What Do You Think Of The Name Katniss?

[Adelei]

I like to name my cats after characters from my favorite movies or books. However, I'm finding that there are far fewer female characters than males - and not only that, the ones there are have not-so-pretty sounding names (like Hermione). I loved the Hunger Games books, but I'm VERY hesitant to name her Katniss because of the obvious sound association. I know that tons of people think "clever" names are super cute for animals (like Cleopawtra or Jane Pawsten), but that's not my style at all (no offense to those who use names like this - it's totally a matter of opinion and I have nothing against it, it's just not what I'm going for.) I don't really want the first thing people think when they hear her name to be "Oh, that's so cute!" or "Oh, that's so clever!" I would prefer they think I'm a Hunger Games fan. My other cats' names are from lesser-known books that people usually don't recognize at all. But I feel like I've scoured my memory for characters from books and movies that I've loved from childhood on up and just can't come up with any decent girl names!

So what do you think? Is the "that's so clever!" reaction so strong that I need to keep looking? Or is it balanced with the "you must like the Hunger Games!" reaction? If it's balanced and I only occasionally have to hear how cute and clever of a name it is, then I think I can handle it.

Side note:
She's a beautiful white kitten. She is a true fighter - I found her gravely injured at 3 months old, the vet suspected she either fell out of a window or someone beat her. I fostered her for 2.5 weeks before I had to leave the country for a while, couldn't get her out of my head so I just got her back for keeps 1 week ago. She has spent most of her young life in a cage - 6 weeks in a cage after the injury, then she had her femoral head bone removed and spent another 2 weeks in a cage. She's currently out and about, still limping, still squinting the eye that was injured, but she is the most loving kitten ever - all she wants to do is sleep on my lap. She also gets along great with and holds her own with my other two cats, which is quite a feat considering my boy Shade (a skinny 15 month old with mild CH) has bullied every other cat I've ever cared for, including cats 2 and 3 times his size! And here comes this injured little 5 month old who isn't intimidated by him in the least! So I'm looking for a pretty name but also one that reflects what a strong cat she is.

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh wow, what an incredible story this little one has!! Geez!
I'm am grateful to everything that you two found each other, and I think that name is great, although here are a couple of others...
A Kitty Question =)

 

[PipersMom]

So glad you found each other! She's had quite a rough start in life, but sounds like she's a strong little one!

I'll preface this by saying that I have never had a cat before the one I have now, so all my pets were dogs before. I had a chocolate lab that I named Sydney after Jennifer Garner's character in Alias because I loved that show. I had a yellow lab I named Dakota just because and a black lab that came with the name Casey. I had a goofy mutt of a dog named Phoenix because we had just gone on vacation to Phoenix before bringing him home. I never tried to stick to a theme, it just so happens that Sydney, Dakota, and Phoenix all had names that were also places and I tried really hard to stick to that when naming Piper (the cat). I couldn't come up with anything I really liked, so she became Piper.

I think that if you like Katniss, then go with it and don't worry about it. I am guessing most people will associate the name with Hunger Games before making the cat/cat-niss connection. If you're looking for strong female characters there are others too from similar series. Ruby from The Darkest Minds, Beatrice/Tris from Divergent, etc. I also love the Game of Thrones series (I've never watched the show) and think Arya or Brienne are great names too.

 

[RajaNMizu]

My cats are named for a drag queen and a cosplayer. My son has a friend who has named all three of his cats after drag queens that have come in second place (Naomi, Delano and Raven...better known as "The Runner's Up Club). I like Katniss and so do you. Name your cat what you like and don't worry what anyone else thinks.

 

[rubysmama]

I think Katniss is a purr-fect name for your little fighter/survivor girl. And I totally thought Hunger Games, not cutesy.

Can we see a pic of the little sweetie?

 

[Elphaba09]

I am the sort that likes real names for my cats, complete with two middle names and a last name. I could never name them something that I would not consider giving to a child. Having said that, my husband and I tend to lean towards older names that have some connection to books, tv, or movies.

Katniss is a good name with a literary connection, and if you like it, use it. For me, though, the "Kat" part would put the name in the middle name only category. I do like Everdeen, though. You could call her Ever for short, if you like.

Other strong characters or women you could consider, just to give you more ideas because I love coming up with names:

Ripley after Sigourney Weaver's character in the "Alien" franchise

Eowyn after the "Lord of the Rings" character who killed (helped kill, in the book) the Witch King

River after River Tam from "Firefly" and River Song from Doctor Who.

Furiosa from "Mad Max: Fury Road." The "Fur" part would dissuade me except its pronunciation does not sound like "fur."

Diana from "Wonder Woman"

Everdeen, as stated above

Leia from "Star Wars"

Xenia from"Xenia: Warrior Princess"

Paikea from "Whale Rider"

Lexa from "The 100"

Gwen from "Torchwood"

 

[Diana Faye]

River after River Tam from "Firefly" and River Song from Doctor Who.

I actually picked Simon's name after watching Firefly for the milloneth time. When I went to look for a 2nd cat, it was a toss up between a brother and sister, an orange tabby and brown tabby. I ended up going with the orange boy, and named him Garfunkel, but if I had gotten the sister she was going to be River.

Back to OP's post, I like Katniss, but if you're a Harry Potter fan there's always Luna Lovegood . And to add on to Elphaba's suggestion of "Xena," you could always try out Callisto, too. There's nothing wrong with secondary characters, and I personally kind of like it as it's a little more unexpected.

Daenerys would also suit her as a white kitten, but it's become a super popular name.

 

[Jem]

If you like the "iss" sound at the end of the name and like a strong female character that has over come adversity. What about the name "Triss" short for Beatrice from the Divergent series? If you haven't watched the movies, they are very good (well...I think they are). This character was timid and weak and had to really fight to become who she was.
I like the name Katniss, but I do find that the strong simplicity, yet very elegant sounding Triss is quite pretty.

 

[Elphaba09]

I actually picked Simon's name after watching Firefly for the milloneth time.

Haha! That is who our Simon is named after! The female cat found with him was named Tara (from Buffy) by my friend who was going to keep her. After realizing that Tara and Simon should not be separated, I took her and wished I would have pushed for River.

I also wanted to throw in Beatrix after Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo from Kill Bill.