Names

mystik spiral

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I see some of the best cat names here! Did you name your cat(s) or did they already have names when they came to live with you? Holland was named at the shelter, and I love her name, so I kept it.

If you did name your cats, any particular reason/motivation?
 

alicatjoy

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All of my kitties were named by me once I brought them home and got to know their personalities. In some cases, I had an idea of what I was looking to name them before I even met them, but usually it was a spur of the moment idea -- an inspirational thought, if you will.

Cassidy came home with me first. She was named Orianna at the shelter. I think the name Orianna means golden. And, that would've been a perfect name for her since she is a very pretty ginger and white DLH, but it just didn't suit her. The name Cassidy came to me just minutes after meeting her and since I was going with an Irish-y theme, it fit her (and me!) perfectly.

Delaney was a name that I had picked out before even meeting my second kitty. I loved the name and thought it was so cute -- especially when paired with Cassidy. I lucked out when I met Delaney and realized that the name suited her. Her name at the shelter was Lily Bean. I think it's a cute name, but it's just not up my alley. And, trust me, Delaney is no Lily Bean!

Emory was named Emma at the shelter. I had no idea of what I wanted to name her and even came here looking for suggestions. I liked the name Emma, but I just wasn't attached to it. It's funny now, actually, since I tend to call Emory by the nickname, Em. And, sometimes, Emma even slips out now and again. But, as pretty as she is, she's just not an Emma. I almost named her Fiona, but I'm glad I didn't -- she doesn't seem like a Fiona one bit. So, Emory it is. It suits her and is both cute and unique. It really was the best name for her...even if it did take forever to come up with!

Finnegan was easy. I already had the Irish theme going and he is a ginger and white DLH -- it was between Flynn, Finley, and Finnegan from the get-go. Once we found out he was, in fact, a he, the name Finnegan stuck. It's literally the perfect name for him. I couldn't imagine him being called anything else!

This was a cute thread idea. And, I love the name Holland. So unique! And, definitely a cute name. I had wondered where it came from...and now I know!
 

claydust

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Morgan (Morgan Taylor Cat) was named by my wife, not fully sure where that came from.

Taz got his name because he was the most frantically, chronicaly, constantly hyperactive kitten I have ever seen
He has become more sedate, now he is older, although, as it says in his profile, if there is something immature and undignified for an adult cat to do, he is still willing and able to "step up to the plate" and "get it done".


Kasey just seemed like a "Kasey", she was named before I brought her home in May, 2008. She didn't have a name for the first 8 years of her life and we thought she should start her new life off with one right away.
 

bookworm

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Hunter S Tomcat was dumped on us by a little boy named Hunter, so we named the cat after him.

Spitfire Liz was a feral rescue, had been in my house a week hidden. I caught her napping and tried to pet her. No one I know besides my daughter Liz wakes up in such a foul mood, she was named before I quit bleeding.

Calamity Jane was a leap before you look klutz, while cleaning up after one thing she'd broken she'd be tearing around knocking something else down.

Havana was a winding train of thought from Hemingway and his polydactyl cats having lived in Cuba and her being such an exotic looking polydactyl.

In high school I read a book, a collection of humorous stories by columnist Don Marquis about a cockroach named Archie and his friend, an oft pregnant alley cat Mehitable. I always thought of feisty torties as "Mehitable Cats", so when the two little ferals turned up behind the restaurant they became Archie and Mehitable.

Ghost is silver and ran off so fast when I'd walk out my door that I wasn't sure for a while if I was really seeing a kitten.

Witch, well that isn't what her name started out, but as close to it as I'd allow the grandkids to say. She was awful.

Angel, Tex and Little Bit were named by the young 'uns.
 

mrblanche

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We named Punkin and Flambe. The shelter named Ella (for Ella Fitzgerald, since she's a Katrina survivor) and Sterling (for his silver color).
 

ryffian

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Sprinkles - that was her name in the shelter (and her kittens at the time were named after other sugary treats)

Sneetch - a former boyfriend named him, he wanted the pets to have a Dr. Seuss theme with their names.

Horton - see explanation for "Sneetch"

Abbey - the present boyfriend suggested this name, as she's abnormal, abbey-normal.

Gus - another former boyfriend name, a female cat, named Gus because she was a "thug" as a kitten, and Gus is a good thug name.

Max - the only kitty I actually named, he is a simple cat, so he needed a simple name.
 

taryn

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I name mine for their personalities. They 'name themselves' essentially.

Attitude got her name because she has an attitude and isn't afraid to show it. Something about a tiny 1-2 lb kitten standing at the fence hissing at the neighbor's dogs was just cute. She has no problem letting the world know she has an attitude. Like I said in the thread about the bath she still has her attitude. They call her Miss Personality at the vet's office, they've seen her show off her Attitude, like when she hissed at a giant 100+ lb dog because it looked at her.

Nuts got his name after he was standing at the neighbors fence taunting the dogs and then was stupid enough to walk through the fence. He came right back out but after that he got the name Nuts and it stuck. It also doesn't hurt that he also has a pair of his own, but as soon as I have the money Nuts will be losing his. Seriously he got the name because he is Nuts.

Maude came pre-named. So her story is boring.

Mama got her name after we spayed her, we had already been calling her Mama so the name just stuck.

Biter was named that because she loves to give 'love bites.'

Goldie was named that because of her beautiful golden eyes. She was hard to name.

Blue just got named today, he's stuck around long enough that he's ours and I'm calling him that since he is a Russian Blue, before that he was Gray Kitty.

Half-tail was the hardest to name. She has a short tail so it looks like she has only half a tail.

Goldie Jr has the same golden eyes and looks a lot like Goldie and since Goldie had disappeared we named him after her.

I don't think the name Runt needs any explanation not that it fits him now, he has grown and is the same size as Goldie Jr. Half-tail is now smaller than him but she's also female so that has at least something to do with it.

Taryn
 

white cat lover

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I named the following kitties:
Eden
Twitch
TigerLily
Dorian Grey
Ophelia Rose
Fafeena
Cow
Billy Bob
Tony Bob
Goat-Head
Slinky
Tabitha
The Chairman Squishy Meow

Molly & Margo were adopted from the shelter with those names. Lola is a foster with that name. Gumby's official shelter name is Camille, but I figured if I was gonna foster her long-term she had to have a name I liked.
 

bellaandme

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I have to agree about some of these names being great.I named my Bella because she looks like a Bella. I guess the most unique cat name I ever bestowed on a feline would have been my Little Man Tate. He was named after a little boy in a Jody Foster film by the same name.
 

-_aj_-

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As soon as i saw Flash's picture she was to be called Flash because of the patch of ginger on her face it looked like a flash of ginger


and

Sooty was orignially called Jet but it didnt suit him and then Sooty just seemed to suit
 

kailie

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I named all of my kitties except Nova. He was named by his Daddy.


Shadey was named because it looks like someone took a pencil and "shaded" him in.


Elliott was named this because I LOVE the name, and it suits him.

Imhotep, Osiris, Cleopatra II and Azizi are all Egyptian names because I love ANYTHING to do with Ancient Egypt. Imhotep meand "He who comes in peace." and Azizi means "precious".


Teyah was named again just because I love the name.
 

nanner

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I named Larry - with the help of my mom. When he came to me, the rescue group had called him Sylvester and it just didn't fit. It didn't seem right coming out of my mouth.

So I was talking to my mom and she said, "How about Larry? I have Curly, your brother has Mo.....I think we need a Larry!"

It soooooooo fits him.
 

gemlady

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Aristotle was originally called Ghost by his foster meowmy, but was renamed as all our white cats have had names starting with "A". (Aloysius, Alouette, Ariel, and Alexander) I suggested Archibald, but Mom (who I got Ari for in the first place) vetoed that one.


Topaz came as a stray and got her name for her beautiful pale blue eyes that reminded me of Swiss Blue topaz.
 

jasper_cat

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Jasper was named at the shelter, and I loved the name and thought it fit him pretty well too.

One of my old cats was named Puffin because he was black and white sort of tuxedo look, but also because he loved to snooze and just reminded me of a puffin


Jasmine was named Bella at the shelter, but I changed her name because Bella is such a common pet name, I can't stand it haha. And then there's the Twilight craze....
I chose the name Jasmine because it just seemed to fit her. She's very regal and beautiful, plus my favorite Disney movie growing up was Aladdin
 

blueyedgirl5946

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Max was already named when we got him. I tried to name the yellow tabby Simba, but my husband kept calling him Speedboat because he ran through the house so fast. Speedboat is the name that stuck. We have a calico who came up on the front porch and stayed. I named her Mattie for my grandmother since we had just moved on my grandparents land.
 

penstemon

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Interesting thread, Kato was named after the Green Hornet's sidekick, Kato. both like to pounce on their victims.
 

kara_leigh

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All of our cats were named by us. I got Gus from Cinderella and it just fit him. He was the runt of the litter (by my mom's cat) and I thought he looked like a fat little mouse, and sounded like one too, when he was a tiny kitten.

I had originally named Nora "Hemi" but my husband didn't like that name in the very least, and wanted to wait a few days of having her before deciding on a name. I kept throwing names out and he kept rejecting them. Finally I threw out Nora b/c I just love that name, and he said yes. I'm glad we changed her name b/c it definitely fits her. She is very prissy, hormonal, and moody. Hemi would not have fit her.

When we got Milo, my husband again said that we needed to wait a few days for his personality to come out before deciding on a name. I kept throwing names out and he would say no. At the time I was obsessed with Heroes, and I thought the name Milo was cool and he thought that fit. We didn't have him long enough to really tell if the name was really "him" though. He died of a tragic accident while he was still a small kitten.

Emmett was a girl cat, but I think the name fit her. She was named b/c I liked that name and I also LOVE Twilight. We didn't have her very long at all b/c my son's friends (he's 11) were coming in and out of the house and they accidentally let her out. My son was afraid to tell me b/c he thought he would get in trouble, so I didn't find out about it right away. We looked for her everywhere, but we never did find her. He got in much more trouble for not telling us immediately. She was still a fairly small kitten (only about 4 months old) so I HOPE someone nice found her and gave her a loving home. She was SOOO cute.

If you can't tell, we prefer human names for our cats. Hubby still refuses to let us get any more cats. Hopefully I can convince him someday. *sigh*
 

krickette

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Riot was hard to name. She was going to be Kitchen, Sushi, Shy, or.... I dunno, there was a huge list at some point. I settled on Riot because my boyfriend said "If you don't name it, I'm killing it" hahaha!! I think it suits her.

Cadillac was easy. When we got him, he had ridden 30 minutes under the hood of an old Cadillac. The lady thought she had car trouble haha. We caught him and brought him home. He went by Caddy cat, Fatillac, all sorts of things. Most of them referring to his gut.
 

otto

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I rescued Tolly when he found me as a five week old kitten. It took him about a week to let me know what his name is, or maybe it took ME a week to understand what he was telling me <s>

I had tried on several already, but none were right. One night he jumped up onto the bed, onto my chest and made deep eye contact before butting his head into my face. At that moment the name "Tolly" came to me.

Mazy's name was Trinity at the shelter. When I saw her that first time, our eyes met and I said "Oh! You're Mazy!" and with what has become her trademark "Prrt!" she agreed that yes indeed she is Mazy.

Jennie, rescued stray, as an adult. I was calling her Socks in my mind simply because all I ever saw of her was her white socks on her hind feet as she disappeared over the porch railing.

Finally I won her trust enough to meet her face to face, me on the porch looking down at her in the grass. Our eyes met and I said "OH! You're Jennie!" and a slow blink let me know I was correct.
 

silva_unt

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Neko was originally named Raspberry! I got her when she was 4 months so I was worried that she was use to it. My bf and I did not like the name Raspberry! So my bf is learning Japanese for his poli sci major and offered the name Neko, which means "cat" in Japanese! Simple and cute! People mistake her for a boy with this name, but owell. It fits her


BTW, this thread is awesome. Great reference for future pet names
 
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