Kathy

Kathy is a girl's and boy's baby name of Greek origin, a diminutive of Katherine, which traces back through Latin and Old French to the Greek Aikaterine. The exact Greek etymology is debated — it may link to katharos ("pure") or to the goddess Hecate.

Kathy was a top-20 name in the U.S. during the late 1950s and early 1960s, part of a cluster of K-names — Karen, Kim, Kelly — that dominated that generation. It has the friendly, approachable quality of mid-century American naming, and Kathy Bates has kept the name in the spotlight with her formidable film career.