Caitlin

Caitlín is the Irish equivalent of Catherine and is generally pronounced “cotch-leen” (at least in the Gaelic tongue). The name was brought to the British Isles in the Middle Ages by way of the Norman French name Cateline. The Catherine family of names all derived from the Greek “Aikaterinë” (see Catherine) which translates to “pure one, clear, innocent.” The name Catherine was borne by an early saint who was martyred in Egypt and came to be associated with ideals of courage and purity, qualities that were attractive to the Celts. In Ireland, the Celtic version, Caitlín, proved popular and gave rise to the anglicized version of Kathleen in England. The Irish legend of the Countess of Cathleen was put to pen by William Butler Yeats in 1892. During a terrible famine in Ireland the beautiful and fair-haired young countess offered her soul to the devil in exchange for food for the starving. Upon her death, the devil came to collect his due, but God interceded so Cathleen could go straight to heaven, so impressed was He that she would not only sacrifice her life, but her very salvation, for others. Caitlín (sometimes without the accent mark) is currently very popular in Northern Ireland and Scotland, but it is also a Top 75 favorite girl’s name in England, Wales, Australia and Ireland. In the United States, Americans prefer the modernized spellings of this old Irish female name so the traditional spelling of Caitlín is not ranked very high.