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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Catherine or Katherine

88 replies

OooShiney · 25/02/2013 16:14

DD has always been insistent that my bump in fact contains a kitty cat and not DC2, we haven't found out the sex but if it's a girl we've thought about C/Katherine with the nickname Kitty.

DD is Beatrice.

But don't know if we should put Catherine or Katherine on the BC... What d'ya think?

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HoratiaWinwood · 26/02/2013 09:45

Sorry Math, I edited my post for clarity and stuck Celtic languages in the wrong place because I am a twat - oh the irony!

kmark · 26/02/2013 09:44

I am also like Katherine, which means pure

Willow36 · 26/02/2013 08:59

Catherine for me. Beautiful name.

MortifiedAdams · 26/02/2013 08:03

Kathryn

Emilythornesbff · 26/02/2013 08:00

Lovely name btw

Emilythornesbff · 26/02/2013 07:59

A vote for Catherine.
Did you ever read "Anne of green gables"?
It's definitely Catherine. And can still be shortened to kitty.

beginnings · 26/02/2013 07:34

DD is fifth generation Catherine and known as Katie so it works well. I love it as a name.

I figure Katie is a good girl name but Catherine a good grown up name.

Off to NC now as I've just completely outed myself.

Trazzletoes · 26/02/2013 07:29

Catherine is my middle name but I much prefer Katharine.

I keep looking at where I've typed Catherine and it just looks weird.

GetOrf · 26/02/2013 07:06

In any case, whatever you choose, Catherine or Katherine or KATHARINE Grin it is a beautiful name and goes so well with Beatrice.

Perhaps if the baby is a boy you could call him Christopher, Kit for short.

CanIHaveAPetGiraffePlease · 26/02/2013 05:19

Beatrice and Catherine were both names we liked. Much prefer the C version. Feels classier to me but that's obviously not universal.

MidnightMasquerader · 26/02/2013 04:58

Infinitely more elegant with a C.

Katherine is too 70s for me; Catherine more timeless. Irrational, I know!

sleepywombat · 26/02/2013 03:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mathanxiety · 26/02/2013 02:38

The K spelling would be my choice as it's closer to the Greek. I like Kathryn too even though it's a more recent vintage.

Horatia wrt Celtic languages using K there is no K in Irish (or Scots Gaelic that am aware of). C is always hard in Irish.

amck5700 · 25/02/2013 22:55

oh, and if it's a boy you are going to need to have a cat type name too.

Thomas or Felix perhaps :)

serin · 25/02/2013 22:28

Catherine, I just don't like the spikeyness of a 'K'

Passmethecrisps · 25/02/2013 22:21

Hmm. OP I think you might be me. In the future.

In which case I would go for either Catherine or Kathryn. Kitty is gorgeous and I can imagine having it for a potential DD2 at any cost

mrsyattering · 25/02/2013 22:21

how about Katharine, like me Wink

breatheslowly · 25/02/2013 22:18

Katherine seems stronger to me than Catherine. I would look at the nick names you might use and go for Katherine for Kitty or Catherine for Cathy.

HoratiaWinwood · 25/02/2013 22:15

Yes, high on my list too.

spelt properly with a C and with K nicknames muahahahahaha

nickelbabe · 25/02/2013 22:14

chaos
I would like to draw your attention to my post - I said Katherine.
I thought you luffed me :(

GrandPoohBah · 25/02/2013 22:14

Cathryn?

That's how my middle name is spelled... Grin

LRDtheFeministDragon · 25/02/2013 22:07

Thanks horatia.

It's such a pretty name, anyway. One of my favourites.

GnocchiGnocchiWhosThere · 25/02/2013 22:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

HoratiaWinwood · 25/02/2013 22:00

IIRC it is one of those "dunno" ones, neatly back formed to a word with a pleasant meaning. Certainly my dictionary has it as an "etymology unknown; some suggest..." which is a big fat hedge.

Sorry to disappoint.

Part of my own skepticism re K- variants in English comes from looking at variants in other languages - Slavic and Celtic languages use K (because they don't use C for that sound) and Romance languages use C (because they do) so adherence to K- on etymological grounds is a bit ... unnecessary.

And even if we are all ultimately using Catherine/Katherine from Greek-for-pure then we are doing so linguistically a long way from the original.

That said, Katharine of Aragon was anglicised from Spanish Catalina (as in contemporary materials with H and K interwoven) although that may have been a contemporary fashion as Kitty Howard was also a K-.

Sashapineapple · 25/02/2013 21:44

Catherine or Kathryn.