Käthi as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Käthi

What is the meaning of the name Käthi ?

The baby name Käthi is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈkɛti/ (KEH-tee).

Käthi is German in Origin.

Käthi is a Swiss German diminutive of Katharina, ultimately from Greek Aikaterinē. The name is commonly interpreted as “pure,” via association with Greek katharos, though some scholars link it to Hekátē or a pre-Greek root. Devotion to Saint Catherine of Alexandria spread the root name across medieval Europe, and Alemannic dialects shaped affectionate short forms like Käthi with the -i ending.

Attested in parish registers from the 17th–19th centuries in Bern, Zurich, and Appenzell, Käthi functioned as a familiar call name and now occasionally stands alone on Swiss birth records. Pronounced KAE-tee, it appears as Käthy, Käti, or the older Kätli; outside Switzerland the umlaut is often rendered as Kaethi. Broader variants include Katharina, Katarina, Caterina, Catherine, Katherine, Kathryn, and Ukrainian Kateryna; diminutives span Kathi, Katja, Katia, Katie, Cathy, and Kitty, all carrying the long-standing “pure” association.

⚙ Käthi barely registers. Across 2 countries, we found just 2 recorded uses of it.