"young cat," 1719, variant of kitten, perhaps influenced by kitty "girl, young woman" (c.1500), originally a pet form of fem. proper name Catherine. Kitty Hawk, N.C., apparently is a mangling of a native Algonquian name; it also has been written as Chicahauk.

"pool of money in a card game," 1887, probably from kit, n.1, in a sense of "collection of necessary supplies" (1833); but perhaps rather from northern England slang kitty "prison, jail, lock-up" (1825), of uncertain origin.