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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • German : metronymic from a pet form of the female personal name Katharina.
  • German : nickname from Low German Ketter ‘heretic’ (standard German Ketzer).
  • German : Austrian variant of the topographic name Köther, from Middle High German kote ‘hut’, ‘cottage of a day laborer’ (see Koth).
  • German : possibly a derivative of Middle High German keten(e) ‘chain’ (see Ketterer).
  • Dutch : nickname from Middle Dutch catter ‘heretic’. Compare 2 above.

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