The Baby Name Wizard

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Comments and insights on the name Kate: | Edit

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Personal experiences with the name Kate: | Edit

I am the older of two sisters. Our parents named us Joyce Ann (that's me, born 1945) and Audrey Jean (born 1948) for the actresses in the Jackie Gleason TV show The Honeymooners. I met my husband-to-be in 1964. he loved Shakespeare and did not like the name Joyce, which he thought sounded snotty. He began to call me Kate, for Taming of the Shrew, and that has been my name since 1964. My mother was hurt, but I did feel Kate fit me better. I haven't met many other Kates near my age.

There was a huge wave of Kates born in the 1980s and early 1990s, so colleges and high schools are full of them. It has become less popular over the past decade.

We named our daughter Kate in 2005 after watching an old "Charley's Angels" program because we love Kate Jackson so much. Seems totally shallow but in actuality the name seemed to fit us. Short and bold, perfect for our 10 letter last name. We also love Katharine Hepburn, a strong woman who challenged conventions with aplomb.

Nicknames for Kate: | Edit

Katee, Katerbug, Katie, Katy, Katybug, Katydid, KT

Meanings and history of the name Kate: | Edit

Kate is cockney rhyming slang for army

Famous real-life people named Kate: | Edit

Kate Beckinsale, actress
Cate Blanchett, actress
Kate Bosworth, actress
Kate Bush, musician
Kate Capshaw, actress
Kate Chopin, author from the late 19th century
Kate Constable, author
Kate Gosselin, reality show star ("Jon and Kate Plus Eight") and mother of sextuplets
Kate Hudson, actress and daughter of Goldie Hawn
Kate Maberly, actress and musician
Kate Mara, actress
Kate Moss, model
Kate Nash, singer
Mary-Kate Olsen, actress
Kate O'Mara, actress
Kate Rusby, English folk singer-songwriter
KT Tunstall, musician (born Kate Tunstall)
Kate Walsh, actress
Kate Winslet, actress
Kate Wolf, late American folk singer-songwriter
Kate Jackson, American actress
Kate O'Brien, Irish author
Kate Nelligan, actress
Kate Adie, British news correspondent & journalist
Kate McGarrigle, Canadian musician and singer-songwriter

Kate in song, story & screen: | Edit

Kate Monster, main female character in the Broadway show "Avenue Q"
"Kate", a song by Ben Folds Five.
"Kate and Allie", an 80s American television series.
"Kate and Leopold", a 2001 film starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman.
"Kiss Me, Kate", a Cole Porter musical originally produced in 1948 based on Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew"
Kate Austen, character on TV's Lost
"Kate is Great" The Bouncing Souls