The baby name Kitty has a longer history than you might guess, but does it stand alone as a formal name?
Thanks to Letty for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
WHAT DOES THE NAME KITTY MEAN?
On paper, kitty is a small cat. A baby cat. It’s another form of kitten.
The word has been in use for the animal since the early 18th century.
Funny thing, though – Kitty as a nickname for Catherine is even older. And the idea of calling a young cat a kitty might have something to do with the whole Catherine/Cat/Kitty connection. Also worth noting: Kit has been a unisex nickname for centuries; it was often associated with Christopher for men.
Kitten comes from the French chaton – chat, for cat, plus -on to make it a diminutive. A chaton is a little cat. Import it to England and Anglo-French, and the new variant develops into kitten over time.
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina – famous for being the site of the Wright Brothers’ very first airplane flight, comes from the Native American name, Chicahawk.
So mostly the baby name Kitty is a nickname for Katherine and company, but also an animal name in the key of Ronan (seal), Caleb (dog), or straight-up word names like Colt, Bear, Raven, and Wren.
KATHERINE, KATE, KAT, KIT
Let’s talk about Katherine for a minute.
Because the baby name Kitty can simply be a diminutive form of the name Katherine.
Katherine’s meaning is usually listed as pure, the name’s origin as Greek. But that’s almost certainly folk etymology, a meaning attached much later. Odds are that Katherine – Aikaterine – originally honored the goddess Hecate, associated with the underworld and witchcraft.
It almost doesn’t matter though. Thanks to so many saints and queens, Katherine and Catherine read like enduring classic names, with a long history.
International forms abound – Kathleen, Kaitlyn, Katerina, and Katrina are just a few that are familiar in American English, too.
FAMOUS KITTYS
Many Katherines are actually Katies or Kates. But some have been Kittys.
And a few Kittys have used the name in full.
Famous people, real and fictional, include:
- Toni Basil’s smash 1980s hit “Mickey” is a remake of a different song. The original title? “Kitty.”
- The fourth Bennet sister in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is Catherine called Kitty. (More proof that the nickname was established by the 18th and 19th centuries.)
- Speaking of literature, Anna Karenina includes Princess Ekaterina, the Russian form of Katherine, also called Kitty in the novel.
- Kitty Pryde appears in the X-Men universe and on the big screen, too. Elliot Page played the role 2006 and 2014 movies.
- Of course there’s Hello Kitty. Debuted in the 1970s and now a global icon, the character’s full name is Kitty White. Hello Kitty appears on notebooks and lunhcboxes … and Vans and Stratocasters. Taiwan’s EVA Airways operates Hello Kitty jets, decorated with Kitty and the other Sanrio characters.
- Actress Kitty Carlisle was born Catherine Conn. She’s best known for her appearance in the Marx Brothers’ classic A Night at the Opera.
HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME KITTY?
But does Kitty appear as a given name written on anyone’s birth certificate?
According to the United States Social Security Administration, the baby name Kitty ranked in the Top 1000 most popular names every year from 1880 through 1966. That’s a pretty impressive run.
SSA data also tells us that Katherine was a Top 100 name most of those years. Factoring in the popularity of Catherine and Kathryn, there could be a lot of Kittys out there. (Though, depending on the decade, they’re likely to be lots of Katies and Kathys, too.)
That’s changed dramatically in recent years.
As of 2024, just six newborn girls were named Kitty. In fact, the baby name Kitty seems close to extinction. In 2022 and 2021, it failed to appear in the data at all. That means fewer than five girls were given the name in those years – which is very obscure, indeed.
CAN KITTY BE A STANDALONE NAME?
Of course, it’s possible some Katherines still choose Kitty as a nickname. But can it standalone?
Similar names, like Sadie and Millie, have graduated to given name status. Along with Ellie and Josie, they rank in the current Top 100. In that context, a name like Kitty doesn’t seem so different.
And yet, Kitty is probably a little closer to Sweetheart than Elsie or Callie. A kitten, after all, is forever young.
RETRO NATURE NAME POSSIBILITY
The baby name Kitty blends a sense of playfulness with vintage charm. It’s a sweet name, undeniably cute, but rooted in a surprising amount of tradition. From literature to pop culture, it’s more common than we might guess.
If you’re looking for something casual and retro, with ties to the natural world, Kitty could be the perfect name.
And as a Katherine nickname? It offers a surprising edge.
What do you think of the baby name Kitty?
I don’t think Kitty is quite as extreme as Sweetheart or even Honey when it comes to names, though I do think that if it makes a comeback, it’s more likely to do so as a nickname for Katherine than as an independent name.
It seems a bit different from Sadie (I’m not sure most people remember the Sarah connection anymore) or Millie (usually short for a couple of names that are far out of style). Josie might be a closer comparison, since I think most people link it to Josephine, a name that’s also being used. So maybe it could catch on as the next big nickname name!
I’d still put my money on it as a possible Gen Alpha nickname for Katherine, though. Some of those very classic long names have generational nickname turnover, and I think it’s about time for Katherine’s to switch now that Kate and Katie are the moms and the teachers and Kathy and Kay are grandmothers.
My little cousin is Kitty, short for Katherine! They wanted to name her Hazel, but they had already given it to their dog. So Kitty has always given me a similar feel to Hazel, Opal, Ivy, Stella, Amelia, and other softly vintage/ecovintage names.