variations and nicknames. The Catherine form feels more gently old-fashioned and feminine than the more popular K versions. Most stylish nickname for Catherine right now: Kate...or Cate, a la Blanchett.

While the popularity of the Catherine form has been waning in favor of Katherine with a K, we think that might turn around since Catherine Middleton, who reportedly hates the name Kate and never uses it, became the wife of Prince William and put a modern, stylish gloss on her already classy name.

The Catherine spelling was a Top 100 name until the millennium; it reached as high as Number 18 in the 19-teens.

Catherine has been well used throughout history for saints (one of whom, Catherine of Alexandria is the patron saint of philosophers, students, craftsmen, nurses,and librarians), queens, and commoners alike.

Catherine has also been associated with some of the great romantic heroines of literature, including Heathcliff's love in Wuthering Heights and the passionate nurse Catherine Barkley in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms.

And if your're wondering why all those interchangeable C's and K's, it's because when the name was introduced into Anglo-Saxon Britain, Catherine was spelled with a C because the letter K did not yet exist in the English alphabet.

Parents may also want to consider one of the attractive foreign variations, such as Caterina.

# 332 in the US

Catherine Rank in US Top 1000

# 187 on Nameberry

Catherine Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Catherine Popularity

Famous People Named Catherine

  • Saint Catherine of Alexandria
    4th century Roman martyr
  • Saint Catherine of Siena
    Italian nun
  • Catherine I (born Marta Helena Skowrońska)
    Empress of Russia; wife of Peter the Great
  • Catherine II "The Great" (born Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt
    Zerbst,Dornburg), Empress of Russia
  • Catherine
    Queen of Navarre in her own right
  • Catherine of Valois
    Queen consort of Henry V of England
  • Catherine of Aragon
    first Queen consort of Henry VIII of England
  • Catherine Howard
    fifth Queen consort of Henry VIII of England
  • Catherine Parr
    sixth Queen consort of Henry VIII of England
  • Catherine of Braganza
    Queen consort of Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland
  • Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Middleton
    Duchess of Cambridge, wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
  • Catherine (Caterina Maria Romula di Lorenzo) de' Medici
    Queen consort of Henry II of France
  • Catherine of Lancaster
    Queen consort of Henry III of Castile
  • Catherine Sunadotter of Ymseborg
    Queen consort of Eric XI of Sweden and the Goths
  • Catherine of Bjurum
    Queen consort of Charles VIII and I of Sweden and Norway
  • Catherine of Saxe
    Lauenburg, first Queen consort of Gustav I of Sweden
  • Catherine Stenbock
    second Queen consort of Gustav I of Sweden
  • Catherine Jagiellon
    Queen consort of John III of Sweden
  • Catherine of Austria
    Queen consort of John III of Portugal
  • Catherine of Austria
    Queen consort of Sigismund II Augustus of Poland
  • Catherine of Bosnia
    Queen consort of Stephen Thomas of Bosnia
  • Catherine Ann "Kate" Bosworth
    American actress
  • Catherine Elise "Cate" Blanchett
    Australian actress
  • Catherine Ann Keener
    American actress
  • Catherine Zeta
    Jones, Welsh actress
  • Catherine "Kate" Bush
    English singer,songwriter
  • Catherine "Kate" Ceberano
    Australian singer,songwriter
  • Catherine Oxenberg
    American actress; daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia
  • Catherine Fabienne Dorleac Deneuve
    French actress
  • Catherine Lisa Bell
    American actress
  • Catherine Lucy Hawking
    English journalist and novelist
  • Catherine Tate
    British actress
  • Catherine Jinks
    Australian author
  • Catherine Curtin
    American actress
  • Catherine Judith "Kate" Markowitz
    American singer,songwriter
  • Catherine Joan "Kate" Wilkinson
    New Zealand politician
  • Catherine Winifred "Kate" Harcourt
    New Zealand actress
  • Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Pierson
    singer of American band The B,52's
  • Catherine "Kate" Greenaway
    English children's author
  • Catherine Davis "Kate" Higgins
    American voice actress
  • Catherine "Catt" Sadler
    American entertainment news reporter
  • Catherine Tate
    English comedienne
  • Catherine Booth
    English co,founder of the Salvation Army
  • Catherine Carey
    Lady Knollys, cousin and Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I
  • Catherine Willoughby
    12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
  • Catherine Seymour
    Countess of Hertford, sister of Lady Jane Grey
  • Catherine Thomson "Kate" Dickens
    wife of novelist Charles Dickens
  • Catherine Skinner
    Australian sport shooter
  • Catherine O’Hara
    Canadian actress
  • Catherine Elizabeth "Cate" Edwards
    attorney and daughter of former U.S. Senator John Edwards
  • Catherine Paiz
    YouTuber from "The ACE Family"

Catherine in Pop Culture

  • Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Catherine "Kitty" Bennet
    two characters from Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice"
  • Catherine "Cathy" Earnshaw
    character in Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights"
  • Catherine Linton
    daughter of Catherine Earnshaw, character in "Wuthering Heights"
  • Catherine Barkley
    main love interest in Ernest Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms"
  • Catherine
    minor character in "The Great Gatsby"
  • Catherine Willows
    character from TV's 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'
  • Catherine Tramell
    main character in movie 'Basic Instinct'
  • "Catherine
    " Atlus video game and main character
  • Catherine Leigh Dollanganger
    from the Dollanganger Saga by V.C. Andrews
  • Catherine Morland
    character from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey
  • Catherine Chandler
    character from TV's "Beauty And The Beast"
  • Catherine Martell
    character on TV's "Twin Peaks"
  • "Catherine
    " series of novels by Juliette Benzoni
  • Catherine Rollins
    character on TV's 'Hawaii Five,0'
  • Lavinia Catherine Swire
    character from Downton Abbey
  • Catherine "Charlie" Demarco
    character from the TV Series Graceland
  • Catherine Jane "Cat" Grant
    character on TV's "Supergirl"
  • Catherine Meyer
    Selina's daughter on TV's "Veep"
  • Catherine Wilder (née Henderson)
    character in Marvel Universe
  • Catherine
    character in Fire Emblem Three Houses video game