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ArchivesAnd Thus Kaytelynne was born!
Where did this name start? And how did it get more variations that possibly any other name?
Also what’s the darn difference between Katherine and Kathleen?!
Lately I’ve been wondering this, so today, I decided I’d look into it a little more.
I’d like to share what I’ve discovered, and hopefully others might be able to add their opinions and thoughts in on this as well!
This prominent name can be traced back to Greek origins - Aikaterine or Hekaterine.
These names themselves appear to have very debated pasts.
Aikaterine is believe to stem from the Greek word Aikia meaning “torture.”
Although some debate that the name came from Hekaterine, coming from Hekateros meaning “each of the two.” This can also be traced back to the Greek goddess Hekate or Hecate - whos name is probably derived from the word Hekas, meaning “far off.”
This debate will probably never be settled. So the original meaning can either be "torture," "each of the two," "far off,"
Or "pure," but read further for that explaination.
As the name evolved it eventually shortened to Katerine and later was Latinized into Katerina.
Sometime in the early Christian era the name became associated with the Greek word Katharos meaning “pure” and thus was born a new variation - Katharina.
During the middle ages the spelling of Katherine became more standard, to later be replaced by Catherine.
In medieval France the variation of Cateline became very popular for a time, adding the common French name ending of -line in the place of -rine. It appears this is where the difference between Katherine and Kathleen began.
When the new French modification reached England it was Anglicized into Kathleen, and when that name met Ireland the people there molded it into Caitlin. While in the north the Scottish Gaelic molded Catherine into Catriona.
So from Katerine came Katharina came Catherine came Caitlin, which today has took on many more unique and creative variations, from Kate to Kaylynn to Kaylee to Rina, to countless more alternatives!
And Thus Kaytelynne was born!
Sources:
Pages from http://www.behindthename.com
Also what’s the darn difference between Katherine and Kathleen?!
Lately I’ve been wondering this, so today, I decided I’d look into it a little more.
I’d like to share what I’ve discovered, and hopefully others might be able to add their opinions and thoughts in on this as well!
This prominent name can be traced back to Greek origins - Aikaterine or Hekaterine.
These names themselves appear to have very debated pasts.
Aikaterine is believe to stem from the Greek word Aikia meaning “torture.”
Although some debate that the name came from Hekaterine, coming from Hekateros meaning “each of the two.” This can also be traced back to the Greek goddess Hekate or Hecate - whos name is probably derived from the word Hekas, meaning “far off.”
This debate will probably never be settled. So the original meaning can either be "torture," "each of the two," "far off,"
Or "pure," but read further for that explaination.
As the name evolved it eventually shortened to Katerine and later was Latinized into Katerina.
Sometime in the early Christian era the name became associated with the Greek word Katharos meaning “pure” and thus was born a new variation - Katharina.
During the middle ages the spelling of Katherine became more standard, to later be replaced by Catherine.
In medieval France the variation of Cateline became very popular for a time, adding the common French name ending of -line in the place of -rine. It appears this is where the difference between Katherine and Kathleen began.
When the new French modification reached England it was Anglicized into Kathleen, and when that name met Ireland the people there molded it into Caitlin. While in the north the Scottish Gaelic molded Catherine into Catriona.
So from Katerine came Katharina came Catherine came Caitlin, which today has took on many more unique and creative variations, from Kate to Kaylynn to Kaylee to Rina, to countless more alternatives!
And Thus Kaytelynne was born!
Sources:
Pages from http://www.behindthename.com
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Replies
I don't think you have the relationship between Kathleen and Caitlin quite right. I don't know of any evidence that a French form with -line became Kathleen in England independently of the Irish name. Rather, Kathleen is an Anglicized spelling of the Irish name and was imported into England from Ireland, not directly from France. In Gaelic Caitlin is pronounced something like "Cot-leen" and so Kathleen is really closer to the original pronunciation of Caitlin in Ireland than Katelynn would be. :)
1
Caitlin, Kathleen, "Quene Kateryn" and a question!
Agreed. I also recently found out that in medieval England, Katherine was pronounced Katerin, without the 'th' sound (this fits in with the French pronunciation too). Soon after, I visited the grave of Katherine Parr, King Henry VIII's sixth and final wife who survived him, and the tomb was engraved "HERE LIETH QUENE KATERYN". Perhaps that's where the Welsh form Catrin came from, too.
Kathleen, as an English name, is relatively recently imported from Ireland (19th century?). The 'tl' sound in the Old French Cateline must have changed in an Irish accent to create the "Coshleen" type pronunciations found in Ireland. And then these pronunciations were then approximated into the anglicized version Kathleen.
I wonder if somebody knows why so many French names in particular made it into medieval Ireland? Apart from Cateline/Caitlin, I can think of Jeanne/Siobhan, Jean/Sean... I'm sure there are more but I can't remember. I know that anything with a 'j' or 'zh' sound got turned into a 'sh' sound.
I suppose Caitlin/Katelyn is a new step in the proliferation of Katherine variants. Caitlin has now given birth to two English variants, Kathleen (an approximated pronunciation), and Katelyn etc (a spelling pronunciation - albeit a very pretty one).
Agreed. I also recently found out that in medieval England, Katherine was pronounced Katerin, without the 'th' sound (this fits in with the French pronunciation too). Soon after, I visited the grave of Katherine Parr, King Henry VIII's sixth and final wife who survived him, and the tomb was engraved "HERE LIETH QUENE KATERYN". Perhaps that's where the Welsh form Catrin came from, too.
Kathleen, as an English name, is relatively recently imported from Ireland (19th century?). The 'tl' sound in the Old French Cateline must have changed in an Irish accent to create the "Coshleen" type pronunciations found in Ireland. And then these pronunciations were then approximated into the anglicized version Kathleen.
I wonder if somebody knows why so many French names in particular made it into medieval Ireland? Apart from Cateline/Caitlin, I can think of Jeanne/Siobhan, Jean/Sean... I'm sure there are more but I can't remember. I know that anything with a 'j' or 'zh' sound got turned into a 'sh' sound.
I suppose Caitlin/Katelyn is a new step in the proliferation of Katherine variants. Caitlin has now given birth to two English variants, Kathleen (an approximated pronunciation), and Katelyn etc (a spelling pronunciation - albeit a very pretty one).
1
French names were brought to Ireland in medieval times by the Normans, the same people who brought them to England:
http://www.yourirish.com/normans.htm
http://www.yourirish.com/normans.htm
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Kathleen is the Anglicized form of Caitlín, which is the Irish form of Cateline. Many Irish names have been Anglicized, like Shawn for Seán, Kiera for Ciara, Rory for Ruaidhrí, etc.
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To my knowledge, there wasn't a famous Caitlin who made the name prominent: variants of Katharine take turns in surfacing from time to time, like all the Kathys in the 1950s whose daughters are Kates; and then there's Kathryn and Kathleen, and the very dated Kitty as a nickname. And Caitlin was just a Katharine version whose time had come; plus, as CKE says, in Wales and Ireland it doesn't sound like Kate + Lyn so people probably saw it, liked what they thought it sounded like, and so its use snowballed.
The fact that your parents liked the 'sound' of the name but can't trace it back to a single source probably confirms this. Anyway, lucky you: most Caitlins are younger than you, so if you ever want to shed a few years or a decade or two, your name will make it easy!
The fact that your parents liked the 'sound' of the name but can't trace it back to a single source probably confirms this. Anyway, lucky you: most Caitlins are younger than you, so if you ever want to shed a few years or a decade or two, your name will make it easy!
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