Katherine

Name pronunciation: KATH-eh-rin or KATH-rin
Origin of name: Greek
Meaning of name: pure, clean, chaste

The Story Behind This Historical Christian Name

There are not actually any characters in the Bible named Katherine. However, the name has a rich Christian historical heritage, and likely originated with the Greek word “katharos”, which was translated as “pure” or “clean” in the New Testament.

Several Catherine’s through the ages have been sainted, including:

Some Scriptures for the Greek Word Katharos

To give you an idea of the way this Greek word was used, here are some examples of its use in the scriptural context:

  • “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” – Matthew 5:8
  • “Now you are clean through the word that I have spoken to you.” – John 15:3
  • “Now to the pure all things are pure…” – Titus 1:15 (partial)
  • Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” – James 1:27
  • “And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” – Revelation 19:8
  • “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” – Revelation 22:1

Variations of the Baby Name Katherine

Girl names: Catherine, Kathryn, Kate, Katie, Kathereen, Kathleen, Kathy, Ekaterina, Ekaterin, Cat, Kitty
Boy names: Kata

We hope this baby name information is useful to you. If you like this resource, tell your friends about the Christian Meaning of Names website, or link to us at www.ChristianMeaningOfNames.com!

22 thoughts on “Katherine

  1. Gwendolyn, see our post on Jacob. I suspect that Jacquelle is related to “Jacqueline” which seems to come from Jacques, which comes from James, which comes from Jacob. 🙂

  2. Hello

    Could you post the Christian meaning of the name “Keira”please?

    Thank you in advance

    Bernard

  3. Bernard, thank you for your query! Keira isn’t a name that shows up in the Bible, but it does have some Christian history to it. The name is Irish, coming from the original “Ciarán” (boy name), which in Irish Gaelic it means “dark” or “dark-haired”. There is a female Catholic saint named Ciara who lived in the seventh-century. — Sources: Wikipedia “Keira” and “Ciara”.

  4. I am very happy in knew the meaning of my name.In accordance with the meaning of my name, as much as possible I will try to lead a pure and clean life that will be a model for the individuals surrounding me.

  5. Am so happy because now i have understood the meaning of my wife’s meaning.Infact she is pure.Thank you.

  6. I was glad to know that katharos is in the Bible closest to my name meaning pure, because I feel so close to God , I was born loving the Lord I feel really honored.
    Kathryn Smith Blakemore

  7. I’m glad I found my name meaning and I’m indeed pure and gorgeous

  8. Am so much exiteded to know that my name originated from the bible. I will live to be pure in other to be an ambassador

  9. Wowsers ! I never realized how true to my name I have lived ! To think that my parents must have chosen it ” out of the blue ” and now, throughout my life I have lived it to the absolute truth !

  10. I love hearing these stories. Truly our names can be such an amazing part of our lives, and we don’t even realize it. It’s why I enjoy providing name information, whether to help parents find a meaningful name that will bless the life of their child, or to give someone encouragement about the meaning of their name. Thank you for sharing, Kathryn!

  11. I’m so greatful to know the meaning of my name in detail especially being researched from biblical perspective. I’m born-again; spirit-filled; loving Jesus with all of my life for His death on the cross for my sins. Though the meaning of purity, i was not born pure. Only the blood of Jesus cleansed me. Now i can say i’m pure.Amen.

  12. My mother’s name was Catherine and as her sisters were Esther and Ruth, I always assumed In the Bible that her name came from the Bible, too; but I could not find a woman named Catherine. This describes her perfectly! She was born in 1910 and has several grand and great-grand daughters named after her. (However, I am not one , but I always hoped it was a favorite nickname she would have liked to be called.

  13. Jennifer does not appear in the Bible, so we probably won’t be featuring it on this site. However, you can find more details about its origin and meaning at BabyNames.com. The meaning according to that site is “Fair Phantom Or White Wave”. The BabyCenter.com site says “fair spirit”. Hope this helps, Frederick!

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