Catherine Variations?

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We might use this as a middle name. Its an old family name going back generations into Germany. Its my sister's middle name and dad's cousin's first name. However, they spell it Catherine. But, in the genealogy stuff I have, the earlier families spelled it Catharine - with what looks like an accent over the 2nd "a" (could be a stray mark from the dot of the i ?).  Anyone know if "Catharine" is actually a German/European spelling or something with a different significance than "Catherine"? Or is it just a meaningless variation?

TIA!

 

 

sunnydays99

Well I don't actually know anything about the name but I looked on babynames.com and it doesn't have any information for the spelling Catharine.  It just suggests the traditional spelling plus a few alternatives.

maltwin1

I checked babynamesworld.com and they do list Catharine as a variation of Catherine. They both have the same meaning and orgin, so I think it is just a spelling them. As far as the mark goes the only accent mark I can think of that the Germans use looks like a colon (:) turned on its side, but I've never seen it used over an "a" before.

tct1219

i've seen both those variations, too, but i see katherine the most.

DarcyLongfellow

I've never seen Catharine, although I have seen Katharine.

Do your child a favor, though, and spell it Catherine!!  If her name is Catherine, then all she'll have to say to get people to spell it correctly is to say, "Catherine with a C."  If you spell it any other way, she'll have to spell it out for them!

(Trust me on this - I know for a fact if you say, "Katherine with a K," nearly everyone will spell it Katherine (not Kathryn, etc.).)

CourtneyRDH

Catherine is beautiful. We are using it as a middle name, as it's a family name. I've never seen Catharine before, but I'm almost positive it's just another variation like Katharine.?