How did you name your cat?

There are so many different ways to name a cat. In this post I am more interested in the process of naming a cat than the name itself although they are closely related.

For instance, I tend to name cats on gut feel and sound. The name reflects the character and appearance of the cat and comes straight from me, not via a list of names on the Internet. That process does not necessarily result in better names. It does, however, result in a name that speaks to the person who created the name. It has meaning.

Missie My Late Lady Cat

So, I gave the name, “Missie”, to my late lady cat. In human, female, terms she was “petite” but athletic. A pert, opinionated lady. “Missie” seemed to fit that character and appearance. There is a phrase, “she is a right miss” not often used, but it means she is a female with attitude. “Missie” is an extension of “miss”.

Naming a cat
Naming a cat

Missie had a brother. He was a big, friendly, relatively lumbering cat. I called him “Boo Boo”. No idea where that name came from 😉 Out of the deepest recesses of my brain. Perhaps there was some cinematic influence. I am thinking of the human name “Bubba”. It seems to apply to a decent but poorly educated young American man. Bubba sounds a bit like Boo Boo. Perhaps that is where I go the name from.

Inherited Name

Sometimes we inherit a cat’s name. “Charlie” was given his name by my late mother. I believe it is a fitting name. The name is a different style or type to the one I would normally provide. It is a human name. I tend to go for sounds rather than real names.

After an Event

Sometimes, rarely, we name our cat after an event. There is a case in the newspaper today of a ginger kitten trapped inside a cavity wall for days. The rescuers named him Macavity! Neat name.

Examples

Cal calls her cat “Mr Shrimpster” or “Shrimp” for short.  That is a visual name similar to my method of naming. The name conjures up a vision of a small cat, perhaps curled up, vulnerable etc. but with a bit of attitude when the “Mr” is added. I’d like to hear from Cal in a comment as to how she came up with the name.

Marc called his beloved red tabby cat “Red”. This name suits the coat color, of course, so the inspiration, in part, came from that. Also, for me, “Red” conjures up an image of a dynamic or strong willed male human. That image probably comes from Red Adair the person who put out oil well fires. I also think of John Wayne! LOL. He played the role of Red Adair in a movie once.

Purebred

When you keep an exotic purebred cat such as a Siamese, there might be a desire to use a Thai name. There are some good short ones.

Short Names

Short names of a maximum of two syllables would seem to be best because you can say them faster. The length of the name is another factor in deciding a name. It is a factor that is probably used instinctively. “Red”, “Shrimp”, “Missie” are all short.

Do you ever name your cat and then, over time, dream up nicknames (or they just arrive out of your head) and gradually, little by little, the name evolves into something different?

Binnie

My late lady cat “Binnie” was initially named “Judders”, which is a slightly odd and harsh name for a lady cat. Not very feminine, either. The name “Judders” was born out of the fact that I found her under a car sheltering from the rain on a cold night. We saw each other, I spoke to her and her tail started to judder excitedly. I named her after that initial moment. Inspiration for a name can come from the initial meeting. Perhaps it always should. First impressions count. Sometimes the best comes first, on the first take.

If you trawl through a whole pile of internet cat names and select one, it is a very dry, rather stale process. I am not saying it is necessarily a bad way. Each person has their own method.

However, inspiration for a cat’s name is best plucked out of one’s own brain from a blank sheet using one’s heart.

41 thoughts on “How did you name your cat?”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. well with my cats names. I just named after what they kinda looked like. Like Smokey i thought at first he was a smokey cat, but later found he was just a tabby and white cat. He was soo cute as a kitty wish i had of kept some photos :(. Then Rebel was already been named as with tiger and ozzie so i wanted to keep their orginal names as they were used to that. As tiger liked to suckle we nicknamed him suckles which he answers too as well. I had a friend whos name was cassandra, her colours and being tabby. I had other cats one i named blackas as with his black and white colours like marcs cat gigi. I think its nice to personalise a cat kinda human.

  3. Years ago when my hair was longer I would sit in a chair and swing my braid around and my friend’s cat Zach would go crazy pouncing on it and jumping for it. I don’t really like the name Zach for a cat, but I never told him. Two syllable names just seem better. Zach was a good kitty who would stay with me when his people went out of town. I’m sure my house still smelled of Zach when Monty came here to live here.

  4. That’s so awesome that she did the locks of love thing. I tried, but they didn’t want middle aged hair starting to go gray no matter how long, so now I’m 44 with waist length hair still like some kind of aging hippie chick. Not very professional. I could have parted with it for a good cause, but it’s hard to admit and act my age. Long hair past 40 is inappropriate. But I can’t seem to get up the nerve to chop it off.

Leave a Comment

follow it link and logo