Caterina
The Italian form of Katarzyna, from a Greek root meaning "pure". In Poland it stays a curiosity: fewer than 140 women carry it, so most Poles have never met one.
Caterina Pronunciation
Caterina is pronounced tsah-te-REE-nah (/t͡satɛˈrina/).
What Caterina means
Where Caterina comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Caterina comes from the Greek name Aikaterinē, carried into Italian and worn there for many centuries. The short meaning given today is pure. That sense was attached later, once the name was linked to the Greek word katharos, meaning clean or pure. The link is old, and the meaning stuck.
In Italy the name belongs to real women. Caterina da Siena, born in 1347, wrote letters to popes and was later named a Doctor of the Church. Caterina Sforza defended the fortress at Forlì. Caterina de' Medici left Florence and became queen of France. The name traveled far.
In a Polish school register the standard form is Katarzyna, and Caterina reads there as the Italian cousin, softer at the end. A child might carry it through years of roll-call and grow used to spelling it out. The origin stays Greek whatever the spelling. The meaning stays pure.
How many people are named Caterina
1 in 163361 women in Poland is named Caterina. 138 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2799 among female names.
Caterina's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.
Caterina as a middle name
Caterina is a first name for 138 women in Poland and a middle name for another 33, an 81/19 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 1211th, between Belle (33) and Constanza (33).
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#1209 Athena33
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#1210 Belle33
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#1211 Caterina33
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#1212 Constanza33
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#1213 Elia33