Catlin
A surname from the feminine given name Catherine, meaning “little Catherine” or “child of Catherine.”
The #6,940 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 63,909 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Catlin is generally treated as an English surname formed from the pet form Cat or Kate, ultimately from Catherine. The name likely began as a diminutive or affectionate form, so its sense is roughly “little Catherine” or “descendant of Catherine.” Some older writers also wondered about a link with Latin Cataline/Catiline or even other names, but the Catherine derivation is the standard explanation.
History
The surname is recorded in several spellings, including Catlin, Cateline, Catling, and Catelyn. English surname scholars have long noted it as a common form in many counties, and related variants spread to North America; the spelling Catling is also associated with the surname behind the Gatling gun inventor Richard Gatling. Because Catherine was a very popular medieval personal name, surnames from it could arise independently in more than one place.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books sometimes used Catlin to illustrate how a feminine forename could generate a hereditary surname, which was less common than patronymic names from men.
From the historical record
“Yorkshire. CATLIN. CATELIN. CATLING. This name reminds one of that of the Roman incendiav}' Cataline, as Fuller sug- gests. Worthies ii. 231. It may possibly belong to the same class as Cato, Cajsar, Virgil, Sec. Its forms in theH.R. are Cate- lyn and Catoline. CATMORE. CATMUR. Catmere, co. Berks.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom