The Most Fantastic Cat Names Ever? Bring Them On!

[Anne]

Thank you again, everyone! What a fantastic thread! I can't wait to put it all together into an article. May even do two - one for male names and one for female (I think the unisex ones will go into both).

 

[Kat0121]

I give pets human names. If I get any more girls, the names I have in my mind are Chloe and Juliette. For boys it would be Gabriel and Giovanni. Any of them would go well with Lilith and Sophie - let's just hope they get along.

 

[Margret]

I just found a new one: Pyewacket. A Siamese familiar to a modern-day (1958) witch, from the movie Bell Book and Candle, starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Jack Lemmon. I think the name could work for either sex and any breed, but I haven't yet seen the movie; it's about to come on TV and I'll report back after I've seen it.

Margret

 

[Margret]

Okay, for this to make any sense at all I have to give a movie review.

1. According to the pre-movie commentary, Bell Book and Candle was the inspiration for the television series Bewitched. However, there's no real resemblance, beyond the fact that they're each about a romance between a non-magical human man and a witch.
2. Jimmy Stewart was a great actor, but he gave the worst impression of a man allergic to cats that I have ever seen!
3. This movie has the screwiest "system" of magic I've ever heard of. It takes a witch or warlock to do magic, but they all do it differently. Kim Novak's character, Gillian 'Gil' Holroyd (pronounced with a hard "G," like a fish's gills) is totally dependent on her familiar, a male Siamese cat named Pyewacket, Pye for short. Gil tells Pyewacket what she wants, Pyewacket purrs, and Gil gets what she wants. When Gil really really wants something, she hums along while Pyewacket purrs.
4. According to the movie, witches and warlocks are incapable of love or tears. So, after Shepherd 'Shep' Henderson (played by Jimmy Stewart) discovers that Gil deliberately used magic to ruin his engagement on the eve of his wedding and make him fall in love with Gil, and gets another witch to break the spell (using a potion this time), and confronts Gil to break up with her, and Gil starts crying, Gil stops being a witch.
5. At this point Pyewacket runs away to Gil's Aunt Queenie Holroyd (played by Elsa Lanchester), because Pyewacket's primary identity is not house cat, it's familiar, and a familiar requires a witch or warlock.
6. So, Shep has moved out of the apartment where he lived, upstairs from Gil's shop, and cut off all contact with Gil. Gil is miserable, because she truly has fallen in love with Shep and now has no chance of winning him back. Queenie is none too happy about the situation, because she may not love anyone but she's loyal to family. Shep is miserable because he now has no one, and a sneaking suspicion that he could have loved Gil if she hadn't betrayed him that way, and Pyewacket is in the middle of all this misery. What to do, what to do?
7. Pyewacket apparently devises a plan of his own, though it isn't clear whether or not it's on the instructions of Queenie. It's a warm day, so the window is open in Shep's office (Shep is a publisher) just behind Shep's chair. Pyewacket either climbs the side of the building or levitates himself to the window behind Shep, which sets off Shep's cat allergy.
8. Shep recognizes Pyewacket and captures him in a waste basket to return him to Gil and tell her off for setting Pyewacket on him. He does so, and Gil explains that Pyewacket is now Queenie's familiar since she (Gil) is no longer a witch. She and Shep finally actually talk and fall mutually in love, for real this time. Voila! Happy ending, engineered by Pyewacket the cat/familiar.

So, does this make a good cat name? I don't know. It has a cool sound to it, but the fact that Pyewacket is primarily a familiar rather than a cat makes it feel doubtful.

Margret

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Margret , I found the main similarity between the movie and the series to be the dotty aunt who gets everything wrong, and the overbearing mama. But it is a fun movie, while having nothing whatsoever do to...well.

 

[Margret]

Margret , I found the main similarity between the movie and the series to be the dotty aunt who gets everything wrong, and the overbearing mama. But it is a fun movie, while having nothing whatsoever do to...well.

Yes, and there was one witch who had a hairdo that clearly inspired the depiction of Endora, and I think Uncle Arthur may have been based on Gil's brother Nicky, played by Jack Lemmon. But Samantha never needed a familiar to do magic, and didn't lose her powers because she fell in love. Also, of course, Bewitched was entirely set after they got married, while the movie was all about what led up to the marriage. But we're veering off-topic, which was not my intention when I posted a movie review.

Oh, another name from a book: Princess Killer Pinknose, PKP for short. Female. For a very aggressive cat. From Cats in Cyberspace and PKP for President, both by Beth Hilgartner. PKP for President is apparently also known as Prey-Part Politics.

Margret

 

[Boris Diamond]

The first cat I ever had I named Herschel. It must be a great name, because he was such an incredible cat! All I had to do was tell him once not to get on the counters and he never got on the counters. He never scratched or bit or smurgled. He was affectionate and sweet and was loved by all who met him. I still think of him warmly though he has been gone for 40 years.

 

[Margret]

He never scratched or bit or smurgled.

Smurgled? I'm not familiar with the term.

Margret

 

[Boris Diamond]

Smurgled? I'm not familiar with the term.

Margret

Smurgle - A singularly feline display of affection. The kneading, purring, nuzzling, or salivating that accompanies feline affection toward humans. Urban Dictionary: smurgle

I don't mind the purring and nuzzling, but the kneading can be painful and I would rather not be drooled on. I keep a box of tissues on the bed for when Leonid sits on my chest and smurgles.

 

[Margret]

Thanks!

Margret

 

[Kat0121]

I'm adding 2 more boy names to my list: Dante and Damian. I think they would be great for all black cats/kittens.

 

[abyeb]

Smurgle - A singularly feline display of affection. The kneading, purring, nuzzling, or salivating that accompanies feline affection toward humans. Urban Dictionary: smurgle

I don't mind the purring and nuzzling, but the kneading can be painful and I would rather not be drooled on. I keep a box of tissues on the bed for when Leonid sits on my chest and smurgles.

Hmm... how about Smurgles for a cat name?

Smurgles- either- best for an affectionate cat

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Smurgled? I'm not familiar with the term.

Margret

I cannot believe you have never "heard" me expound on TCS about smurgling! It is the reason that my right arm looks like I have a skin disease from elbow to bicep.

 

[artiemom]

Okay, for this to make any sense at all I have to give a movie review.

1. According to the pre-movie commentary, Bell Book and Candle was the inspiration for the television series Bewitched. However, there's no real resemblance, beyond the fact that they're each about a romance between a non-magical human man and a witch.
2. Jimmy Stewart was a great actor, but he gave the worst impression of a man allergic to cats that I have ever seen!
3. This movie has the screwiest "system" of magic I've ever heard of. It takes a witch or warlock to do magic, but they all do it differently. Kim Novak's character, Gillian 'Gil' Holroyd (pronounced with a hard "G," like a fish's gills) is totally dependent on her familiar, a male Siamese cat named Pyewacket, Pye for short. Gil tells Pyewacket what she wants, Pyewacket purrs, and Gil gets what she wants. When Gil really really wants something, she hums along while Pyewacket purrs.
4. According to the movie, witches and warlocks are incapable of love or tears. So, after Shepherd 'Shep' Henderson (played by Jimmy Stewart) discovers that Gil deliberately used magic to ruin his engagement on the eve of his wedding and make him fall in love with Gil, and gets another witch to break the spell (using a potion this time), and confronts Gil to break up with her, and Gil starts crying, Gil stops being a witch.
5. At this point Pyewacket runs away to Gil's Aunt Queenie Holroyd (played by Elsa Lanchester), because Pyewacket's primary identity is not house cat, it's familiar, and a familiar requires a witch or warlock.
6. So, Shep has moved out of the apartment where he lived, upstairs from Gil's shop, and cut off all contact with Gil. Gil is miserable, because she truly has fallen in love with Shep and now has no chance of winning him back. Queenie is none too happy about the situation, because she may not love anyone but she's loyal to family. Shep is miserable because he now has no one, and a sneaking suspicion that he could have loved Gil if she hadn't betrayed him that way, and Pyewacket is in the middle of all this misery. What to do, what to do?
7. Pyewacket apparently devises a plan of his own, though it isn't clear whether or not it's on the instructions of Queenie. It's a warm day, so the window is open in Shep's office (Shep is a publisher) just behind Shep's chair. Pyewacket either climbs the side of the building or levitates himself to the window behind Shep, which sets off Shep's cat allergy.
8. Shep recognizes Pyewacket and captures him in a waste basket to return him to Gil and tell her off for setting Pyewacket on him. He does so, and Gil explains that Pyewacket is now Queenie's familiar since she (Gil) is no longer a witch. She and Shep finally actually talk and fall mutually in love, for real this time. Voila! Happy ending, engineered by Pyewacket the cat/familiar.

So, does this make a good cat name? I don't know. It has a cool sound to it, but the fact that Pyewacket is primarily a familiar rather than a cat makes it feel doubtful.

Margret

Bell, Book & Candle is one of my Favorite!!! Favorite Movies.. I have it on DVD... love it..

There was a long time that it was not shown on TV.. then it was on everytime I turned around. I have not seen it listed on TV for a while...

It is a great fantasy...

 

[Margret]

In the Honor Harrington universe, begun by author David Weber though it's spun out to include other authors, is a species known as "treecats." Treecats are a sapient empathic/telepathic species who resemble Terran cats except that they're fully sapient, fully telepathic with each other and some humans, and because they evolved on a heavier planet than earth they have six legs. They also adore celery, because it contains nutrients that are needed for their telepathy to work properly. (Since their planet's year is five times as long as an earth year, and their planet is colder than corresponding areas of earth even in summer, treecats are particularly vulnerable to dietary deficiencies during the winter, when the plant that they normally get these nutrients from is unavailable.) Their front pair of feet have true hands, opposable thumbs and all, and some tree cats have a truly wicked sense of humor. Also, some, not all, treecats have a strong desire to bond with humans, and many bonded treecats die from grief when they lose their humans. Their normal lifespan is a great deal longer than a normal human lifespan, so this is a very real concern for them.

Here is a list of treecat names, with links to brief descriptions of the 'cats: Treecats

Margret

 

[Margret]

I saw a rerun of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation last night that featured a dead cat named "Schrödinger." (His human was a physicist. He was not dead because his human was experimenting on him.)

Margret

 

[debbila]

Chicquitita ( pronounced ' chee - kee - tee - ta ' )
Female, used as an endearment in Spanish for a beloved woman or girl
It's my current cat's name.
,
Mitzi - female, means ' wished - for child '
This was the name of my very first cat, as a young child. She was a seal point siamese.

 

[Brian007]

Years ago my mum had a 'walk-in' stray who was very large, pitch black, and had a long nose like a panther. I called him Monty. My mum called him Blackwell. When we took him to the vet to get vaccinated etc, on asking his name, I said, "Monty", and mum said, "Blackwell", so our vet wrote his name down as "Monty-Blackwell" and it suited him down to the ground.

 

[Mia6]

One of my faves is Lily-Butch who was my cat. He came to me as a stray and I could not pet him for 4 years.
After the first winter that he came, his beautiful, full, fluffy tail was gone and all that remained was a small
stump. From the first time I saw him I just knew he was a girl and named him Lily. He would hang out on the
deck with my cats but I could not get near him. I made a winter house for him and he would sleep there but
not stay all the time. Slowly one summer he would come to me and one day he rubbed his head on my leg and
that was it, I could pet him. He needed cleaned up because he had never been groomed. That is when I found
out she was a he and I named him Butch but it just never sounded right, hence Lily-Butch. I rarely called him
both, just Lily. He was deaf, had no teeth and was one of the sweetest cats I ever had. The last year of his life
he spent a lot of time inside but would only stay in the kitchen.

 

[Margret]

Sylvester - Male - Looney Tunes - for the unsuccessful hunter, for the sly one, for the cat that looks like he'd be perfect in a British super villain's lap.

Villains's Cat I know. Off topic. Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

Margret