Comments (Meaning / History Only)

Folk etymology from Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend (mid-13th century, trans. William Caxton) entry about Saint Katherine of Alexandria:
"is said of catha, that is all, and ruina that is falling, for all the edifice of the devil fell all from her. For the edifice of pride fell from her by humility that she had, and the edifice of fleshly desire fell from her by her virginity, and worldly covetise, for that she despised all worldly things. Or Katherine may be said as, a little chain, for she made a chain of good works by which she mounted into heaven, and this chain or ladder had four grees or steps which be: innocence of work, cleanness of body, despising of vanity and saying of truth."
Voragine's etymologies are, by and large, totally fabricated in order to highlight the saint's qualities, but they're fun!
Catherine is most likely related to the name Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of love. Composed of Ka and Hathor (with en = of). Ka being the Egyptian word for soul. Hathor being the Egyptian goddess of love, the best translation for Ka-Hathor-En would be Soul of Hathor (goddess of love).This would pre-date other translations as it would be Ancient Egyptian. It is also interesting to note that it is one of the minority of female names that does not have a masculine form.
Based on personal research, I'm convinced that this name is Coptic. It appears pretty late in Greece, after the time of St Catherine of Alexandria, and it would make sense that she would have a Coptic name. Therefore, "my consecration of your name" is the most likely meaning. I don't speak Coptic, and don't know its word order, but putting together words from a dictionary tells me that the original was something like Eikaiteranne, Aiktagerin, Aiktagerinne, Aiktadzhiranne or Kjaikdzhiran. "Consecration" is "aik/aeik," "eikainia," "dzhiaeik," or "kjaik." "To be named" is "dzhiran." "My" is "na-," "pa-," or "ta-" and "your" is "ne-" or "pe-." "To give a name" is "tren." "Name" (noun) is "ran" and "to pronounce a name" is "tago" or "tago rin". All the parts are here; I just don't know what order they go in.Tl;dr Katherine is most likely Coptic.
I previously commented that I thought Katherine was of Coptic origin but I no longer think so. I haven’t found anything remotely similar to ‘my consecration of your name’ or the Greek form in lists of names documented in Hellenistic Egypt.
I remember a possible explanation for that name, although I don't remember the source and I also cannot find it in Google. I have read this as a 'possible' explanation; not a solid one.
I shall use Greek characters, I hope that's not violating rule #5.
There is a type of wish in (Ancient & Medieval) Greek that says "always", the most famous example is "Αέν αριστεύειν" = "always be the best" (diacritics omitted). A diacritic was supposed to appear under the first "A". That small diacritic was called "ypogegrammeni". This doesn't affect the pronunciation. Some scholars or writers, when the letter was capital, would put that small sign next to the letter - it appears as a Greek ι. That time the sign was called "prosgegrammeni". But most people didn't know about this phenomenon, and the fact that the "ypogegrammeni" sign appears almost always at the end of a word, where no capital letters occur, didn't help; most people mistook the sign for an iota letter; it was identical in appearance. In fact most people don't know about the "prosgegrammeni" sign even today, it is not taught in school.
However, this changes the pronunciation of the word "always do" (Αέν > Αιέν) from "aen" to "een". So the wish "always / forever (do) clean" ("clean" here suggests "clean your soul") "Αέν Καθαρίνειν" gets mispronounced. So, as the explanation goes, "Αικατερίνη" (Catherine) derives from the mispronounced wish "always (do) clean".Wikipedia for the two signs - ipogegrammeni "subscript" and "prosgegrammeni" "adscript" :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_diacritics#Subscript.
I read somewhere a long time ago that it was from 'katharos', meaning 'clean', 'pure', and the same root as the word 'cathartic'. Mine is spelt Catherine, the Norman form, I think. It seems almost universal in Europe as a name.
In Behistun inscription of Darus the Great, the name of "Athrina" is mentioned. The Athrina rebelled in Elam region and revolted Darius kingdom. In old Persian language, "athar" means "atash" (new Persian language) and in English equals "fire"; then,
Athar(old Persian)= atash (new Persian) = fire (English)
Ancient Iranians believed that fire is sacrosanct thing and pure other things. Therefore, I think that root of Kathrine is "athar" (old persian) = fire (English), and its meaning is saint, sacrosanct person, sacred person.
According to Oxford's 'Concise Dictionary of First Names', "The earliest sources that mention her are in Greek and give the name in the form Aikaterine. The name is of unknown etymology; the suggestion that it may be derived from Hecate, the pagan goddess of magic and enchantment, is not convincing."I've not been able to find what the "Coptic name meaning 'my consecration of your name'" is... I wonder where this information came from?
I had no idea that the meaning of Katherine et al was so debated! I had always read that it meant "Pure", plain and simple. I rather like that it could have so many other meanings. Although the "torture" one is a little dark.
There was a Greek god named Hekateros. (http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Hekateros.html) He was the god of some specific dances. His name may derive from the Greek word hekateros meaning 'each of two' or 'with both hands;' or alternately from the words heka 'hundred' and teras 'wonder,' and refer to the hundred skillful fingers of his ten sons and daughters. His five daughters were the Hekaterides, the 'hundred wonders.' (http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NymphaiHekaterides.html) Their name suggests a close connection with Hekate. Her name means 'she who works from afar.' (http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Hekate.html)If Hekate, Hekateros, Hekaterides all come from the same root (which certainly looks plausible), it eludes me as to how the disparate meanings 'each of two,' 'hundred wonders,' and 'worker from afar' are related.
This name has a meaning that takes a little interpretation:
It says in the description that it COULD be related to something about 'torture.' Consecration means 'To make a solemn commitment of your life or time to some cherished purpose (e.g. service or goal)."My consecration of your name," can be interpreted as to make a commitment to serve God. I think this a a good meaning or an interpretation of it. I have a best friend with this name, except she spells it K-a-t-h-r-y-n, and she isn't mean. She's nice, caring, funny, pretty, has a great personality and is true.

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