Catherine
July 28, 2014 § 10 Comments
ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Catharine”, common English/French variation of “Katherine” / “Katharine“, from the Greek for “pure”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cadi, Cady, Cait, Caitlin, Caitlyn, Caity, Caren, Carina, Casia, Cat, Catalina, Cate, Catey, Catharine, Cathie, Cathleen, Cathrine, Cathryn, Cathy, Catie, Cato, Catrina, Catrine, Catriona, Caty, Catya, Ekaterina, Ina, Jekaterina, Kady, Kaia, Kaisa, Kaitlin, Kaitlyn, Kaity, Kaja, Kalena, Karen, Karin, Karina, Kasia, Kat, Kata, Katalin, Kate, Katenka, Katerina, Katey, Katharina, Katharine, Katherine, Kathi, Kathie, Kathleen, Kathrine, Kathryn, Kathy, Kati, Katie, Katinka, Katja, Katka, Katri, Katrina, Katrine, Katy, Katya, Kay, Kaya, Kit, Kitti, Kittie, Kitty, Kylee, Kyleen, Nienke, Nina, Rina, Riona, Tina, Tineke, Trina, Trine, Yekaterina, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Catherine, a friend and former servant of Lady Mary’s, in “Old Lady Mary” (1884), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant.
– Catherine, Isabella and Emma Woodhouse’s grandmother, whose name was nearly bestowed on Isabella, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– Catherine Bennet (better known as Kitty), the fourth Bennet daughter in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy’s cold and condescending aunt (and Mr. Collins’ much-admired patroness) in Pride and Prejudice.
– Catherine V. Gray (called “Kate” or “Mrs. Gray” . . . or “mamma”), the kind-hearted, motherly woman who accepts her cousin’s daughter, Candace, as one of her own, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Catherine Johnstone, a pupil at Lowood Academy, who, along with her sister Agnes, is invited to tea with some friends at Lowton, resulting in Miss Temple being chastised by Mr. Brocklehurst for allowing “two clean tuckers in the week” when “the rules limit them to one”, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
WRITERS:
– Catherine Cookson (1906-1998), English author.
QUOTATIONS:
– From “Epistle to Earl Harcourt, on his wishing her to spell her name of Catherine with a K“, by an unknown poet (“F—-“), found in A Collection of Poems, Chiefly Manuscript, and from Living Authors (1823), edited by Joanna Baillie: “I know, my Lord, your generous passion / For ev’ry long-exploded fashion; / And own the Catherine you delight in, / Looks irresistibly inviting . . . / Say, is there one more free from blame, / One that enjoys a fairer fame, / One more endow’d with Christian graces, / (Although I say it to our faces, / And flattery we don’t delight in,) / Than Catherine, at this present writing?”
Tagged: 1790s, 1810s, 1820s, 1840s, 1880s, 1900s, C, English, French
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