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).

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

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.

I think Kate or Katy is nicer than Catherine.

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

Love Kate on its own.

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....

Much prefer Kate/Katy to Catherine.

I see Kate as a name in its own right.

I know a 5 year old Katie.

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

My names Kathleen, but everyone calls me Kate.

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

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.

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.

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.