Word Origin & History
Catherine
fem. proper name, from M.L. Katerina, from Gk. Aikaterina. The -h- was introduced 16c., a folk etymology from Gk. katheros "pure." The initial Gk. vowel is preserved in Rus. form Ekaterina. As the name of a type of pear, attested from 1641. Catherine wheel (c.1225) is named for St. Catherine of Alexandria, legendary virgin martyr from the time of Maximinus. Her name day is Nov. 25. A popular saint in the Middle Ages, which accounts for the popularity of the given name.
[kath-er-in, kath-rin] 
) 1684?–1727, Lithuanian wife of Peter the Great: empress of Russia 1725–27.