Caitlin () is a feminine given name of Irish origin. Historically, the Irish name Caitlín was anglicized as

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 writer ...

or Kathleen. In the 1970s, however, non-Irish speakers began pronouncing the name according to English spelling rules as , which led to many variations in spelling such as Caitlin, Ceitlin, Catelynn, Caitlyn, Katlyn, Kaitlin, Kaitlyn, Kaitlyne, Katelyn and Katelynn. It is the Irish version of the

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

name ''Cateline'' , which comes from Catherine, which in turn comes from the Ancient Greek Αἰκατερίνη (Aikaterine). Catherine is attributed to St. Catherine of Alexandria. Along with the many other variants of Catherine, it is generally believed to mean "pure" because of its long association with the Greek adjective καθαρός ''katharos'' (pure), though the name did not evolve from this word.

Usage

Caitlin has been a well-used name throughout the

Anglosphere The Anglosphere, also known as the Anglo-American world, is a Western-led sphere of influence among the Anglophone countries. The core group of this sphere of influence comprises five developed countries that maintain close social, cultura ...

. In the United States, where spelling variations were more widely used, the name Caitlin peaked in use in 1988, when it was the 44th most popular name for American girls. The name was among the 1,000 most popular names for girls in the United States between 1976 and 2015. All variations of the name Caitlin declined in use in the United States in 2016, the year after the new name and gender of

Caitlyn Jenner Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner, October 28, 1949), formerly known as Bruce Jenner, is an American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete. Jenner played college football for the Graceland Yell ...

were revealed. The name Caitlin increased in popularity for American girls in 2023 and 2024 due to the popularity of WNBA player

Caitlin Clark Caitlin Elizabeth Clark (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Regarded as one of the greatest female collegiate players, Clark was tw ...

Notable people

Literature

* Caitlin Brennan, pseudonym of Judith Tarr, American fantasy writer * Cait Brennan, American screenwriter and performer *

Caitlin Davies Caitlin Davies (born 6 March 1964) is an English author, historian, journalist and teacher. She has written several books about social history and women's history. Her historical works have focused on swimmers, female prisoners, female crimina ...

, English writer *

Caitlin Flanagan Caitlin Flanagan (born November 14, 1961) is an American writer and social critic. A contributor to ''The Atlantic'' since February 2001, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2019. Her 2004 piece for ''The New Yorker'' was ...

, American writer and social critic * Caitlin R. Kiernan, American dark fantasy and sci-fi author * Caitlin Matthews, British author *

Caitlin Moran Catherine Elizabeth Moran ( ; born 5 April 1975) is an English journalist, broadcaster, and author at ''The Times'', where she writes two columns a week: one for the Saturday Magazine, and the satirical Friday column "Celebrity Watch". Moran w ...

, English journalist and columnist *

Caitlin Thomas Caitlin Thomas (née Macnamara; 8 December 1913 – 31 July 1994) was an author and the wife of the poet and writer Dylan Thomas. Their marriage was a stormy affair, fueled by alcohol and infidelity, though the couple remained together until Dyl ...

, formerly Caitlin Macnamara, British author, wife of poet and writer Dylan Thomas

Film and television

Caitlin Carmichael Caitlin Carmichael (born 2004) is an American actress. Her credits include ''In the Motherhood'' (2008), ''Criminal Minds'' (2009), ''Shake It Up (U.S. TV series), Shake It Up'', ''iCarly'', ''Hot in Cleveland'', ''Law & Order: LA'', and ''Bag o ...

, American movie actress *

Caitlin Clarke Caitlin Clarke (born Katherine Anne Clarke; May 3, 1952 – September 9, 2004) was an American actress best known for her roles as Valerian in the 1981 fantasy film ''Dragonslayer'' and Charlotte Cardoza in the 1998–1999 Broadway musical ...

, American theatre and film actress *

Kaitlin Colombo Kaitlin Colombo is an American stand-up comedian, television personality, and writer. She is perhaps best known for her brief but noteworthy audition for NBC's reality series ''Last Comic Standing'' where she was named "Online Fan Favorite" the fi ...

, American comedian *

Kaitlyn Dever Kaitlyn Rochelle Dever (; born December 21, 1996) is an American actress, singer, musician, and songwriter. She is best known for her roles in the television series ''Justified (TV series), Justified'' (2011–2015), ''Last Man Standing (America ...

, American actress *

Caitlin Dulany Caitlin Dulany is an American actress and activist. Early life She was born in Iowa City, Iowa. Once her family moved to Brooklyn, New York, she attended St. Ann's School in Brooklyn Heights, where her mother, Barry Dulany, was a teacher. Her ...

, American actress and activist *

Caitlin FitzGerald Caitlin FitzGerald is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for her roles as Libby Masters in the Showtime (TV network), Showtime drama ''Masters of Sex'' (2013–2016) and Simone in Starz series ''Sweetbitter (TV series), Sweetbitter ...

, American actress and filmmaker *

Caitlin Glass Caitlin Tiffany Glass (born November 16, 1981) is an American voice actress, dubbing director, and script writer who provides voices for English versions of Japanese anime series and video games. Biography Caitlin Tiffany Glass was born on No ...

, American voice actress *

Caitlin Halderman Caitlin Halderman Chaniago (born 17 July 2000) is an Indonesian actress, singer and presenter. She made her acting debut as the female lead character in 2016 film, ''Ada Cinta Di SMA''. Her name became widely known after playing, '' Love Letter f ...

, Indonesian actress and singer *

Caity Lotz Caity Lotz (born December 30, 1986) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. She has portrayed Stephanie Horton in the AMC series ''Mad Men'', Officer Kirsten Landry in the MTV mockumentary series ''Death Valley'' (2011), Annie in '' The Pact ...

(Caitlin Lotz), American actress, dancer, and singer *

Kaitlin Olson Kaitlin Willow Olson McElhenney (born August 18, 1975) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her role as Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds in the FX comedy series ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present). She curr ...

, American actress and comedian * Molly Caitlyn Quinn, American actress *

Caitlin Sanchez Caitlin Sanchez (born January 17, 1996) is an American actress, best known for being the second voice of the title character Dora in the Nickelodeon animated children's series ''Dora the Explorer''. Career Sanchez was born on January 17, 1996, ...

, American voice of the animated character ''Dora the Explorer'' * Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress *

Caitlin Wachs Caitlin Elizabeth Wachs (pronounced ''wax''; born March 15, 1989) is an American production coordinator and actress. She appeared alongside Ally Walker and Robert Davi on the NBC television series '' Profiler'' in the role of Chloe Waters. ...

, American actress

Music

* Caitlin Canty, American singer/songwriter * Caitlin Cary, American alternative country musician * Caitlin Hanford, American and Canadian singer/songwriter and member of Quartette and The Marigolds * Caitlin Lynn, of the country music duo Caitlin & Will *

Katelyn MacDonald Caitlin () is a feminine given name of Irish origin. Historically, the Irish name Caitlín was anglicized as Cathleen or Kathleen. In the 1970s, however, non-Irish speakers began pronouncing the name according to English spelling rules as , w ...

, American bellringer * Kaitlyn Maher, American singer from ''America's Got Talent'' * Caitlín Maude, Irish poet, singer and language activist *

Caitlín O'Riordan Caitlín O'Riordan (born 4 January 1965) is a British musician. She played bass guitar for the Pogues from 1983 to 1986. She later played with Elvis Costello as well as Bush Tetras and several other projects. She uses the name Rocky O'Riordan ...

, British bass guitarist (

The Pogues The Pogues are an English Celtic punk band founded in King's Cross, London, in 1982, by Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy and Jem Finer. Originally named Pogue Mahone—an anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish phrase :wikt:póg mo thóin, ''p� ...

) * Caitlin Rose, American singer *

Katelyn Tarver Katelyn Tarver (born November 2, 1989) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She has independently released four EP's since 2011, most notably ''Tired Eyes'' in 2017. References External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarver ...

(born 1989), American singer/songwriter *

Caitlyn Taylor Love Caitlyn Taylor Love (born June 16, 1994) is a former American actress and musician. She co-starred in the Disney XD sitcom '' I'm in the Band''. She was the voice of White Tiger/Ava Ayala in the Disney XD animated series ''Ultimate Spider-Man' ...

, American singer/actress

Politicians

Caitlín Brugha Caitlín Brugha (; 11 December 1879 – 1 December 1959) was an Irish Sinn Féin politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Waterford (Dáil constituency), Waterford constituency from 1923 to 1927. Early life Kingston was born in Bir ...

, née Kingston, Irish politician * Kaitlyn Shake, American politician

Sports

Kaitlyn (wrestler) Celeste Bonin (born October 7, 1986) is an American professional wrestler, entrepreneur, Professional bodybuilding, bodybuilder, and model. She is best known for her time in WWE from 2010 to 2014, where she performed under the ring name Kaitlyn ...

, ring name of American professional WWE wrestler Celeste Bonin *

Caitlin Bassett Caitlin Bassett (born 23 May 1988) is a former Australian netballer, who played for Giants Netball and the Australia national netball team. Between 2017 and 2021 Bassett captained Australia in international netball tests. Career Caitlin playe ...

, Australian netball player *

Caitlin Cahow Caitlin Kinder Cahow (born May 20, 1985) is a former American ice hockey player. She attended the Foote School, where she graduated in 2000, and then attended the Hotchkiss School where she graduated in 2003, after playing soccer, field hockey ...

, American ice hockey player * Caitlin Campbell, New Zealand footballer * Caitlin Carruthers, better known as

Kitty Carruthers Caitlin A. "Kitty" Carruthers (born May 30, 1961) is an American former pair skater. With her adoptive brother, Peter Carruthers, she is the 1984 Olympic Silver medalist, a 1982 World Bronze medalist, and a four-time (1981–1984) United Stat ...

, American figure skater *

Katlyn Chookagian Katlyn Cerminara (; born December 28, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist. She formerly competed in the Bantamweight division and currently competes in the women's Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC ...

, American MMA fighter *

, American basketball player * Caitlin Cooper, Australian soccer player * Caitlin Cunningham, Australian basketball player * Kaitlyn Eaton, American wheelchair basketball player * Caitlyn Edwards, Australian rules footballer *

Caitlin Foord Caitlin Jade Foord (born 11 November 1994) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Women's Super League club Arsenal W.F.C., Arsenal and the Australian women's national soccer team, ...

, Australian soccer player * Kaitlin Hawayek, American ice dancer *

, American track & field athlete, gold medalist at the 1976 Olympics *

Kaitlyn Lawes Lesley Kaitlyn Lawes (born December 16, 1988) is a Canadian curler. Lawes was the long time third for the Jennifer Jones team that represented Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics where they won the gold medal. They were the first women's team to ...

, Canadian curler * Caitlin Lever, Canadian softball player and Olympian * Caitlin Leverenz, American swimmer * Caitlin Lowe, American softball player and Olympian * Caitlin Mallory, American-born ice dancer *

Caitlin McClatchey Caitlin McClatchey (born 28 November 1985) is a British former swimmer. Representing Scotland, she won two gold medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, in the 200 metres freestyle and 400 metres freestyle. Representing Great Britain, she won bro ...

, Scottish swimmer *

Caitlin Munoz Caitlin Rose Munoz (born 4 October 1983) is an Australian Association football, soccer player who played for Canberra Eclipse in the Women's National Soccer League and Canberra United FC, Canberra United in the W-League (Australia), W-League. S ...

, Australian soccer player *

Katelyn Ohashi Katelyn Michelle Ohashi (born April 12, 1997) is an American gymnast who competed for the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a six-time All-American and was a four-time member of USA Gymnastics' Junior National Team, the 2011 junior n ...

, American gymnast * Caitlin Parker (born 1996), Australian boxer * Caitlin Rooskrantz (born 2001), South African gymnast * Caitlin Ryan, New Zealand canoeist *

Kaitlin Sandeno Kaitlin Shea Sandeno (born March 13, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist, world champion and former world record-holder. Sandeno was a member of the American team that set a new world record in the 4� ...

, American swimmer * Kaitlyn Vincie, American sports presenter and journalist

Others

Caitlin Brunell Caitlin Brunell (born May 17, 1992) is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Great Falls, Virginia who won the Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2008 title in August 2007. In 2014, she was crowned Miss Alabama and represented the state at t ...

, Miss Alabama 2015 * Katelynn Cusanelli, American reality TV personality from ''The Real World: Brooklyn'' * Caitlin Hill, Australian YouTube personality (username "stageTheHill88") * Caitlin Kinney, American dancer and ''So You Think You Can Dance'' (season 5) contestant *

Catelynn Lowell Catelynn Baltierra (née Lowell; born March 12, 1992) is an American reality television personality, author, and public speaker. From Algonac, Michigan, Algonac, Michigan, she received public attention after being cast in the reality television se ...

, American reality TV personality of the MTV shows

16 and Pregnant ''16 and Pregnant'' is an American reality television series that aired from June 11, 2009, to July 1, 2014, on the cable channel MTV. It followed the stories of pregnant teenage girls in high school dealing with the hardships of teenage pregna ...

and

Teen Mom ''Teen Mom'' (renamed ''Teen Mom OG'', starting with the fifth season) is an American reality television series broadcast by MTV. It is the first spin-off of ''16 and Pregnant'', and it focuses on the lives of several young mothers as they na ...

* Caitlin Myers, American professor of economics * Caitlin Rivers, American epidemiologist *Kaitlyn Siragusa or Amouranth, American social media personality

Fictional characters

* Kait(lyn), in the webcomic '' Freakangels'' * Caitlin, in the second season of the TV series ''

Heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

'' * Caitlin, in the ''Pokémon'' series; first introduced in the Sinnoh Battle Frontier and later revealed to be an Unova Elite Four member * Caitlin Atkins, from Australian television series ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'' * Caitlin Bree, from 1994 movie ''Clerks'' * Caitlin Cooke, from the show ''6teen'' *

Kaitlin Cooper '' The O.C.'' is an American television series created by Josh Schwartz for the FOX network in 2003. Schwartz serves as executive producer while also writing and directing for the show, including the premieres and finales of all seasons. The s ...

, from American television series ''

The O.C. ''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on Fox in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, with a total of four seasons consisting of 92 episodes. The serie ...

'' *

Caitlin Deschanel The following are characters from the American soap opera ''Sunset Beach (TV series), Sunset Beach'', which aired on NBC from January 6, 1997 to December 31, 1999. Original cast members Olivia Richards Gregory Richards Ricardo Torres * pla ...

, from American television series '' Sunset Beach'' * Caitlin Fairchild, from the comic Gen¹³ * Caitlyn Goodwyn, a.k.a. Pop Harukaze, from the Japanese anime series ''

Ojamajo Doremi , alternatively titled ''Magical DoReMi'' in English, is a Japanese fantasy magical girl anime television series produced by Toei Animation. It focuses on a group of elementary school girls, led by Doremi Harukaze, who become wit ...

'' *Caitlyn Kiramman, the Sheriff of Piltover, a playable champion character in video game ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...

'' and character in the animated series ''

Arcane Arcane may refer to: Comics and literature * Anton Arcane, a DC Comics character * Arcane Jill Watson, a fictional character in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' franchise * Arcane literature, fictional literature in the Cthulhu Mythos ...

'' * Caitlin O'Shannessy, from the American television series ''

Airwolf ''Airwolf'' is an American action military drama television series. It centers on a high-technology attack helicopter, code-named '' Airwolf'', and its crew. They undertake various exotic missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War the ...

'' * Caitlin Pike, from American television series '' JAG'' *Caitlin Poythress, from the television series '' We Are Who We Are'' * Caitlin Ramirez, from ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''Th ...

'' * Caitlin Ryan, from the ''

Degrassi ''Degrassi'' is a Canadian teen drama television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler, that follows the lives of youths attending the eponymous secondary school in Toronto. Each entry since 1987 has taken place in the same contin ...

'' television series * Caitlin Seeger, main character of the US-Canadian live action children’s drama ''

Caitlin's Way ''Caitlin's Way'' (entitled as ''Just a Kid'' for broadcasts in Australia/New Zealand and British dependencies and ''Caitlin, Montana'' in French for broadcasts in Canada/France and dependencies) is a teen drama television series that aired fro ...

'' * Caitlin Snow (also known as Killer Frost) from the CW's ''

The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...

'' and

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

Catelyn Stark Catelyn Stark (née Tully), later known as Lady Stoneheart, is a fictional character in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin and its television adaptation ''Game of Thrones''. She is a promi ...

, from the ''

A Song of Ice and Fire ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of high fantasy novels by the American author George R. R. Martin. Martin began writing the first volume, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and published it in 1996. Martin, who originally envisioned the ser ...

'' book series and

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

* Caitlin the Streamlined Engine, a recurring character in the television series ''

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' is a British children's television series which aired from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on ''The Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, the series was developed for ...

'' *

Caitlin Todd Caitlin "Kate" Todd is a fictional character featured in the CBS television drama '' NCIS'' portrayed by Sasha Alexander, appearing in 49 episodes of the series. Alexander made her series debut in the episode "Yankee White", before departing th ...

, from the American television series ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

Other uses of the name

* Typhoon Caitlin (disambiguation), two tropical cyclones

References

{{Given name Irish-language feminine given names Feminine given names