Katrina

Meaning and origin

Katrina is an English form of Scottish Gaelic Caitrìona, a member of the Katherine family. It is traditionally associated with “pure,” through Greek katharos, although the earliest origin of Katherine is disputed.

The older name appears in Greek as Aikaterine. Its association with purity developed in the early Christian period and influenced the Latin spelling Katharina. Katrina carries that familiar traditional meaning while giving the name a distinct Scottish and English form.

The wider family became well established in Europe through devotion to Saint Catherine of Alexandria. Katherine and Catherine have been common English forms since the Middle Ages, with Katrina belonging to the many later and regional forms of the same enduring name.

Pronunciation and familiar forms

Katrina is pronounced kuh-TREE-nuh in English, with three syllables and the emphasis on the middle one. Its strong tree sound and final a distinguish it from the more compressed rhythm of Katherine.

Trina is an established short form. Catrina, Catriona, and Katriona are close relatives, while Caitrìona preserves the Scottish Gaelic spelling behind the English form. These names make the Scottish branch of the family especially visible.

Further afield, the family includes Italian Caterina, Spanish Catalina, German Katharina, and Russian Ekaterina. Katrina shares their history while keeping a relatively compact seven-letter spelling. It also offers a longer formal counterpart to Trina without changing the central sound of that familiar form.

Katrina in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Katrina Van Tassel is a central character in Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. She is the daughter of a prosperous Dutch farmer and attracts the attention of schoolmaster Ichabod Crane as well as his rival, Brom Bones.

Ichabod’s interest is entangled with his admiration for the Van Tassel farm and the inheritance Katrina will receive. Irving surrounds the courtship with descriptions of food, farmland, local gatherings, and the stories told in the community around Sleepy Hollow.

The rivalry becomes part of the background to Ichabod’s encounter with the Headless Horseman. After Ichabod disappears, Brom marries Katrina, leaving readers to consider his knowing reaction to the tale. This gives the name a lasting connection with an American literary story rooted in the Hudson Valley’s Dutch setting.

Modern associations and American popularity

Hurricane Katrina, the destructive storm of 2005, is another widely recognized association. The name was subsequently retired from the Atlantic storm lists.

As a personal name, Katrina had its largest American annual count well before that storm: 3,397 girls received it in 1980. Its best national rank was number 87 in 1982.

Katrina ranked number 1,133 for American girls in 2015, number 1,584 in 2020, and number 2,226 in 2025. Those figures place its strongest American use in the late twentieth century.

How popular is Katrina?

In 2025, Katrina ranked #2,226 among girls in the United States, with 83 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1895; its largest annual count was 3,397 in 1980. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.