Acting great Katharine Hepburn died on June 29, 2003, at age 96. This spelling of Katharine is closely identified with Hepburn, who was usually called Kate. Katharine was given to only 28 baby girls in the US last year, placing it among the rarest of the many forms of the name.
That’s .1% of the more than 2800 baby girls were named Katherine, along with nearly 1000 called Catherine, like the Princess of Wales, and about 400 called Kathryn. And then there are all the little girls throughout the Western World called Kate, Katie, Katya, Katerina, Caitriona, Katinka, and so on, making this one of the most varied and widely-used of the classic girls’ names.
