Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Kaitlynn
Kaitlynn is one of six different Americanized respellings of the Irish female name Caitlín, itself the Irish equivalent of Catherine (the Gaelic pronunciation of Caitlín is actually "cotch-leen"). After the Norman Conquest of 1066, the Norman French brought the name Cateline to the British Isles where it was eventually developed into Katherine in England and Caitlín in Ireland. The Catherine family of names is all derived from the Greek "Aikaterinë" which translates to "pure one, clear, innocent" (see the Catherine name page for more detail). Catherine of Alexandria was a famous early 4th century saint martyred in Alexandria, Egypt for her Christian beliefs. In the later Middle Ages, exaggerated legends and cults grew up around these early saints and spread throughout Europe. Medieval parents would name their children after such illustrious saints as a protective measure. Catherine of Alexandria was especially associated with ideals of courage and purity and such qualities were attractive to the Celtic people. In Ireland, the Celtic version, Caitlín, proved popular and gave rise to the anglicized version of Kathleen in England. 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. Kaitlyn and Katelyn tend to be the preferred spellings in America. Kaitlynn with two "n"s is much less popular.
All About the Baby Name – Kaitlynn
OF THE GIRL NAME KAITLYNN
Kaitlynn debuted on the American female naming charts in 1988 which is right around the time that the original Caitlin was charging up the charts. As is usually the case with trendy, popular names, American parents began to play around with the traditional Irish spelling. Some (if not most) of these altered spellings would eventually surpass Caitlin in popularity (for instance Kaitlyn, Katelyn, Caitlyn and Katelynn). Kaitlynn with two "n"s hasn't fared as well as some of the others, but with seven possible spelling choices in circulation today how do parents even decide at this point? We say go with Caitlin if you're either Irish or a traditionalist (or both) or go with Katelyn if you want to keep things more straight forward. All of the others are reserved for the "kutesy and kreative" parent.
ON KAITLYNN
KATE-lin
Pure one, innocent
OF KAITLYNN
Cultural References to the Baby Name – Kaitlynn
OF THE BABY NAME KAITLYNN
We cannot find any significant literary characters by the name of Kaitlynn
ON THE BABY NAME KAITLYNN
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NAMED KAITLYNN
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WITH THE NAME KAITLYNN
We cannot find any historically significant people with the first name Kaitlynn