The Most Fantastic Cat Names Ever? Bring Them On!

[cassiopea]

I love your idea of naming kitties after real-life feline heroes! Here are two others I found:

Matt- Male- The name given to the 10-month-old black-and-white kitten who climbed the Matterhorn in 1950

Félicette- Female- The first cat in space

Love it! (And thank you!)

 

[weebeasties]

cassiopea , not just great names but a very interesting history lesson!

 

[Ardina]

Plumpkin - either. Always thought it would work great for a chubby orange cat.

 

[SeventhHeaven]

Halo, Youyou, Indy, Porsha, Endora, Nina, female kitty
Tail gate, Guage, Gillette, Smudge, Bamboo, Balloo, Chevy male
met a sealpoint called 'Church'
But of course the Nicknames are the Real important ones

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Derring-Do - male or female - Daring, heroic or reckless action or deeds.

It may be a good name for a cat belonging to one of the more active and energetic breeds.

 

[neely]

Mistletoe and Noel - Either - for a cat adopted during the holiday season

Mr. Mistoffelees - Male, from the musical Cats - black cat that is magical

 

[Yvonne_]

Victoria or Grizabella - from Cats the musical
Thomas O'Malley (for a ginger cat) or Duchess (for a white cat) - from the Aristocats
Si and Am for two Siamese cats - from Lady and the Tramp

 

[Margret]

Narknon - Female? Maybe either - Large hunting cat from the book The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. The cat in the book was female, but the name was never translated and there was no indication that it was strictly a female name. A fantasy reader might like this name.

Other fictional cats:

• Midnight Louie/Midnight Louise (depending on the cat's gender) from the Midnight Louie series by Carole Nelson Douglas. Appropriate for black cats.
• Spot - either - from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The television Spot was female, but the name is gender neutral. Stereotypically, Spot would be a dog's name, but both S.F. fans and those who enjoy irony might like having a cat named Spot.
• Joe Grey - male - appropriate for a grey tom cat. From the Joe Grey series, by Shirley Rousseau Murphy.
• Dulcie - female - Appropriate for an especially sweet-tempered cat. From the Joe Grey series, by Shirley Rousseau Murphy.
• Sneaky Pie - either - the name of Rita Mae Brown's cat, whom she credits as a co-author on many of her mysteries. (Note: this is [or was -- Rita Mae Brown's been writing a long time] a real cat, just one who's associated with a novelist.)
• Courtney - female - A calico kitten from the Joe Grey series, by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. An old soul in the body of a kitten, and through all of her lives she has been a calico. A kitten destined for some unspecified future greatness.
• Kit - female, in the books - a young tortie from the Joe Grey series, by Shirley Rousseau Murphy.
• Pan - male - Kit's mate from the Joe Grey series, by Shirley Rousseau Murphy.
• Hobbes - male - especially appropriate for a rambunctious hellion of a tom who has tiger coloration and markings. The toy tiger who comes to life in the imagination of Calvin, from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip by Bill Watterson.

Anne , I don't know about the legalities here; you may need permission from the various authors and/or publishers to include their cat names in a book. My feeling is that most of them would give it with no problems as long as you also include proper attribution, since it amounts to free publicity.

Margret

 

[Columbine]

Just noting that the Cats musical names are actually from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - an anthology of cat poetry (I think aimed at childred) by T S Eliot The musical is based on/inspired by the poems.

That book has a special place in my heart - apparently it was the first time I showed interest in reading. Aged 3, I picked it up and demanded to be taught how to read it

(Sorry for slight digression Anne )

 

[ashade1]

We had a three legged cat come to our rescue, she was named Mittsu- it is the Japanese word for three!
Also Minnie and Mickey are good names for black and white cats- derivative of Minnie and Mickey Mouse!
These are the first ones that have come to my mind... more to come later!

 

[raysmyheart]

Pearl - - - - - female - - - - -a gem of the ocean
Blueberry - - -M/F - - - - - - a cute little fruit
Robin - - - - - M/F - - - - - - this name may be good if the cat has blue eyes and if the name reminds you of robin eggs
Sweet Pea - - - F - - - - - - -endearing name, but remember the plant can be harmful if eaten.
Cinnamon - - - M/F - - - - - a spice, could be used for any cat.

 

[ileen]

If we're doing names from TS Eliot's Cats:
Bustopher Jones - male - fat cat
Rumtum Tugger - male - alpha, curious
Deuteronomy - male - old friendly cat
Jennyanydots - female
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer - male duo troublemakers
Macavity - male - mysterious cat
Gus - male - theater cat
Skimbleshanks - male - railway cat
From The Naming of Cats:
Peter, Augustus, Alonzo, James, Victor, Jonathan, George, Bill Bailey
Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter
Munkustrap, Quaxo, Coricopat, Bombalurina, Jellylorum

Different languages words for cat
Kedi - Turkish
Gato - Spanish, Gatito-little male cat, Gatita-little female cat
Chat - French

By behavior traits:
cats that meow a lot - name after opera singers (or your favorite singer)
Luciano, Pavarotti, Caruso, Leontyne

particularly graceful cats - name after dancers
Baryshnikov, Misha, Nureyev, Farrell

 

[Willowy]

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer - male duo troublemakers

I dunno, in various productions of Cats I've seen they're usually male/female. Does it say in the poem? I'll have to find my book. I'm not sure who's who though, lol. Probably Mungojerrie is the male just because of the "jerrie" part.

ETA: the poem does call them "plausible fellows", whether that's a clue or not. I wonder why the play prefers male/female? Maybe the acrobatics?

Macavity - male - mysterious

Ah, but where did he get those kittens? That's the mysterious part .

I once met a couple of cats named Mousy Tongue and Beau Thai. I thought that was funny.

 

[weebeasties]

In the literary vein...the late, great, Terry Pratchett was a friend of felines and had a few cat characters in his books.

Greebo - Male - Large tomcat, VERY tough, feared by man and beast, known to have killed 2 vampires, briefly turned into a human in "Witches Abroad", owned by Nanny Ogg who still sees him as a kitten and calls him "an old softy".

Ratbag - Male - Minor character in "Wee Free Men".

Maurice - Male - Main character in "The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" who was the brains behind the Pied Piper.

You - Female - Small white cat owned by the witch, Granny Weatherwax, who has a very large personality.

 

[Norachan]

There are some great names here. I'm bookmarking this thread, I'm always on the lookout for new names for foster kittens.

I tend to go for nouns as cat names, easy to remember, easy to call and they usually give people a smile.

Some of my favourites are;

Button.
Blanket
Carpet.
Corduroy.
Carwash (The cat from the children's stories Will-O-The Wisp)
Dumpling.
Pudding.
Tan Po Po. (This is my absolute favourite name, reserved for the next ginger cat I come across. It's Japanese for Dandelion and can be shortened to Po Chan, which is pretty cute)

It's probably already been suggested, but I really like Loki, the God of mischief, and Kairos, the God of qualitative time (As opposed to chronological time. We have the God Chronos for that.)

A couple of classic Japanese cat names; Tama, which means Ball and Maru, which means round. Most cats are really good at turning themselves into fluffy, round balls, so these names work well

 

[Margret]

weebeasties , I considered Greebo and decided it was a bad luck name, but was unable to remember the others . Thank you for mentioning them.

Anne , if you've never read the Discworld novels by Sir Terry Pratchett, then:

1. You should; they're great.
2. Entire packs of wolves whimper like puppies and run away when Greebo looks in their general direction. He's also the father of virtually all kittens in and near the village where he lives.

I once knew a couple who said that they wanted children, but only if it could be guaranteed that the children would be like Calvin, of the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip, which, in my opinion, is insane. I tend to put wanting a cat like Greebo in the same category.

What do people think of Grim Squeaker as a cat name? It could work for a good mouser. (One Discworld character is Death, who is an atypical anthropomorphism of death -- He looks like a skeleton wearing a black robe and hood, carrying a scythe, and riding a white horse, but the horse is named "Binky." Death speaks in all caps. The Grim Squeaker is the Death of Rats. He appears to be a rodent skeleton who wears a black robe and hood, carries a scythe, and has a mount -- in his case a raven named Quoth. And he also speaks in all caps, but he has only one line: "SQUEAK." If it's important Quoth translates for him.)

I should mention that we have members who have cats named for non-feline characters from Discworld:

• Angua (Female - Angua is a Werewolf {!} and a member of the Ankh Morpork Night Watch, the premier police force on the Disc).
• Carrot (Male - also a member of the Night Watch, and Angua's boyfriend -- Carrot is a rather tall young man who considers himself to be a Dwarf because he was adopted and raised by Dwarves. Also, Carrot may be the heir of the long-defunct royal family of Ankh Morpork, but he's uninterested in pursuing this possibility.)
• Ruby (Female - a troll who looks rather like a stone age fertility goddess).

I think there are some others but they don't spring to mind at the moment.

Margret

 

[Margret]

Ooh! Now there's a name from Discworld: Cohen the Barbarian - Male - Cohen is an elderly man with a long white beard who wears nothing but a loincloth and sandals and has conquered entire kingdoms. He has a set of dentures made of diamonds. At one time, as a result of all that conquering, he was an emperor but he abdicated because he was bored and wanted to go back to being a barbarian. In some ways Cohen seems to be the essence of cattitude -- he gets the human equivalent of the zoomies, he enjoys luxury (the diamond dentures) when he can get it without giving up his fun, despite his ferocious exterior he has a good heart, and within those limitations it's very hard to predict what he'll do next (nobody saw the dentures coming, for instance).

Margret

 

[Anne]

I love Terry Pratchett! As it happens, I'm going through all Discworld novels one at a time again these days (just started Sourcery!)

Thanks for the awesome suggestions, everyone! Do keep them coming!

There are no copyright concerns with mentioning a fictional character's name. It's as derivative a work as can be

 

[amee b]

We've had a norwegian forest cat Mus (moose)- Wolof for cat.
Pippilotta - beautiful white tabby. I miss her a lot but she suited her scandinavian name.
And currently have Yoshi ( who my kids named) which apparently means good.

 

[golondrina]

Sombra (shadow in spanish)
Carbon (coal in spanish) Good name for a black cat)
Jazmin (jasmine " " )