Kathleen is a female given name, used in English- and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

-language communities. Sometimes spelled ''

Cathleen Cathleen is a feminine given name in the English language. It is a variant form of '' Kathleen''. Notable people with the name include: * Cathleen Chaffee, American curator, art historian, writer * Cathleen Falsani, American journalist and writ ...

'', it is an Anglicized form of ''Caitlín'', the Irish form of ''Cateline'', which was the

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...

form of ''Catherine''. It ultimately derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

name ''Aikaterine'', the meaning of which is highly debated (see

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

). Kathleen was the 8th most popular girls' name in Ireland in 1911, but by 1965 it had sunk to number 18.

Literature

Kathleen Raine Kathleen Jessie Raine CBE (14 June 1908 – 6 July 2003) was a British poet, critic, and scholar, writing in particular on William Blake, W. B. Yeats and Thomas Taylor. Known for her interest in various forms of spirituality, most prominently ...

, British poet * Kathleen Winsor, American author * '' The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics'' (1892), the second poetry collection of

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

* Joanne Kathleen (J. K.) Rowling, British author * Kathleen Vereecken, Belgian writer * Kathleen O'Meara, Irish-French Catholic writer

Military

* Kathleen Best, director of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps * Kathleen Soliah, member of the Symbionese Liberation Army

Music

* Kathleen Sergerie, Québécoise pop singer *

Kathleen Battle Kathleen Deanna Battle (born August 13, 1948) is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performance ...

, American soprano * Kathleen de Leon Jones, Filipino-Australian singer, dancer, actress and television performer, Hi-5 * Kathleen Emperatriz DeLuna, Dominican-American R&B singer *

Kathleen Edwards Kathleen Edwards (born July 11, 1978
) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. Her 2002 debut album, ''

Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier, CBE (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the c ...

, British contralto, after whom the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Award is named *

Kathleen Hanna Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician, artist, feminist activist, pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. In the early-to-mid-1990s she was the lead singer of feminist punk band B ...

, American musician

Peeresses

Kathleen Pelham-Clinton, Duchess of Newcastle Kathleen Florence May Pelham-Clinton, Duchess of Newcastle-under-Lyne Order of the British Empire, OBE (née Candy; 1872 – 1 June 1955), was a well-known conformation show judge and dog breeder who influenced the Borzoi and Wire Fox Terrier dog ...

, dog breeder *

Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington Kathleen Agnes Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington (' Kennedy; February 20, 1920 – May 13, 1948), also known as "Kick" Kennedy, was an American socialite. She was the second daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Kennedy as well as a si ...

, the second daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and a sister of U.S. President John F. Kennedy * Kathleen Simon, Viscountess Simon, abolitionist *

Kathleen Richardson, Baroness Richardson of Calow Kathleen Margaret Richardson, Baroness Richardson of Calow, (born 24 February 1938) is a British Methodist Minister. Created a life peer in 1998, she was a crossbench member of the House of Lords until her retirement in 2018. Early life and e ...

, British peer *

Kathleen Manners, Duchess of Rutland Kathleen Manners, Duchess of Rutland (' Tennant; 30 January 18944 December 1989) was an English aristocrat and the wife of John Manners, 9th Duke of Rutland. Early life and family Kathleen Tennant was born on 30 January 1894 in London. Her mo ...

Kathleen Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn Katherine Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, (born Hon. Mary Katherine Crichton; 8 July 1905 – 2 February 1990) was Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1964 until the Duchess's death in 1990. She was invested as a D ...

Politics

* Kathleen Fleur Anderson, British politician, known as

Fleur Anderson Kathleen Fleur Anderson (born 6 February 1971) the Member of Parliament (MP) for Putney, elected in 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Shadow Paymaster General since 2021 and was a member of Wandsworth London Borough Council fro ...

* Kathleen Blanco, former Governor of Louisiana *

Kathleen Brown Kathleen Lynn Brown (born September 25, 1945) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 29th Treasurer of California from 1991 to 1995. Brown unsuccessfully ran for Governor of California in the 1994 election. Early life and e ...

, Californian politician * Kathalijne Buitenweg, Dutch politician * Kathleen (Kathy) Hochul, Governor of New York * Kathleen Kane, Pennsylvania Attorney General convicted of felony perjury *

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend (born July 4, 1951) is an American attorney who was the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Maryland from 1995 to 2003. She ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Maryland in 2002. She was the first female lieutenant ...

, former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland * Kathleen Lynch, Irish politician *

Kathleen Merrigan Kathleen Ann Merrigan (born October 6, 1959) is an American politician who served as the United States Deputy Secretary of Agriculture from April 8, 2009, until her resignation from this position on March 14, 2013. She was the first woman to chai ...

, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture of the United States * Kathleen Ollerenshaw, British mathematician and politician * Kathleen O'Meara, Irish politician *

Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebeli ...

, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, former Governor of Kansas *

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2003 and sat as the ...

, Premier of Ontario

Science

Kathleen Hall Jamieson Kathleen Hall Jamieson (born November 24, 1946) is an American professor of communication and the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. She co-founded FactCheck.org, and she is an author, most recently ...

, American professor of communications * Kathleen R. Johnson, American paleoclimatologist *

Kathleen Kenyon Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, (5 January 1906 – 24 August 1978) was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been called ...

, British archaeologist *

Kathleen Lamborn Kathleen Rundle Lamborn is an American biostatistician, known for her highly-cited publications on glioma. She is an Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Neurological Surgery and former Director of the Cancer Center Biostatistics Core at the University of ...

, American biostatistician *

Kathleen Lonsdale Dame Kathleen Lonsdale ( Yardley; 28 January 1903 – 1 April 1971) was an Irish-born British pacifist, prison reformer and crystallographer. She proved, in 1929, that the benzene ring is flat by using X-ray diffraction methods to elucidate t ...

, British crystallographer * Kathleen Madden, American mathematician * Kathleen Martínez, Dominican archaeologist, lawyer, and diplomat * Kathleen I. Pritchard, Canadian oncologist * Kathleen Treseder, American ecologist

Sports

Kathleen Comley Kathleen Comley is a British Paralympic archer. She competed at the 1960 Summer Paralympics The 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, retroactively designated as the 1960 Summer Paralympics ( it, Giochi paralimpici estivi del 1960 ...

, British Paralympic archer * Kathleen O'Kelly-Kennedy, Australian wheelchair basketball player * Kathleen Smet, Belgian triathlete * Kathleen Ledecky, American Olympic swimmer

Television and film

Kathleen Barr Kathleen Barr is a Canadian voice actress. She is best known for voicing Marie Kanker and Kevin in ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'' and Trixie Lulamoon and Queen Chrysalis in '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic''. She also voiced Henri Richard Maurice D ...

, Canadian voice actress * Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates, American actress *

Kathleen Freeman Kathleen Freeman (February 17, 1923August 23, 2001) was an American actress. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, she portrayed acerbic maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors and relatives, almost in ...

, American character actress * Kate Hackett, American actress (Kathleen Hackett) *

Kathleen Harrison Kathleen Harrison (23 February 1892 – 7 December 1995) was a prolific English character actress best remembered for her role as Mrs. Huggett (opposite Jack Warner and Petula Clark) in a trio of British post-war comedies about a worki ...

, British character actress *

Kathleen Hepburn Kathleen Hepburn is a Canadian screenwriter and film director. She first attracted acclaim for her film ''Never Steady, Never Still'', which premiered as a short film in 2015 before being expanded into her feature film debut in 2017.

, Canadian screenwriter and film director * Kathleen Kennedy, movie producer * Kathleen de Leon Jones, retired Filipino-Australian singer and actress *

Kathleen Madigan Kathleen Madigan is an American comedian and TV personality. In addition to her stand up comedy performances, she is a regular guest on a variety of U.S. television programs. Early life and education Kathleen Madigan is one of seven children in ...

, American Stand-up Comedian * Kathleen McDermott, Scottish actress *

Kathleen Noone Kathleen Noone ( O'Meara; January 8, 1945) is an American actress. She began her career as a singer in nightclubs and performed in musicals off-Broadway before making her television debut in the CBS daytime soap opera, ''As the World Turns'' (197 ...

, American actress * Kathleen Quinlan, American actress *

Kathleen Robertson Kathleen Robertson (born July 8, 1973) is a Canadian actress, producer, writer and showrunner. She is best known for her roles as Kitty O' Neill in the Starz, Golden Globe winning series Boss, Hildy Mulligan in TNT's Murder in the First, Tina Edi ...

, Canadian actress * Kathleen Turner, American film actress, director, and producer * Kathleen Warner (born Davis), Trinidadian actress and radio personality, also known as "Aunty Kay" *

Kathleen York Kathleen York is an American actress, screenwriter, and Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter recording artist. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for " In the Deep" from the 2004 film ''Crash.'' Life and career Actress Ac ...

, American actress *

Kathy Griffin Kathleen Mary Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American comedian and actress who has starred in television comedy specials and has released comedy albums. In 2007 and 2008, Griffin won Primetime Emmy Awards for her reality show '' Kathy ...

(born Kathleen Mary Griffin), American comedian, actress, and television personality * Kate Walsh (born Kathleen Erin Walsh), American actress

Other

* Kathleen Mary Burrow, Australian physiotherapist, businesswoman, Catholic lay leader * Kathleen O'Toole, police commissioner of Boston, Massachusetts * Kathleen Salmond, New Zealand artist * Kathleen Wrasama, Ethiopian-born British community organiser * Kathleen Zellner, American attorney

References

{{given name English feminine given names Irish feminine given names