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Kate is certainly preferable to Katie because at least it sounds more mature and sophisticated while Katie sounds eternally youthful. That's not a slam against Katie, though. My oldest dd went by Katie for 14 years until she decided that it was time for a grownup name. In addition, there was the problem of being one of many girls named Katie at school. (Her full name is Katherine, btw, and she uses it professionally now and is very happy to have that option available to her.) It actually surprised me when she chose to go from Katie to Kate because Kate had never occurred to me. It's just so hard to predict what a child is going to like isn't it? Anyway, so while Kate can stand alone, I believe options are always a good thing. I also like the integrity of a full name. Other full name options instead of Katherine: Kathleen, Katrina, Katerina (which is what I wanted to name my dd). There are several full forms out there depending on the language.

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As for Leo, it can stand alone. It's a complete name in and of itself and is an element of Leonard / Leonardo ("lion" + "brave, hardy" = "brave lion") and maybe even Leonidas. I know the "Leon" part means lion, but I'm not sure about the rest of the name. The point I'm attempting to make this early in the AM is that yes, Leo is a complete name. BTW, if I had a son today, he'd be Leo (Gabriel). :-)

This message was edited 3/18/2015, 5:19 AM