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I think people would try to shorten them all. It's just one of those names that everyone has a fave nn for and tries to use it.

I think they'd end up about the same. I know a Katherine "Katherine" and many Katherine "Katie"s. I was going to assume Kathryn would be least likely to get a nn because it's the shortest, but the only Kathryn I know is a Katie, so I suppose it doesn't make much difference because they basically sound the same. I don't know any Catherines, but I assume it would be the same as with Katherine... maybe...
In general I think people will call someone what they want to be called. The Katherine "Katherine" I know has never been called Kate of Katie (well, her girlfriend calls her Kate, but that's sort of an exception) and I know a few Katelyn/Caitlins who don't like Kate or Katie and they have no trouble at all getting people to call them Katelyn/Caitlin. If it were Maria-Katharina-Anastasia, then I think it would inevitably get shortened, but with an easy 2-1yllable name like Katherine, even though it does get a nickname a lot of the time, people will just call her whatever she wants to be called.

This message was edited 9/29/2011, 10:25 AM

I think all would be nicknamed by some. Though Katherine and Kathryn would be Katie / Kate while i think Catherine is more likely to be Cathy

I think they'd all end up the same. OTOH, I've known people who have gone by their full name and it works for them (dh included who is James, not Jim).

I know a bunch of women named Katherine, Catherine, and Kathryn. They all have nicknames: Kathy or Cathy, Kitty, Kate or Cate, Katie or Catie, Kat or Cat, etc. So, I think they would all be about the same. It's just one of those names that automatically gets shortened.

I think they are all likely to be shortened unless their bearer actively fights it. For me, it's one of these names where I can never quite remember how a particular person spells it. Like Caitlyn/Katelynn/etc or Mary-Anne/Marianne/etc. All of the spellings are pretty meshed in my head and very hard to keep separate.

Well this is my names spelt Cathryn and no-one shortens in because it's spelt different and already quite short. Iknow another Kathryn who also just goes by Kathryn in Drama we get called Cathryn with a C and Kathryn with a K. I know a Catherine who goes by Cathy.

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I think Katherine/Catherine will get shortened the most just because they look longer. But they would probably be the same because not many people notice the spellings at first.

I think they all lend themselves to nicknames.

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That said, if you don't like nicknames, I do think you could enforce a no-nickname policy with Katherine (whatever the spelling) without too much aggravation. I know multiple Katherines who are just Katherine.

I think Katherine is most likely to be shortened, to Kate, Kathy, Kat, Katie, etc.

I think they'd be all the same.

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If you did name a child Katherine, or one version of it, and persisted, it wouldn't be nick-named. I've known some Katherines that were always called by their full name.

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Btw, my first name is Kathryn, that spelling, but I always go by my middle name. Not that I don't like Kathryn, it was my parents' decision.