Catlin

Catlin is a surname of English origin and is used as a place name and in business corporate names. The most widely known bearer is George Catlin (1796–1872), an American painter and writer who documented Native American peoples in the United States during the 1830s and 1840s. His portraits and notes contributed to public interest in Indigenous cultures and helped preserve aspects of daily life and ceremony that might have otherwise been overlooked.

As a place name, Catlin designates several locations in the United States, including Catlin, Illinois, a village in Vermilion County. Other uses in geography are less commonly referenced in general sources but may appear in local maps and records.

In business, Catlin Group Limited was a British specialty insurer. In 2015, it merged with XL Group to form XL Catlin, a combined property and casualty insurer. In 2018, XL Catlin was acquired by American International Group (AIG), and the Catlin branding was largely integrated into AIG’s corporate structure. The Catlin name, when it appears today, typically appears in historical or corporate lineage contexts rather than as a current independent brand.

Overall, Catlin appears in cultural, geographic, and corporate contexts, often linked to history of exploration and ethnography, as well as to modern insurance industry lineage and corporate mergers.