How to Name Your Cat
Ideas for Naming the New Male or Female Kitty Cat in Your Life
When a new cat or kitten comes into your life, one of your first tasks is to pick out a name. Pet names can be fun because you can be as creative or as ordinary as you like. Unlike with babies, you don't have to worry about whether to give your cat an uncommon or a popular name. As long as you set out food, the cat could care less what name is engraved on the bowl! Here are some suggestions to help give your sweet new feline friend a terrific moniker.
1) Descriptive Names. A traditional and truly adorable way to name a cat is to find a name that describes your kitty's physical or personality characteristics. These kinds of names are always popular. Here are some examples:
- Alley (or Allie)
- Angel
- Boots
- Calico (or Callie)
- Fluffy
- Frisky
- Ginger
- Midnight
- Patches
- Paws
- Shadow
- Smokey
- Snowball
- Socks
- Tabby (or Tabitha)
- Tiger
2) A Cat in Any Language. Another way to name your feline friend is to use the word for "cat" in another language, like these:
- Besseh (Arabic)
- Catua (Basque)
- Chat (French-- "chaton" is kitten)
- Chatul (Yiddish)
- Gato (Spanish and Portuguese) or Gatto (Italian and Polish)
- Katze (German)
- Kissa (Finnish)
- Koshka (Russian)
- Mah-oh (Thai)
- Miu (Chinese)
- Neko (Japanese)
- Paka (Swahili)
- Pisica (Romanian)
- Popoki (Hawaiian)
- Pussi (Eskimo)
3) Old Lady & Old Man Names. There's something really cute about giving a cat a cat an "old" name. Try these out:
- Arthur
- Bertha
- Delores
- Doris
- Frederick
- Gertrude
- Leonard
- Mabel
- Max
- Norton
- Phyllis
- Sam
- Seymour
- Sheldon
- Sherman
- Shirley
- Silas
- Stewart
- Walter
- Wallace
- Wilmar
4) Famous Kitty Names. People name their babies after famous people, so why not name your kitty after a celebrity cat? Famous tigers, lions, and other big cats make good namesakes too. Here are some suggestions:
- Cat (the cat in Breakfast at Tiffany's)
- Cheshire
- Felix
- Fritz
- Garfield
- Heathcliff
- Hobbes
- Hot Dog (Dennis the Menace's cat)
- Morris
- Orion (the cat from Men in Black)
- Puss N Boots
- Salem (Sabrina the Teenage Witch's cat)
- Shiimsa (the cat in For Better or For Worse)
- Simba (or Nala, Mufasa, Sarabi, or other Lion King names)
- Socks (the Clintons' cat)
- Sylvester
- Tom
- Tony
5) Exotic Names. Celebrate the beauty of the cat with an exotic, mythological, or otherwise fabulous name. Here are some uncommon girl's names and uncommon boy's names to choose from, or try out one of these:
- Apollo
- Athena
- Calliope
- Calypso
- Daphne
- Electra
- Felicity
- Fiona
- Guinevere
- Lilith
- Merlin
- Nyssa
- Pandora
- Persephone
- Phaedra
- Phoenix
- Tatiana
- Ursula
6) Cute Character Names. If you don't want to name your cat after a famous feline, why not choose the name of an adorable cartoon character or Muppet for your little buddy? Try these out:
- Ariel (from The Little Mermaid)
- Blossom, Bubbles, or Buttercup (the Powerpuff Girls)
- Boots (or Tico, Benny, Isa, Swiper, or other Dora the Explorer character)
- Elmo (or Zoe, Ernie, Bert, Kermit, Grover or any other Sesame Street name)
- Gidget (the Taco Bell chihuahua)
- Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, or Michelangelo (the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
- Opus (from Bloom County)
- Papa Smurf (or other favorite Smurf)
- Pebbles (or Bamm Bamm)
- Snoopy (or Woodstock or Linus)
- Sponge Bob
- Tinky Winky (or Dipsy, Laa Laa, or Po)
