MEANING & HISTORY
What does Catalina mean?
Catalina is the Spanish form of Katherine, ultimately from Greek Aikaterine. The ancient origin is debated, while association with katharos, pure, became important in early Christian interpretation.
Catalina therefore has a clear Katherine-family formation even though pure is a traditional later association rather than a settled original root. Saint Catherine helped spread the family of names.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Spanish
- /kataˈlina/
- [ka.t̪aˈli.na]
Ca · ta · li · na4 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
CebuanoEtymology & source
a female given name from Spanish
Wiktionary: Catalina (Cebuano) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
Borrowed from Spanish Catalina.
A female given name from Spanish.
Wiktionary: Catalina (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
SpanishEtymology & source
Ultimately from Ancient Greek Αἰκατερίνη (Aikaterínē). Cognate with English Catherine, French Catherine, etc.
a female given name, equivalent to English Catherine
Wiktionary: Catalina (Spanish) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Catalina
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Katy de la Cruz
Filipino singer and actress (1907–2004)
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
10
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
3
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Katy de la Cruz, Catalina Evangelista
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Catalina in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Catalina
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Catalino♂Masculine counterpart of Catalina
- Carolina♀Latinate feminine of Carolus, in the Charles family
- Katarina♀Form of Katherine, later associated with purity
- Talina♀Shortened Catalina
- Adelina♀Affectionate form in the Adela family; noble
- Alina♀Short form of Adelina, Albina, or other -alina names
- Avelina♀Spanish feminine of Avelino; also a Germanic diminutive
- Caitlin♀English rendering of Irish Caitlín, from Katherine
What rhymes with Catalina?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
Explore Catalina further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q5051251 — Catalina (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Katy de la Cruz (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q5051251 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Catalina Evangelista (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q5051251 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Catalina (Cebuano) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Catalina (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Catalina (Spanish) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Catalina (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.
- Behind the Name: katherine (opens in a new tab)
Independent onomastic comparison and qualifications to the proposed origin.