How did the Katydid get its name and Where does the word “Katydid” come from?

The name of the American insect known as the Katydid is customarily said to be due to the repetitious sound produced by it, as if, over and over again, it were saying Katie did!

It does our heart good to be able to record that others also have not detected this flat statement in the creature’s stridulous tones.

To the naturalist John Bartram in 1751 the sound was Catedidist.

To Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, it was Chittediddle.

To a writer in Western Monthly Review in 1827 it was Cataded. And we have the notion that many would agree in saying that the sound is Kaykihet.