Kitty

English, diminutive of Katherine
"pure"

Kitty Origin and Meaning

The name Kitty is a girl's name of English origin meaning "pure".

This endearing nickname name is one Katherine pet form that predates all the Kathys and Katies, having been fairly common in the eighteenth century. With the current mini-craze for animal-related names, Kitty is sounding cute and cuddly again—she's already jumped back onto the U.K. list, at number 199.

Kitty was one of the Bennet sisters in Pride and Prejudice and was a character in Dickens's Bleak House; Ginger Rogers won an Oscar for her performance in Kitty Foyle, and vintage TV fans might remember the alluring Miss Kitty in Gunsmoke. Since then there have been pop culture Kittys galore, including Calista Flockhart's character on Brothers and Sisters, a mom on That 70's Show and Kitty Pryde, one of the X-Men.

Singer Kitty Carlisle was born Catherine, country singer Kitty Wells grew up as Muriel, and Presidential candidate's wife Kitty Dukakis was born Katharine.

A historical reference is Kitty Hawk, where the Wright brothers performed their aeronautical experiments.

Short form Kit has been used in recent years for several strong-willed movie heroines and may prove a lively alternative to Kate.

# 897 in the US

Kitty Rank in US Top 1000

# 699 on Nameberry

Kitty Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Kitty Popularity

Famous People Named Kitty

  • Catherine "Kitty" Carlisle
    American actress and singer
  • Caitlin "Kitty" Carruthers
    American figure skater
  • Kitty Peterkin
    English actress
  • Katherine Tupper "Kitty" Winn
    American actress
  • Kitty Flanagan
    Australian comedian, actor and writer
  • Ellen Muriel "Kitty" Wells
    American Country Music singer
  • Kitty Eleanor Spencer
    English model; daughter of Charles Spencer, Earl Spencer; niece of Diana, Princess of Wales
  • Jennifer "Kitty" Dunn
    drummer of American rock band Mindless Self Indulgence
  • Catherine Susan "Kitty" Genovese
    American 1964 murder victim
  • Kitty
    stage name of Kathryn,Leigh Beckwith, American rapper
  • Kitty Kallen (born Katherine Kalinsky)
    American pop singer
  • Kitty Lange Kielland
    Norwegian painter
  • Katharine "Kitty" Dickson Dukakis
    wife of U.S. politician Michael Dukakis
  • Katharine "Kitty" O'Shea
    English mistress of Irish political leader Charles Parnell
  • Kitty Székely (b. 2002)
    daughter of comedian/actor/writer Louis C.K.
  • Kitty Kemp (b.2017)
    daughter of actor Ross Kemp; twin of sister Ava

Kitty in Pop Culture

  • Catherine "Kitty" Bennet
    character in "Pride and Prejudice"
  • Hello Kitty
    popular cartoon character (real name Kitty White)
  • Miss Kitty Russell
    character on TV's "Gunsmoke"
  • Ekaterina "Kitty" Alexandrovna Scherbackaya (Levin)
    character in Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina"
  • Katherine "Kitty" Song Covey
    character in "To All the Boys I've Loved Before", "P.S. I Still Love You" and "Always and Forever, Lara Jean" by Jenny Han
  • Katherine "Kitty" Forman
    character on TV's "That '70s Show"
  • Kitty Montgomery
    Greg's mother on TV's "Dharma & Greg"
  • Kitty Sanchez
    character on TV's "Arrested Development"
  • Kitty Walker McCallister
    character on TV's "Brothers & Sisters"
  • Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde
    character in the X,Men series
  • Kitty Wilde
    character on TV's "Glee"
  • Kitty
    character in "What's Left of Me" by Kat Zhang
  • Kitty Skimpole
    character in Charles Dickens' "Bleak House"
  • Kitty Hawkins
    character on TV's "Mr. Selfridge"
  • Kitty Coleman
    character in "Falling Angels" by Tracy Chevalier
  • "Kitty
    " novel by Rosamond Marshall, 1945 movie and main character
  • Kitty Greenwood
    main character in novel "Kitty" by Warwick Deeping and 1929 movie
  • Kitty Winter
    character on TV's "Elementary"
  • Kitty
    Anne Frank's diary
  • Kitty Hawk
    North Carolina, site of the world's first airplane flight
  • Kitty Jones
    character in the "Bartimaeus" trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
  • Kitty Flaherty
    character in the "St Clare" book series by Enid Blyton
  • "Hello Kitty
    " song by Canadian singer Avril Ramona Lavigne
  • Kitty Pryor
    character in the webcomic "Riverside Extras" by Miri Chamberlain
  • Kitty Cheshire
    daughter of the Cheshire Cat in show and series "Ever After High"