Contribute your knowledge to the name Caitlin

Comments and insights on the name Caitlin

This is the traditional Irish spelling of the name, but I've encountered:
Kaitlin
K/Caitlyn(n)
K/Catelyn(n)
K/Catelin
Caitlinn

Ireland pronounced Kate-lean and is the Irish for Kathleen

Personal experiences with the name Caitlin

My name is Caitlin and I guess the only thing that sometimes annoys me is constantly running into people who tell me how "unique" my spelling of it is. Sometimes I just say "thank you" and keep moving but occasionally I inform people that Caitlin is the traditional (ie correct) way to spell it and Kaitlyn, Catelyn, Caitlyn, etc. are all variations of the original. Not that I necessarily mind the alternate spelling variations but I think more people should know that Caitlin is the original and correct spelling.

One thing I would advise parents who are thinking the name Caitlin for their daughter to think about is how commonly this name is misspelled. There are over 25 ways to spell the name and when giving your name over the phone (or introducing yourself, whatever) the chance of the other person picking the right spelling is about 10-20%.

Now I know to some this doesn't seem like such a big deal but consider having to send your college diploma back to be reprinted because the university misspelled your first name (which happened to me), friends trying to search for you on social networking sites and having to put in about 10 different spellings just to find you and having to constantly spell your name out for strangers.

My name is Caitlin and I love it! It's a popular name, but nobody ever spells it this way. I always get irritated when people ask me my name and then proceed to spell it with a K or a Y or both. I always have to correct them. I've actually just started giving up. I always have to spell out my full name because nobody ever gets my last name right either. But I don't let that get to me because I love the sense that my name is spelled the "right way" and especially that it's Irish!

My family has a lot of Irish in them. My mother's name was Catherine, and she didn't like it very much, so if I'd had a daughter and wanted to name her after my mother, I would've liked to name her Caitlin (the Irish version of Catherine).

I'm called Caitlin and I have gotten compliments in the past from people saying it's 'pretty' and I quite like it myself, but the main thing is that people can occasionally spell it wrong (variants I've had are: Katelyn, Catlin,Caitlain) -so now I go by the nickname 'Kate' which is much easier to use when meeting new people as they seem to remember it more easily. But overall, I do love my name very much.

When my sister in law was pregnant with a girl and considering a variation of Katelyn, etc, I told her that Caitlin was the original correct spelling, and so she named her Caitlin Elizabeth! So beautiful, and Caitlin herself loves the name.

My name is Caitlin and I both love and hate my name, I think it's pretty but being named Caitlin is so annoying. My parents named me Caitlin because my dad had a crush on some actress that played a character named Caitlin, and my mom thought it was a pretty name so she went along with it. My parents didn't realize how popular my name was at the time (i'm 15), and it is SO common for my age! I think there were 10 Caitlins at my Junior High alone, basically all with different spellings. Let me just say, I appreciate my parents so much for naming me the original Irish spelling of my name and not one of the trashy, fake spellings that exist today. But still, because of all of those spellings, people are constantly misspelling my name. I don't think anyone has ever spelled my name correctly the first time without me telling them how to spell it. The worst that i've gotten is someone spelling it like Caightelynn, because I kid you not, they said they knew someone else who spelled it like that! I got so tired of having to correct my spelling to everyone and not having a unique name at all, so I just go by the nickname Cat at school now. The only people who still call me Caitlin are my family, family friends, and my best friend who knew me when I was still Caitlin, but I get extremely annoyed when she calls me by my real name. I absolutely adore my nickname! I do get meowed at or called "Kitty" now and then, but it's so worth it.

Mine's Caitlin as well. I always quite liked it. It's pretty, doesn't have any hanging letters, I like the double i's with the tl between, fun to spell out c-a-i-t-l-i-n... It just seems very even, solid, and it's nice to sign. I don't care much about the spelling issue, it happens. Most people have names with variations so we can all commiserate. Also, I went to school with 3 other variations of Caitlin; one of whom became my best friend (the 2 k/caitli/yn's) xD It's kind of cool. You get to see people with the same name as you and see how they like it. Or you get to see teachers' faces when they have a Caitlin, a Katelyn, a Kaylee, and a Kayla in their class. One thing that happens is having to explain whether I said Caitlin or Kaylin.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So my name is Cait,
and I think it's pretty great,
When I was born I was late,
I'm a little under weight,
I guess I'm pretty straight,
Cuz guys, I do date,
But I guess that's just a trait,
I don't hate,
Checkmate

Nicknames for Caitlin

Cait
Caitie
Caiti
Lin
Cat
Caikio
Cay/Cai
meme goddess
nicaiy minaj
caitlin
cat
alexander
eeeee
cool cat
OR
kool kat

Meanings and history of the name Caitlin

Irish Gaelic form of Kathleen, a variant of Katherine, meaning "pure".

Famous real-life people named Caitlin

Caitlin Davies, English-born author
Caitlin Flanagan, American writer and social critic
Caitlin MacNamara, wife of Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas
Caitlin Matthews, co-author with John Matthews of the Encyclopedia of Celtic Myth and Legend
Caitlin Moran, British journalist and columnist
Caitlin R. Kiernan, Irish-born dark fantasy and sci-fi author
Caitlin Cahow, American ice hockey player
Caitlin McClatchey, Scottish swimmer
Caitlyn Carruthers, American figure skater
Caitlin Ledsome, A Bitch
Kaitlin Sandeno, American swimmer
Caitlin O'Riordan, Irish singer
Caitlin Chisling, cheap trash author

Caitlin in song, story & screen

Caitlin, character in the second season of Heroes
Caitlin Atkins, character from Australian television series Neighbours
Caitlin Bree, character from 1994 movie Clerks
Caitlin Cooke, a character from the show 6teen
Caitlin Fairchild, character from the comic Gen¹³
Caitlin Pike, character from U.S. television series JAG
Caitlin Ryan, character from the Degrassi television series
Caitlin Todd, character from U.S. television series NCIS
Caitlyn Goodwin, fictional character from American dub of the Japanese anime series Ojamajo Doremi
Caitlin Snow, character from the comic and U.S. television series The Flash
Kaitlin Cooper, character from U.S. television series The O.C.
Caitlin Ramirez, a character from The Bold and the Beautiful
Kaitlin Joyce, character from Canadian television series and novel jPod
Catelyn Stark, a character from A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
Caitlin O'Koren was the main character in Sarah Dessen's novel "Dreamland"
"Caitlin's Way", short-lived Nickelodeon TV series