Kate / Catherine

[AliGrylls]

Curious to know if anyone's name is actually Kate or has called their child Kate.

DH thinks that Kate is a name in it's own right but I thought it was always shortening for Catherine.

Personally, I prefer Catherine. I think it gives the child more options when they grow up but I think DH has his heart set on Kate (I said that he could name our child whatever he wanted because I was so adamant on the naming of our first).

[iloveasylumseekers]

A friend of mine has a Katie - Kate/ Katie rather than Catherine/Katherine/Katharine is quite usual these days.

[TinaSparkles]

Oh I've just been on the Alexandra thread commenting how I much prefer the longer version of traditional names such as Elizabeth and Katherine.

I know a couple of Kates and I do like it as a name. Katie is also popular up in Scotland but tbh I think it's quite saccharine.

Katherine/Catherine would give you loads of options - Kitty, Cath, Cathy.

[strandedatsea]

I think Kate or Katy is nicer than Catherine.

[PeppermintCream]

Dd2 is called Kate, again DH was v firm that he did not want to use Katharine. dd2 is named after her grandmother, we have given her a longer middle name, if she wants to have other options when she is older.

[NoahAndTheWhale]

I am a Katherine who is known as Kate by my family - I would generally imagine Catherine would be more likely to be Cath than Kate/Katie. DH has always called me Katherine though

My sister is Elizabeth - known as Liz

[teaandcakeplease]

All the Kate's/ Katie's I know are actually Katherine's. However if your H really likes Kate he can call her that if you're happy about it too of course? Why not?

Incidentally I'm a Katharine (my RL name ) but everyone calls me Kathy and has done since I was 11 years old, my idea, seemed a good one at the time But I'm starting to think I might go back to my original name lately. Maybe something to do with my impending divorce and moving on with my life? So I suppose Katharine does give me more options?

[5DollarShake]

My cousin is a Kate - no longer version. She's 39.

I love the name, and much prefer it to Katy/Katie which I also see as a bit saccharine.

[capstone]

I would use a full name that can then be shortened. I would also use a name that begins with the same letter as the nickname, so Catherine for Cathy, Katherine for Katie.

[PurpleKate]

I am Catherine, but I chose to call myself Kate when I was a teenager. When I was small people would often call me Cathy, which I have always loathed. Or Katy, which is great when you are small but not, IMHO, when you are an adult. So now I am Kate to my friends and family.

But I also like having an 'official' name; Doctors and dentists always call me Catherine. It is such an elegant name, and much nicer than Mrs Purple!

[Takver]

I'm a Katharine shortened to Kate - I thought Catharine with a C was more commonly shortened to Cate, Cat or Cathy.

Kate is a good name, extremely common (I was one of 6 Kate/Katies in my class at primary), but I've never met anyone with the name who dislikes it. The big advantage IMO is that it doesn't place you in any way.

I wouldn't see any particular disadvantage to being named Kate rather than Katharine - if your dd wanted a 'shortening' when older she could always use Kat or Katy as variants.

[AlCrowley]

When I was young I had a friend named Kate. Not short for anything, just Kate. I think it's fine as a name in it's own right.

My 5 month old DD is named Catherine. I'd be quite happy for her to be NN Kate/Cate or Katie when she is older. I'd rather not Cat or Cathy (as the latter reminds me of an Eastenders character) and I do worry that by spelling her name with a C, we have made those inevitable but it was the spelling DH wanted and as I was completely set on naming her Catherine from around 4 months pregnant, I went with it if it meant he'd agree

[AliGrylls]

Thanks everyone. I am actually only 16 weeks preggers so ATM it is just a hypothetical DD. We don't know the sex of embie (as our unborn is known). We just like to be ready.

[nooka]

I don't think that being called Catherine means you can't be Kate if you want. Lots of older nns bear only a passing resemblance to their formal version (think Libby for Elizabeth, Hattie for Harriet, Nell for Eleanor etc). Personally I would always choose the more formal version, I don't like nns for full names. I have a long name myself and appreciate the choice it offers me - I've used a few different versions over time, it's nice to mark the changes from child to teenager and then to adult, or to have a name for friends and one to use officially.

[Hedwig3]

Love Kate on its own.

[emmyloo2]

Love Catherine and prefer it to simply going with Kate. I would choose Catherine and then the nickname Kitty or Kate once I see what fitted the child.

I prefer using the full name and then having the nn as an option. People would always assume Kate was short for Catherine in any event....

[Hedwig3]

Much prefer Kate/Katy to Catherine.

I see Kate as a name in its own right.

I know a 5 year old Katie.

[diplodoris]

Much prefer Catherine/Katherine. Katie is nice as a nickname but I'm not keen on Kate.

[Kathleen123]

My names Kathleen, but everyone calls me Kate.

I dont think it matters. Personally I prefer Catherine spelt Kathryn.

[KittyBigglesworth]

Catherine. Katy Price will be around for a long time (good news,if you like her). There will be more pregnancies, lovers, divorces and tragedies for the public to read about before she fades.
If she is a Kate/Katie, it will be harder for her to get people used to the idea of using the name Catherine than shortening it to Kate.

[muminthemiddle]

Love Catherine and Kate.
Kate was used first as a nn for Catherine/Katherine, but can now act as a stand alone name.
Don't like Katie as much though, reminds me of Price who has a certain cheap quality about her which taints the name for me.

[Tuschinski]

I'm in Ireland and it seems to be a lot more common over here to put shortened names on a birth cert. Katie was the 2nd most popular name in 2008 and Kate was 10th, amazingly Catherine and Katherine weren't even in the top 100 so definitely considered a name in it's own right here! Personally I'd use Catherine if I wanted to call a DD Kate but I am obviously very much in the minority.