445 Global CATHERINE Family Members

CATHERINE Family History

This most interesting surname is of French origin, and is a metronymic form of the female personal name Catherine, thought ultimately to derive from the Old Greek word "katharos", pure, clean. The first known bearer was the 4th Century St. Katherine of Alexandria, who according to legend was an Egyptian princess so learned that she confounded the arguments of all the wise men of Egypt with her defence of Christianity, for which she was put to death. The name was introduced to Europe by the Crusaders and became widespread in England in the 12th Century in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest, from the Old French "Caterine, Cateline and Catharine"...