View Message

Katherine or Catherine?
I made a poll the other day about these two because I was curious about which version was preferred. I expected Katherine to win because she's slightly more "modern-looking", but to my surprise Catherine edged her out by one vote.(here's the poll for those interested: http://www.behindthename.com/polls/188223)Which version do you prefer (if you had to choose)?
Archived Thread - replies disabled
vote up1

Replies

I do prefer Catherine.
vote up1
I love Katherine to death, and hate Catherine with a fiery passion. IMHO, Katherine is regal and classy, Catherine is a dowdy cow. (Sorry to offend anyone, these are just my gut reactions, I've known lovely Catherines, but the spelling just looks so ugly to me)
vote up1
I suspect that Prince William's new wife might have resulted in a Catherine surge ...Myself, I see Catherine as the French version of the Greek Katharine. So I hear Catherine in my head as ca-te-RReen, which doesn't work too well in English (especially in my lousy French accent!). I also prefer the more energetic look that I think Katharine has, compared to the more languid Catherine.Katherine looks as wrong as Catharine! And I once taught a Catheline who insisted on 3 syllables. I just couldn't do it; it was like swallowing a live frog. I called her Cathy, and I'm not a nn person in the classroom usually.
vote up1
I would personally use Katherine, but I also love Catherine. Both spellings have been used in my family.
vote up1
Katherine.:)
vote up1
Katherine but I love Kathryn best.
vote up1
Catherine, definitely.
vote up1
CatherineI used to far prefer K names, but I think that had to do with my name beginning with a C and thinking how much more exotic it would be with a K.
Now that I am an adult, I definitely prefer the duality of the letter C to K. For example, C is round and sleek and so feminine but can make the same strong "kuh" sounds as a K can.Therefore a name like Katherine looks and sounds stern but Catherine sounds stern, but looks like a lady! :-)I'm also starting to really like Cathleen too!

This message was edited 5/5/2011, 4:23 PM

vote up1
CatherineBut I do like Katherine very much too.
vote up1
I much prefer Catherine. It looks nicer, gentler, and more elegant. Katherine seems too harsh
vote up1
Catherine, of course:)
vote up1
They have completely different feels to me and I guess I would pick Catherine. I feel it is less likely to be shortened to Katie and more likely to go by her full name. Katherine also is more common & almost feels boring.
vote up1
I'm getting more used to Catherine. I think the royal wedding kind of made me start to see it as elegant. But I like the nicknames with a K a lot better. So I would probably pick Katherine in the end.
vote up1
CatherineIt looks more refined to me.I know that Katherine and Catherine are both *proper* spellings, but because of this trend of spelling C names with a K (Khloe, Karter etc), it makes me view Katherine less favorably then I do Catherine. The whole 'K instead of C' trend has ruined Katherine slightly, as my mind seems to paint with the same brush, even though I know it's a proper spelling. Silly I know but there we are.
vote up1
Catherine.
vote up1
I love them both, but I like Katherine slightly more today.
vote up1
If I had to choose, I'd pick Catherine. I've always preferred it (although in varying strengths), and if I had to use it I'd go for the more elegant, conservative version over the more bouncy, fresh version. But otherwise speaking I love both for different reasons and use them in whichever combos they fit best.
vote up1
I used to prefer Katherine, but recently i'm becoming more fond of Catherine. It looks softer and more classy
vote up1
Catherine was the most common spelling in America for decades. When I named my dd, I looked to see which was the more common spelling because I didn't want her to have it misspelled her entire life. At that point, Katherine was the most common spelling and is to this day. After the popularity of the royal wedding, Catherine may very well pull out ahead once more.For a fn, I prefer Katherine because it's closest to the original Greek, Aikaterine, and because I love the nn Kate with this spelling only (no Cates for me).Having said that, I love the Catherine spelling as a mn. It just looks better in the middle, to my way of thinking. I'm sure there are exceptions, of course (Mary Katherine), but for the most part, I like Catherine.BTW, I read somewhere online several years ago that C/Katherine is the only female name to be in the top 50 for the last 50 consecutive years. Seems to me that several others should join it (Elizabeth, Sara/h). Perhaps the site was going by spellings only.
vote up1
Catherine-with-a-C has been out of the top 100 for several years now (#193 in 2010), so I think that statistic is only true of Katherine, which has been the most popular of the 2 for a quite a while now.
vote up1
Catherine is my favorite, followed by Katharine, with an 'a' in the middle. "Katherine," with an 'e' in the middle, just looks like it's a smooshed version of the two.
vote up1
I prefer Catherine, because the first time I really gave the name any thought was while reading Flowers in the Attic. I like Katherine too, but Catherine just looks right to me.
vote up1
I like both, with some rules.I thought Katherine was more of the original (though I suppose the "K" could still be "modern-looking").I think it doesn't matter if you go by your full name. I also think that for some short forms, you don't have to have Katherine/Catherine as a full name. Kate shall suffice. However, if you're going to go by a short form with Katherine/Catherine as your full name, the first letter should probably match (so Catherine would be Cate, not Kate).
vote up1
Catherine.
vote up1
CatherineI associate it with St Catherine and although I don't consider myself Catholic religiously anymore, I do consider myself culturally Catholic I guess, seeing as that is how I was raised and it is such a big part of my family life. St Catherine is one of my favorite saints and St Catherine of Siena is the patron saint of nurses and all the women in my family are nurses. It is also a massive family name for me so that helps. I think I generally just like Cs better than Ks as well.I do like Katherine a lot as well. It was a very popular name in my age group (seven of them in my graduating class of 160 students) so it feels familiar.
vote up1
I love St. Catherine of Siena. She is my patroness. :)
vote up1
KatherineBecause I would use the nickname Kitty or Kate and it makes more sense to me if the full name starts with K as well.
vote up1
You can always use K for the nickname and C for the full name, but I get what you are saying. I would use Kit or Kitty for a nickname, too.
vote up1
CatherineCatherine in on my PNL, but I've never liked Katherine. It's very odd, considering I like Katharina, Katharine, Kathryn, Kathe... I dislike Kate - yet Cate is on my PNL. Katie, Kathy and Cathy are all fine by me, Catie is not. It's quite amazing that one letter can make such a difference.
vote up1
I much prefer Catherine because I love nickname Cate
vote up1
I choose Catherine....
vote up1
CatherineI don't care that much for Ks. I'm also very traditional in my spellings.
vote up1