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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Katy/Katie not Catherine

67 replies

LondonZookeeper · 04/04/2018 18:36

Just wondering about opinions on the name Katie/Katy but without using the full name Catherine/Katherine. I don’t want to use the full name as whilst I really love Katie/Katy, Catherine is a nice enough name, but it reminds me of someone I don’t like for a number of reasons.

Katie/Katy is a ‘proper name’ in my opinion dating back to 1800s, and also has the link with children’s classic books what Katy did.
What do others think?

OP posts:

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lifechangesforever · 04/04/2018 20:41

I grew up with a fair few Kate/Katy/Katie's .. I would never have even considered that they weren't names in their own rights until I saw this so you can definitely do it

youngestisapsycho · 04/04/2018 20:41

I have a Katy. I actually prefer Kate tho...

youngestisapsycho · 04/04/2018 20:42

My brother is a Ricky.... adults would always call him Richard, but that’s not his name!

KimberlyS2 · 04/04/2018 20:48

I was at school with quite a few Katy/Katie’s, that was their name not shorten from Katherine. Also know a few people who are just Kate. I’d never realised it was the shortened version of Catherine until Kate Middleton started being referred to by her full name as I’d never come across it

Belliniteeny · 04/04/2018 20:52

I have a friend who is a Katie but her birth cert name is Kathleen. She says she likes having a formal name.

HoratioNightboy · 04/04/2018 20:52

Katie/Katy is a ‘proper name’ in my opinion dating back to 1800

Even older than that, OP. Earliest one on record in Scotland goes back to the1530s, so definitely well established in its own right!

leccybill · 04/04/2018 20:55

I love Katy. It's a lovely name.

FairyFantastic · 04/04/2018 20:55

I know hundreds of Katie/Katy's, on the other hand it was DP's first name suggestion for DD and was shocked when I said how popular it was and wrote the list of people I knew to prove it. So I guess it's one of those names that is regional. Comparatively, I know probably 2 Catherine's.
I could never choose Katie/Katy due to the people I know/accent where I'm from etc. but if you love it OP then don't feel you have to use Catherine, it's a name well within it's own right.

BearPear · 04/04/2018 21:07

My DD (23) is Katy, full name Kathryn. She thought recently that she might start to use Kathryn as she felt that Katy sounded really young (she started a new job). She gets Kate from some family members, and that’s fine too.
When she was very little she thought her name was a Katy Kathryn!

squoosh · 04/04/2018 21:17

I think it's fine although I'd personally go for Kate, seems more versatile.

Zaya71 · 04/04/2018 21:35

I love it, but I see it as more of a child's name than for an adult, I'd go Kate nn Katie.

LoveInTokyo · 04/04/2018 21:38

I like Katie/Kate but hate the Katy spelling for some reason.

BunnyEars1 · 04/04/2018 21:44

Love Katy (my preferred spelling) and Katie as names in their own right.

Could also consider-

Caitlin- Cate/Caiti
Kaitlyn-Katy

KennDodd · 04/04/2018 22:05

We had a teacher who insisted on calling us all by our full names This is precisely why I think insisting you need to be Algernon on your birth certificate is batshit, if it's a name you'd never willingly be called.

Except the name belongs to the child, they might prefer the long version.

SimonBridges · 04/04/2018 22:13

My name is the shorter version of a long name.
It’s never been a problem and to be honest I never really notice.
In fact I forgot once and commented that I didn’t like a child being called Freddy unless their actual name was Fredrick and got some looks. I was confused until someone explained.

And don’t worry about the ‘it says Perdita in the register so I shan’t call her Purdy’ carry on. Many children have different names in the register to the one they are known as.

Original poster

LondonZookeeper · 04/04/2018 22:35

Thanks Horatio that’s really helpful.
I don’t think names necessarily have to be anchient but that helpful fact will help shut up a close relative with their I prefer traditional names spiel....
I think there is an element of snobbery with some people, insisting that they are superior for choosing a ‘traditional name’.
Whilst the classic names that
Spring to Mind as traditional, are very lovely I.e the Isabelle’s, charlottes etc if everyone went for these it would be a boring world.

There were quite a few Katie’s and Kate’s when I was growing up.
But I don’t know of one baby Katy/Katie now.
It’s not in the top 100 but perhaps there are areas in the uk where it is popular for the under fives.

OP posts:

Ellenripleysalienbaby · 04/04/2018 22:37

I normally don't like 'shortened' names, and both of my kids have 'birth certificate/high court judge' names along with their every day names.

But I don't think there is anything wrong with Katie as a name in its own right.

squoosh · 04/04/2018 22:40

I know several small Kates and Katies so I suspect they must be Katherines on the birth cert.

MouseClogs · 04/04/2018 22:50

My great great aunt (born 1888) was just Kate.

longestlurkerever · 04/04/2018 23:11

They might @kendodd, but that's slightly warped logic - you might as well pick a name out of a hat if your own preference doesn't come into it, and some "birth certificate" names would be long shots to say the least!

bella2bella · 04/04/2018 23:17

Catherine/Kate/Katie is on my girl name list - I happen to love Catherine so would use that and shorten it but think all three are perfectly fine as a full name in their own right. And I'm another one who prefers 'full' names generally. Beautiful name (and I don't know any under 10s with these names).

mondler · 04/04/2018 23:20

I really like it. For some reason I prefer Kate as the name then Katy as a nickname but that's just me. Go for it OP.

Dixiestampsagain · 05/04/2018 00:02

I’m a Kate, and the only time people assumed my name was Katherine is when I was in uni in London. I know lots of Katies whose names aren’t short for anything, too.

KJE2017 · 05/04/2018 00:04

My name is Katie, not Catherine or anything.

KennDodd · 05/04/2018 08:57

@longestlurkerever

I speak from experience, I really really wish my parents had given me the longer version of my name, I would have had so many more options. If you give the shortened version they only have one option, well, unless they go down the route of changing their name altogether.

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