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Katherine, just because I think it looks better with the 'K'.

I prefer French Catherine to English/German Katharine because it looks softer. The Katherine spelling just looks like a smooshed version of both.

This message was edited 9/8/2013, 2:57 PM

I definitely would go for Catherine. There is something about Katherine that appears dated to me. Catherine just has more history.

I prefer Katherine by far to Catherine. But why? I think it's because Katherine looks younger and more vibrant to me than Catherine. Katherine is a young beautiful woman and Catherine is dowdy and matronly and middle-aged. I think it's because one of my favorite books is a biographical novel about a young and beautiful Katherine and her name is spelled Katherine and not Catherine and I read that book for the first time when I was very young and it's colored my perception ever since.

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Another thing that causes this perception is Catherine of Aragon, whose name is sometimes spelled with a K but usually with a C, and whenever she's written about it's emphasized that at the time that Henry VIII decided he wanted to annul their marriage she had grown middle-aged, stout, and dowdy, and she compared very unfavorably to the younger and sexually magnetic Anne Boleyn.

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Maybe this is silly but I think that's it.

Catherine. It looks softer and prettier. The 'K' looks too harsh for this name, in my opinion.

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A bit off topic, but I don't understand why the Duchess of Cambridge, whose name is Catherine, goes by "Kate" when she could have gone by "Cate". It kind of bugs me.

I like both spellings, but I'll go with Katherine because I like the possibilities of Katie and Kate.

Catherine is soft and sophisticated, whereas Katherine is mundane and too easily reducible to the odiously hackneyed Katie.

Katherine. I just prefer the look of the K and I like Kate and Katie as nn's, so the K makes more sense because of that too.

Depends. My dd is Katherine (Kate) although I actually prefer the look of Catherine. I'm not wild about Cate although I know in the UK it's not uncommon for Catherines to spell Kate this way so I could have done that as well. I'm all about continuity so that's why I chose Katherine for my dd. As a mn, I do prefer Catherine.

Katherine, although I prefer it spelled Katharine.

I like Katherine and Catherine equally (I prefer Katharine/Catharine) but I prefer Kate, Katie, Kathy, and Kat to Cate, Catie, Cathy, and Cat. So Katherine.

I prefer Catherine, probably because that is the name of one of my friends. I also think it looks better.

Katherine.

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I'm wondering how many people so far have replied: "because Catherine with a 'C' is so smug"? (OMG I just checked and no one has said it yet! If this was on the lounge, you would have gotten a bunch of Anne of Avonlea responses.)

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Honestly, Catherine with a "C" seems too Catholic, too goody goody, too rounded.

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Plus, Katherine with a "K" is the only "K" name I like. Plus it gives you Kate without a stretch. Cate is dumb. I'd assume it's short for Caitlin, and ew.

This message was edited 9/8/2013, 5:21 PM

Personally, Katharine is my favorite. Between those two Katherine. Catherine seems grandmotherly, Katherine has more attitude. While I find Katharine has attitude and elegance.

Catherine with a 'C'.

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I just like the look of Cs better than Ks really. But I also like the associations with St Catherine of Siena and St Catherine of Alexandria. Yeah...I'm an atheist but I guess you can take the girl out of Catholicism but the Catholicism is never completely out of the girl :p

If I had had had to choose one, I think I'd pick Catherine in the end. Katherine is sleeker, smarter, more modern and fresh, and so for that reason I'd probably settle on musty, mushy, meek-martyr Catherine. She's like a shy little dumpling, and I admit I find the nickname Cathy on a toddler to be damn cute. And the Kitty pet name seems sweeter somehow when it comes via the Cat- route rather than Kat.

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Catherine looks as if it should sound French. Katherine is the default, I suppose. Katharine looks better to me, probably because K is a less common letter than C in normal use, so it has a pleasantly "different" air.

Katherine.

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I think it comes from the fact, that in Denmark most Katherine names, ass variations is with a 'K' and not a 'C'. I.e. you mostly see 'K' than 'C'. I'm just used to it and it also makes more sense to me in a way, that Katherine looks more 'complete' to me than Catherine. I don't know how to explain it than that.

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I do like Catherine, but Katherine a whole lot more.

This message was edited 9/9/2013, 5:23 AM

Thanks for the responses!

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They were interesting to read. I love the name Katherine and as I age (hah!) it seems that the K spelling just seems common while the C is softer and somehow more sophisticated.

Catherine.

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The C version isn't used as much as Katherine. But if I had to use a K, I'd use Katharine.

Catherine. It's served me well as my name for nearly 30 years. :)

Definitely Catherine. It's gorgeous and looks so much better in my opinion.