For the past year I've been compiling famous names to list on my name numerology website. These are all noted individuals, but who are the most famous? Today let's count down the most famous women named Catherine, Katherine, Cathy, and Kathy.

The most famous people (based on online chatter) with the first name Catherine, Katherine, Cathy, or Kathy are:

10. Catherine Cookson - Author (The Hamilton series, The Tilly Trotter trilogy, The Mallen trilogy)

9. Kathy Hilton - Socialite and mother Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton

8. Catherine Hardwicke - Film Director (Twilight, Lords of Dogtown, Thirteen)

7. Catherine Deneuve - Actress (The Last Metro, Indochine, Belle de Jour)

6. Kathy Najimy - Actress (Veronica's Closet, King of the Hill, Sister Act)

5. Katherine Harris - Politician, former controversial Florida Secretary of State

4. Catherine Tate - Actress (Doctor Who, The Catherine Tate Show, Wild West)

3. Katherine Jenkins - Musician (Time to Say Goodbye, Green Green Grass of Home, Bring Me To Life)

2. Kathy Griffin - Actress, Comedian and Media Personality (Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Hollywood Squares, Suddenly Susan)

...and the most famous woman named Catherine, Katherine, Cathy, or Kathy is...

1. Katherine Heigl - Actress (Grey's Anatomy, Knocked Up, The Ugly Truth)

Not making the top 10 list were Cathy Dennis - Musician and Songwriter (Toxic, About You Now, I Kissed a Girl), Cathy Guisewite - Cartoonist (Cathy daily Comic Strip), Cathy Rigby - US Olympic Gymnast and Actress, Catherine Bell - Actress (JAG, Army Wives), Catherine Bennet - Character in the Jane Austin novel Pride and Prejudice, Catherine Crier - TV Host (Catherine Crier Live, Crier Today, The Crier Report), Catherine Earnshaw - Character in Emily Bronte's novel Wuthering Heights, Catherine Howard - Fifth wife of King Henry the Eighth of England, Catherine Keener - Actress (Being John Malkovich, Capote, Lovely and Amazing), Catherine Ohara - Actress (Home Alone, Best in Show, The Nightmare Before Christmas), Catherine Parr - Sixth and last wife of King Henry the Eighth of England, Catherine Tramell - Character in the movie Basic Instinct, Kathy Bates - Actress (Misery, Titanic, Primary Colors), Kathy Ireland - Model and Designer (Sports Illustrated, Kathy Ireland Worldwide), Kathy Lette - Author and Journalist (Puberty Blues, Foetal Attraction, Mad Cows), Kathy Reichs - Author (The Bones Series including Bare Bones, Break No Bones, 206 Bones), Kathy Whitworth - Professional Golfer (Three LPGA Championships, Two Titleholders Championships, One Western Open), Katherine Moennig - Actress (The L Word, Young Americans, Three Rivers).

An excellent mix of occupations for the Catherine, Katherine, Cathy, and Kathy with one musician (Jenkins), one politician (Harris), one film director (Hardwicke), one socialite (Hilton), one author (Cookson), and five actresses (Heigl, Griffin, Tate, Najimy and Deneuve).

I compiled this list by searching for each of the Catherines, Katherines, Cathys, and Kathys on a number of search engines and ranking them by the number of web pages, discussion forums, photos, videos, etc that are available online.