Comments on: Cat Names: What Do They Mean?

By: NANCY HOLLIS

NANCY HOLLIS — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:27:38 +0000

I have one named Boots because he has four white paws.
Another’s name is Rusty because he is a big orange tabby.
The third is Dinah – after Alice in Wonderland’s cat.

By: CatGenie Reviews

CatGenie Reviews — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:27:20 +0000

Interesting, I’ve never thought about it that way before! Thinking back on it now (and knowing in hindsight that I am a dog person, and not a cat person), my cats have always had non-human names such as Bandit and Tiger.

By: Kathi

Kathi — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:58:43 +0000

My cats are named (female), “Little Bit”. She was small and undernourished as a new kitten, and she is still very small for a cat. She is satiny grey in color. We call her “Widdles”, and she answers to that name more than Little Bit. This cat definitely has an “attitude” PLUS! If you scold her or swat at her, for bad behavior, she will argue back, as if to say, “Noooo, I didn’t do that, or Noooo, don’t get angry with me!” She is very loving toward me, in particular, but she will sit on my husband’s lap, but not very often. She is laying on my lap as I type this. I go online every night to check emails, and she climbs up and makes a bed on me while I surf the web and type, I found a stray cat one day, and seriously thought about keeping it. Once she spotted me holding this cat, she turned into a “demon” cat! She hid under the bed for two days, and finally the day after I gave the kitten away, she finally came out, but she would not lie on my lap until the following day! She hissed at everyone, including me, and she fought me when I tried to hold her, scratching and biting, as if I were a mean stranger!

My other cat, a former “farm” cat, is a boy named “Peek-a-Boo”, appropriately named after the fact that every time we visited my husband’s parents’ farm, she would peek out around an old freezer they kept in their garage, as if to see if we had brought food or something. Our parents offered us the cat, freely, so we brought him home. The other “demon” cat personality came out in the female cat, and it took a couple of weeks before she allowed his presence! She has now adopted him as a brother, and they play together just fine. He has never been able to meow properly, and sort of squeaks when when trying to do so. He jumps on our bed every night, when he sees me walk into the room, squeaks, and curls up on the bed, showing how handsome he is, and then proceeds to rub himself all over me, and coaxes me to pet him back. We also have a Toy Poodle, a Boston Terrier, and a Lab, all of whom require lots of attention. The cats love the dogs, and the dogs tolerate the cats! However, I would not take a million dollars for any or all of them! They are my livelihood, and I love them tremendously!

By: Cathy

Cathy — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:51:19 +0000

Spanky, name given by my husband when he first looked at him on the day we adopted him.
Angus, my choice of name for Spanky’s brother, because I love the name and it suits him.
The two brothers were to be euthanized and are now loved and pampered pets, who bring us much happiness.

By: Abby

Abby — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 23:38:56 +0000

Isis- (female, all black) Egyptian goddess
Duncan- (male, orange tabby) big red boy, so he needed a Scottish name
Bean- (female, buff and white) seemed to suit her as she was tiny when i adopted her
Pearl- (female, all white) self explanatory
Selkie- (female, gray and white) from Scottish mythology

By: Jenn

Jenn — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:59:14 +0000

Ragamuffin and Pava.

By: Candace

Candace — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:14:59 +0000

My cat was named Candy at the shelter. Her name is part of the reason why I chose her, that and her sweet disposition and her condition. She is a special needs cat with cerebellar hypoplasia. I don’t consider her my child, although she does answer to Baby Cakes. But, she has become a part of my family. Even my parents, who are not cat people by any stretch of the imagination, adore her. When the visit me, they spend most of their time playing with her! My parents thought I named her after myself, but I thought of her name as a sign that she was the cat for me.

By: Erica

Erica — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:43:29 +0000

Odin is my cat’s name. She is named after the Scandinavian god. When we brought her home she caught a cold and one of her eyes closed for a few days. Names can be very important to a cat’s personality. She is very much a part of the household and she rules the home very well. She is very much a part of our lives I do think of her as my little child and she thinks of me as her free meal ticket. It is a good balance.

By: Adrian

Adrian — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:56:54 +0000

My girls are named Penelope and Piper. Super gorgeous! Tremendously friendly! Emotive, tempermental and fiercely independent. They are more than just cats, they’re family members.
I love my girls!

By: Iva

Iva — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:12:45 +0000

Maestro earned his name. He showed up as maybe a 4 week old kitten and moved in under the bush beside the puppy yard. When the four dogs would go outside they made a beeline to his bush and started howling. They sounded like the unharmonious warm up that bands and orchestras do before the show, thus the Maestro. He was feral and it took awhile to catch him (to maintain peace and harmony in the ‘hood). He was starving, skin and bones, and very tiny but he never feared the dogs. They became his personal toys. The plan was to catch him and place him. That was 7 years ago and he is still here.

By: Steph E

Steph E — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:57:09 +0000

My lovely cat is named Attila… we went through a bit of a trend of naming our cats after warlords… first Erik the Red, then Attila the Hun.. next will probably be Genghis Khan.

Unfortunately Attila the Tonkinese is too much of a sook and a wuss to be much of a warlord, so we just call him Tilly and baby him.

By: iratecat

iratecat — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:11:13 +0000

My girlie’s name is Sierra, named after the mountain ranges she resembles, since she’s a tortoiseshell. I don’t think I’d ever give an animal a “normal” human name – it’s too boring. I also won’t name my pets after other people/characters/things/whatever, since I think every animal should be itself. My boyfriend’s cat’s name is Gandalf, though, and our puppy was almost named Nimitz, after the treecat in David Weber’s Honor Harrington series.

I was one of the “consider as family, but not as children.” I’m too young to have kids, anyway.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:35:39 +0000

The youngsters are Oliver and Zelda. Before I brought them home from the rescue organization I was thinking of Oliver and Emma (naming them after long-gone grandparents) but the girl was too feisty and lively and ENERGETIC to be named Emma and somehow Zelda popped into my head. I think her wild streak made me think of Zelda Fitzgerald. Oliver is just like a big soft squishy cuddly teddy bear so my original choice for him was perfect. Or purrfect.

Second oldest is Rudy, named after Rudolf Nureyev because he arches his back and bobbles on his toes like a ballet dancer and he’s very high strung, like a temperamental dancer.

The old man is Mac, short for Macbeth. He was a young stray when I took him in and for a while picked fights with my oldest cat at that time. A 2 AM dispute woke me up and as I dragged myself out of bed to break it up, the phrase “Macbeth has murdered sleep” popped into my head, so that became his name. It also lends itself to good nicknames for him – Big Mac and Mac Attack.

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:51:46 +0000

I named my two cats “Lily” and “Dottie” after silent film stars and sisters, Lillian and Dorothy Gish. Lily is small, but bright and assertive, while sister Dottie is an affectionate, gentle-giant of a cat. Lily often acts like a little person, and is very attached to me; a friend jokes that my “daughter” Lily and I have a cat named Dottie.

Someone came to work with a litter of kittens and I took two home. I never expected how much they’d come to mean to me, and I guess I do think of them as my “cat children.” I’d break down doors to get to them, if I had to.

The people who tease me about “cat children,” ironically, will also say my cats are spoiled. My reply is always “They SHOULD be spoiled!” Their entire life takes place in our apartment…it’s not like I’m trying to prepare them to get a job and make a life of their own out in the world. I spoil and indulge them whenever I can.

By: Mari

Mari — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:53:50 +0000

My girls have people names, and I have no doubt that in my case, it’s because I do think of them as my children. I even refer to them as my kitty-daughters. Isabel was so named because she is very much a beautiful princess. Maisie’s name fits her sweet and gentle yet playful personality.

By: gina

gina — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:38:50 +0000

My three beasts are:

Scout – an orange tabby – for my favorite novel, To Kill a Mockingbird
Tex – probably a turkish van/siamese mix – was rescued in Dallas
Marley – a one-eared calico – for my favorite musician, Bob Marley

No, they’re not my children – they are much too spoiled for that!

By: Becky

Becky — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:31:15 +0000

Our furbabies are Shade and Smudge, both are tuxedo cats. Smudge was easy to name because of the white and black smudge on his nose and on his belly. For Shade we went through several other names, but settled on Shade. My daughter and I really love reading the Warrior cat books and somehow it didn’t seem right to give our new kittens human names. These boys are definately a part of the family, almost (but not quite) as much as our 2 human children.

By: Vyvo

Vyvo — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:47:24 +0000

We named our first Russian Blue, Earl Grey. Which quickly turned into Early, then Early Bird then Birdie. After he passed away, we got another Russian Blue, the naming of which we left to internet crowd sourcing (Nameit.com), and ended up with Greisha (Grey + Geisha).

By: Kaitlin

Kaitlin — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:17:24 +0000

We have two buff tabbies, Piper and Toby. Piper got her name from the shelter and we gave Toby his name. They are definitely part of the family and we love spoiling them!

By: A Few Good Cats

A Few Good Cats — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 01:15:17 +0000

Kelly (1995-2008) – A stray who adopted us after coming and going for a week, like a Kelly Temp.
Lizzie – My wife was following the Pride and Prejudice miniseries when we adopted this cat in 1996, and she named her for Lizzie Bennet.
Caitie – Just liked the sound of the name, no real significance.
Nicky – Adopted close to Christmas (St. Nick).

By: Jane

Jane — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:49:46 +0000

I have 30 rescue kids and they all have human names–Sam, Barney, Sebastian, Preston, Julian, Pressley, Spencer, Milo, Jenny, Johnny, Eddie, Tommy, Marky, Bonnie, Billie, Amos, Arthur, Cliffton, Marlie, Dyson, Jordan, Morgan, Taylor, Emily, Rosie, Lulu, Mikey, Pete, Ginger, and George.

By: Jany

Jany — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:28:10 +0000

the cat that meant the most to me was my first cat, MIA, which in italian meant MINE. she was all mine and I didnt have to share her with anyone. Gosh, how I loved that cat. she was a seal point siamese and had the personality that no other cat of mine, after that surpassed. All my cats were/are special but Mia and I had a really special bond.

By: Bianca

Bianca — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:24:37 +0000

I have three cats, 1 boy and 2 girls. Since he’s the only boy of the family I named him Bink. The girls are called Noor and Sienna. Noor is, as her name would suggest, a real girl (with her crazy 5 minutes every now and then). Sienna had a rocky start, so I tried to compensate with a lovely name. She, however, has other ideas! So her name is now turned into Mientje or sometimes Mienemuis.
I don’t know if there is a correlation between how we see our cats and there name. They are just what they are….totally irresistable!!

By: Em

Em — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:34:41 +0000

My husband has started a tradition of naming all the animals we raise together after communists (don’t ask). We adopted our 2 kitties (who I definitely consider to be my babies) together from the pound about 3 years ago- Chairman Meow and Fidel Cat-stro. They are both girls, and we call them Mao and Fifi for short. Although they actually go by many other nicknames… “mew-mew”, “mamacita”, “mom-teeta”, “neeners”, “soo-soo”… whatever I feel like calling them at the moment, really. Our 7 month old chow mix puppy is named Che Growl-vera, but Che for short. Or “chachie”, “chompski”, “wiener”, “it”….

By: jpt

jpt — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:30:44 +0000

I have two cats and they are part of my family, but not my children. Both of my cats have human names.
Fritz is a large, orange tabby that started out as a crazy orange farm-kitten. I named him after my favorite composer, Frederic Chopin. Though I thought about calling him Fred, Fritz just seemed to fit him better.
Ernest is a black and white tuxedo cat that was born in a feral cat colony. He was named after the explorer, Ernest Shackleton. Ernest has definitely lived up to his name! He’s always poking his nose in the dustiest places in the apartment!