Variations and shared nicknames

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about how certain names share a plethora of the same/similar nicknames and I was curious as to what makes someone prefer one over the other when they're so close.

So, which do you prefer?:

Catherine or Katherine?
Kathleen or Cathleen?
Kaitlin/Kaitlyn or Caitlin/Caitlyn?

Or do you like/dislike any/all of them?

And out of the nicknames, which do you like or dislike? Which ones do you prefer with which full name?

Kate/Cate/Cait? Kathy/Cathy? Kat/Cat? Katie/Catie? Or any other variation?

I personally have never been a fan of any of those full names. However I've always liked Kate and hated Katie, and also always liked Kat.

Thoughts on these? Any other names you can think of that share many nicknames?

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Comments

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

I prefer:

Catherine
Kathleen
Caitlin

I love Catherine and I like Kathleen a lot, but I do not like any variation of Caitlin/Kaitlin/Katelyn/Katelynn/etc. I've known too many with too many different spellings, so it seems like a cheap, easy name with little meaning. I much prefer Kate to Katie, but I much prefer Catherine and Kathleen in their full versions.

[madeyemads.livejournal.com]

I like Katherine or Catherine, but I prefer Katherine. Love the name Kitty as a nickname for Katherine.

i hate the name Kathleen, reminds me of an old irish lady.

I like Caitlin okay. One of my best friends is Caitlin, we call her Cat or Catty

[jeweledvixen.livejournal.com]

Catherine or Katherine?
Kathleen or Cathleen
Kaitlin/Kaitlyn
Caitlin/Caitlyn

Kate/Cate/Cait
Kathy/Cathy
Kat/Cat
Katie/Catie

Obviously, I prefer a K to a C in these names. I do like the nn Cate, though. I dislike both Kathy and Cathy. Names spelled with the oh, so feminine Y will get a NO vote from me every tiime.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

With most names, I love one spelling (ex. Anne) and hate all others (Ann). In the names above, I do have my preferences, but I don't mind the others.

My choices:

Katherine (one of my top 2 girl names)
Kathleen
Kaitlin/Caitlin equally

My favourite nickname is Kate, by far. I don't mind most other nicknames for these names (I prefer the K spellings to the C ones), but I HATE HATE HATE Kathy.

An interesting nickname I've heard for Katherine is Rin, which I think is kind of cute.

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

Catty <3

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

You hit the nail on the head about Caitlin/Kaitlyn, etc! I feel the same way

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

Catty and Kitty are adorable nns!

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

Oh interesting, the Y! Kinda "cheapens" the names, I think?

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way, Kate is the clear winner! It sounds timeless and feminine, unlike the others which don't look like they'd age all that well or work for other generations.

Rin is so cute!!

[magpiefirefly.livejournal.com]

I like all the listed names, but am not sure how I would choose to spell them.

My first name is Karla, and it is constantly misspelled with a C. For that reason, I'm not sure I would give my kid a name that could go either way. (Although we did name our daughter Vivian, and it is also constantly misspelled either Vivien or Vivienne. Can't win.)

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

Yes! And all of them have different spellings. I know I've known a Katelyn, a Katelynn, a Caitlin, and a Kaytlin, at the very least.

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

My sister has a friend who is a Katelyn, but goes by Katty, too. Maybe it's more common than I thought.

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

MTE!

[jeweledvixen.livejournal.com]

Yes, it definitely does. It also makes the parents look slightly less intelligent, to me.

[un-attra.livejournal.com]

Catherine
Kathleen
Caitlin

I myself is named Caitlin (but I always go by Cat) and as much as I dislike my name, I prefer this spelling to the really crazy ones I'm starting to see - Katelyn, Kaitlynn, Catilyn (yes, that spelling is correct).

[sparklymoon.livejournal.com]

Catherine or Katherine - either or, I think I prefer with K
Kathleen or Cathleen - Cathleen looks weird, I think it needs to start with K
Kaitlin/Kaitlyn or Caitlin/Caitlyn - I think I prefer with C, and no Y.

My friend Ekaterini (Greek) goes by Catherine professionally and Kitty as nickname
My friend Katharine goes by Kat or Kitty Kat
My friend's sister, also Katherine, goes by Katy (it always looks like something is missing and I want to prn it Catty)
My old classmate goes by Katt

I do not like Katie, and Catie is even stranger. Not a huge fan of Cathy/Kathy. Kate/Cate/Cait/Kait are ok, I guess I prefer the traditional Kate.

This is not even a name I like that much, but I do like Ekaterina. The only similar name that I like less that K/Catherine is Katrina (makes me think latrine lol), and Catharina looks pretty but hard to pronounce (awkward)

[becomingun.livejournal.com]

Catherine
Cathleen
Caitlin/Caitlyn

I don't like the letter K where a C could be used. It looks too harsh for me.

I'm not wild about Cathleen/Kathleen, and to me Caitlin is cute, but just seems generic. Like, you put no thought into it.

I don't like Katie, but I tolerate it because that's one of my little cousins' name. Much prefer Cate. Looks much sweeter and classier to me.

Cat is nice, Cathy sounds at once like a child and an old lady. Cait is lovely.

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

Catilyn? Wowzers :-/ Cat is great :)

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way about K/Caitlin. It was always one of those names that I'm just like, why use that? Doesn't sound like it's special I guess.

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

Would Catharina be pronounced Cath or Cat? I like Katarina/Catarina.

Ekatarina is kind of odd, I think...I feel like someone slapped an E in front of Katarina.

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

Someone is always going to misspell even the simplest of names, I've found. ;)

[medamina.livejournal.com]

I prefer:

Catherine (I'm half-French so that spelling makes the most sense to me because I'm used to it. I don't mind the K version though I dislike Kathryn).
Cathleen (One of my favourites, written like this.)
Caitlin (Neither of the K ones!)

... clearly I like the letter C for the full names. I like Cathleen the best because the sound appeals to me more. I think the spelling depends on the first time you've come into contact with a name? Those are all the spellings of people I have met before, or people I have met first. I met a Caitlin before any of the others and that stuck for me.

I'm not a massive fan of any of the nicknames, which is why Catherine/Cathleen are a bit iffy for me. I don't mind Kate and Katie, and Kat, and dislike either Cathy.

[bingybingy.livejournal.com]

Catherine
Kathleen
Caitlin/Caitlynn

I like Catherine and Caitlin. Kathleen, not so much.
I like Katie. I don't like the other spellings Catie/Katy/Caty. Kate and Cate are good. I can't decide if I like it better with a C or a K.
Cat/Kat is a cute nickname.
I don't like Cathy/Kathy at all.

[magpiefirefly.livejournal.com]

My aunt is a Cathy who goes by Cat-Cat in the family. I love the nickname.

[charuby.livejournal.com]

Catherine
Kathleen
Caitlyn

Out of the nicknames, I am very font of Cait. I like Cat, mainly because I love cats lol. Catie looks wrong to me.

[laminy.livejournal.com]

I don't really like any of the names - in that, I wouldn't use them myself, but they're not bad names. If I married a guy who wanted to use them as a middle name or something, that'd be fair, I don't dislike them that much.

For spellings, I prefer Catharine (I think the A looks prettier than the E), Kathleen, and Caitlin. Cate and Catie are nice nicknames, but I don't like Kathy - I'd rather just stick with Kathleen if I had to.

[cremepuff.livejournal.com]

My answers will be incredibly biased, since I'm a Kathleen, nn Katie.

Catherine/Katherine is actually a dead tie for me. I like both equally. It's a great name.

Kathleen (for obvious reasons!)

Katelyn (which wasn't an option but I prefer that spelling)

As for nicknames, I like Kate, Katie, and Kat. I know someone whose sister is a Cate, and it just looks so weird to me with the C...

Also, not a fan of Cathy/Kathy. Someone in high school used to call me that when she first met me, and it irked the heck out of me. Probably because I associate it with women who are at least 20 years older than me.

[politicking.livejournal.com]

I prefer:
Catherine
Kathleen
Caitlyn or Caitlin

Nicknames:
Kate or Cait
Kathy
Cat or Kat
Catie

All of the spellings are acceptable to me, those are just what I would use. You didn't mention it, but I do not like the spelling "Katelynn"... not sure why. It's like... too literal? Lol I don't know. Also, I know someone who spells it "Katlyn" and I always want to say "KAT-lyn" rather than "KATE-lyn"

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

Yeah Catie makes me wanna pronounce it as Satie.

I like Cait too, mostly because I really don't like the name Caitlin and I like when people can make a cute nn out of a name that's not that great.

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of Catharine, but it makes me want to pronounce the second A.

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

I didn't even think of Katelyn, but the spelling makes me like the name much more!

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

Yeah you'd need that extra E in there. But yes, I didn't think of Katelyn but now that I see it, it's so much more appealing to me

[meepshit.livejournal.com]

Funny that you mention Kitty as a nickname for that, my name is Katherine and I usually go by Katie, when my nephew was little, when they said Katie it always sounded like kitty, actually it still sounds like that when he says it sometimes.

[supermonkeyfics.livejournal.com]

Could go either way on Catherine/Katherine, though more likely to use the K spelling myself.
Kathleen > Cathleen (never actually seen Cathleen in use)
Kaitlyn > Caitlyn > Katelyn(n) > Caitlin > Catelyn(n) > Kaitlin

Kate > Kait > Cate > Cait (Kate could go for any of the above, would only use Kait w/ Kaitlyn)
Kathy > Cathy
Kat > Cat (but Catty > Katty)
Katie > Catie

So, clearly I lean towards the Ks. I actually really like Catherine; I suppose I'm just so used to seeing Katie as nickname that the K variants feel more natural in relation.

Another many-nickname name is Elizabeth... You've got Liz, Lizzie, Liza, Ellie, Ella, Beth, Betsy, Bess, etc.