Catherine
Just over 600 women in Poland carry this English and French form of Katarzyna, rare enough that most people here have never met one. At its Greek root the name means "pure".
Catherine Pronunciation
What Catherine means
Where Catherine comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Catherine comes from Greek, from the old name Aikaterinē borne by a martyr of Alexandria. The sense of "pure" was attached to the name later, when Christian writers tied it to katharos, the Greek word for clean. That link is a pious guess rather than a proven origin. It stuck.
In English and French the name settled into royal and everyday use alike. Catherine de' Medici carried it into France, and English queens carried it too. Polish took the same root and made it Katarzyna, with Kasia as the warm everyday form.
Say Kasia in a school register and half the class turns. The diminutive travels light while Katarzyna keeps the older shape.
The short meaning, "pure," czysta in Polish, is a story people told about the name after the fact. What lasts underneath is the Greek Aikaterinē and the woman of Alexandria who first wore it.
How many people are named Catherine
1 in 35115 women in Poland is named Catherine. 642 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1176 among female names.
Catherine's popularity over time
2 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #1497 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #1176 name among living women, even as it slips to #1497 among newborns.
Catherine as a middle name
Catherine is a first name for 642 women in Poland and a middle name for another 416, a 61/39 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 336th, between Blandyna (426) and Jagna (412).
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#334 Ruth436
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#335 Blandyna426
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#336 Catherine416
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#337 Jagna412
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#338 Johanna409