| Gaelic form | Catrìona |
| Pronunciation | ka-TREE-na |
| Meaning | Pure; unsullied |
| Language origin | Scottish Gaelic |
Catriona is the Scottish Gaelic form of Catherine, from the Greek Aikaterina. The name has been in continuous use in Scotland since the medieval period. It gained particular literary fame through Robert Louis Stevenson's 1893 novel Catriona, the sequel to Kidnapped. Stevenson used the name for his Highland heroine, fixing it in the popular imagination as the definitive Scottish female name.
Catherine in its Gaelic form Catrìona was one of the most common female names in Highland Scotland from the medieval period onward. The pattern of stress — ka-TREE-na — differs entirely from the English pronunciation of Catherine, which is how you know you're saying it the Scots Gaelic way. The name remains popular throughout Scotland today, both in Gaelic-speaking communities and elsewhere.
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Find Your Scottish Clan → Read Love Scotland — FreeCatriona is found across all the major Highland clans — MacDonald, Campbell, MacKenzie, and Ross among them. It is particularly associated with the western Highlands and the Isle of Skye, where Gaelic culture was most resilient.
Catriona Matthew — Scottish professional golfer, European Solheim Cup captain. Catriona Rowntree — Australian television presenter of Scottish descent. Catriona MacColl — Scottish actress.
Scottish emigrants took Catriona to Nova Scotia, New Zealand, and Australia. In Cape Breton — where Gaelic was spoken as a community language until the twentieth century — Catriona remained in use long after it had become rare in Scotland itself.