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This name is a prime example of how I think it is very unfortunate when we use the word "meaning" in discussing a name's etymology.

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We do not say that other words besides names "mean" their etymology. The word "nice" goes back to a Latin word which meant "ignorant" and the word "orchid" goes back to a Greek word which meant "testicle", but when one sees a woman wearing a corsage and tells her she has a "nice orchid", we do not mean to say she is wearing an "ignorant testicle".

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The full story of the origin of the name Catherine/Katherine etc. as used in western European languages necessarily includes a discussion of the Greek word katharos which meant "pure" because the name has been altered in western Europe to reflect that idea. It was a mistake for people in medieval Rome to assume that Aikaterine, the original name of the woman now called St. Catherine of Alexandria, was based on the word "katharos". However, the forms of the name used in western Europe was changed because of that be dropping the first syllable and changing the "t" to "th". So the modern western European forms of this name are actually a BLEND between the original Egyptian name and the word "katharos", and so they are both part of its origin, and both of them have affected it. It makes just as much sense given the complete history of the name to say that it "means pure" in western Europe as that it doesn't. In actuality it just means "traditional female name",

This message was edited 3/28/2021, 6:48 AM

"Pure" is what people want it to mean. It's real meaning is uncertain, partly because the Greeks borrowed from a language we don't have very good records of. It probably has something to do with Hekate, an Anatolian goddess also borrowed by the Greeks.

The history related to its meaning is clearly under the Katherine entry; for an answer, it's "uncertain", and you can't say it means "pure".

I highly doubt that you'll get a different answer than you did three days ago on the Opinions board: https://www.behindthename.com/bb/baby/5241139

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Accuracy is highly valued on the Name Facts board; that's sort of the whole point of this board.