[1] The surname Cattley is said to be a transferred use of Catley, a one-time English place name in both Hertfordshire and Lincolnshire.

The place name was ultimately derived from the Old English words catte, meaning cat and leah, meaning meadow or clearing, giving the meaning “from the meadow or clearing where wildcats dwell.”[2] Another name for the Cattleya orchid is cat orchid.

[4][better source needed] The name was popularized by a character in the 2011 film Colombiana, a young girl who grows up to be an assassin who seeks vengeance for the murder of her parents.

Other variants of the name in use in the United States include Catalaya, Catalayah, Catalea, Cataleah, Cataleia, Cataleiya, Catalella, Cataleyah, Catalia, Cataliyah, Catelaya, Cateleya, Cathaleya, Cattalaya, Cattaleya, Cattleya, Katalaya, Katalea, Kataleah, Kataleia, Kataleigha, Kataleya, Kataleyah, Katalia, Kataliya, Kataliyah, Kathaleya, Kathalia, Kathaliya, Katilaya, Katliya, Kattalaya, Kattaleia, Kattaleya, and Kattleya.

Variant spelling Kataleya has been among the one thousand most popular names for newborn American girls since 2018.