How did you pick the names for your cats?

I am seeing a wide variety of names here. Some unique, some funny, and even beautiful!

How did you decide on the names for your feline friends?

When I was out to adopt a cat, I told myself if I chose a calico or tortie, I'd name it Picasso since the fur pattern reminds me of Picasso's art. But I saw Monet instead, and decided I wanted him. Clearly to me, he wasn't a Picasso.. I wanted a famous artist's name.. and I didn't want Michelangelo (Mike? nah, too human), or Leonardo (Leo? too common), or even da Vinci was a mouthful. Then I realized.. Monet.. one of my top 5 favorite artists.. and it seemed to fit him so well. His movements also reminded me of the fluid motions Monet created for his paintings.

For Picasso.. I followed my original plan.. Picasso for a calico. Well, She isn't a calico, but a white tabby. The spots, and the odd raccoon tail that didn't seem to belong on her reminded me of the confusion of Picasso's art. People told me to call her Picassa because she's a girl, but it wasn't my original plan. After all, Picasso did have a daughter who was an artist too! I've shortened it to "Cassie" to be more feminine and easier to say.

If I get another cat down the line.. da Vinci is really growing on me. Yes, there's a theme of pet names.. lol

One day I want to attempt a painting of each cat in their namestake's style of art. That should be fun!

Buster - DH named him.  He is a sweet cat, but he looks and walks like he means business.  The name Buster suits him very well.

Speck - my dad and I used to call the neighbor's dog Speck, because she was a beautiful dappled color.  Speck was also the name of Pee Wee Herman's little dog in Pee Wee's Big Adventure.  I really wanted a kitten with spots and had been looking at Bengals.  Then I decided to go to animal control and see if they had any Bengal mixes.  They didn't, but there was this DSH kitten covered in spots, and he was frowning at me from his cage.  I knew he was the one.  The name Speck fit him perfectly.  It was almost as if I had chosen the name and then found the kitten it belonged to.

Daisy - she was a tortoiseshell stray who showed up at the business next door to DH's.  The business owner called animal control and as a stray cat, she would have gone to the gas chamber in three days.  DH and I decided to adopt her.  She went straight from the pound to the vet to be spayed, and DH told me to pick out a name for her.  He wanted something simple.  I named her sight unseen.  I don't know why I chose the name, other than I think it's pretty.  She learned her name very quickly and hated it (and us) at first.  All we had to do was say "Daisy" and she would start switching her tail.  (Now she loves us and always answers to her name.)

Blackberry - our newest addition.  She is solid black and I wanted to name her something kind of different.                 

My mother named Lynxx  I didn't care I was just so happy that she was letting me keep him.

No one liked the name I chose for Luna so my mother named her Luna.

I named Midnight. When I first met him my only thought (other than "OMG how tiny") was the name Midnight. I made it very clear Midnight was going to be his name. My mother renamed him M.Night. He answers to both.

My RB

Kitty Chynna:

She was white with green eyes and I didn't want a name like "snowball" or "snowey" or "whitey". Not that those aren't good names, but I like more "normal" names for my pets. Her fur was super silky fine and soft and felt like fine down and the first thing that came to my mind was that she reminded me of porceline china. So I decided on "China", but I didn't want to name her after a country, so I changed the spelling to "Chynna".

Abby:

I didn't name her. She was 4 months old when I got her and the person I got her from had been calling her "Abby" because she's a "read head". I liked the name and she looked like an "Abby", so I left it at that. It is actually short for Abigail.  But I've never called her that.

Katie

A year ago I was shown a small kitten at my vet's office that was looking for a home.  She was brought in with her brother and Mom when the kittens were a few weeks old. I don't know how I actually chose that name. It sort of popped into my head when I was cuddling her at the vet's. I made the decision almost instantly to adopt her and told the girl that is what her new name was.  She didn't have a name at all prior to that.

Spencer

I couldn't leave this little guy behind when I adopted his sister. So I adopted him sight unseen. On the way home the name "Spencer" popped into my head. I had been watching some movie the night before and there was a Spencer in it. I had also read a book not long before that which also had a "Spencer" in it.  It kind of stuck with me so I decided to name the boy kitten "Spencer".

However, when people hear "Spencer" and "Katie" they automatically assume I named them after Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn. Rather than go into the detail above, I just nod and smile

Sissy (RIP 7/11/10) - She was named "Missy" and was rasied with Blue by an elderly woman who had passed away.  When the woman died, her family members took the cats to the shelter.  Missy became "Sissy" to when we got home because she was always loving on and taking care of Blue.  They were not real brother and sister but they acted like it!

Blue - the stupid shelter had named my gorgeous, elegant blue point siamese "Goober."  I had to change that and my ex-husband chose the name "Blue."  Really original, huh?  LOL  Most of the time I call him Boo Kitty, Booness, or Booey.

Rex - My son wanted a cool name for him because this was "his" cat.  Thinking "little boy," I suggested the name Tyrannasaurus Rex...Rex for short.  ds loved the name and so it was.  Our variations on Rex have been "Rexus-maximus" and "Rexifuss."

Chloe - She was so beautiful that her name just came to me the minute I met her.  Chloe was a beautiful name for a beautiful cat.  Her nicknames are silly and include twoe twoe (think long o at the end) and Chloe floofy tail.

Percy - Named by my 12 year old who has read all of the Percy Jackson books and loved them.  Variations"  Per-Cee-Fuss

Momma Kitty - because she came to us with a barely weaned baby Percy.  She truly is his "momma."  I call her "Pretty Momma" or Pretty littles momma most of the time.

Juno - Believe it or not, she had that name at the shelter and I loved it so I kept it.  Only cat that I have ever kept the shelter name.  Of course, her variations are the further from her name than any of the other cats.  I call her "Ju-gee" "June e Bean" and "littles bean" - and sometimes I just call her "eyeballs" since you can see them so well against her solid black fur. 

and then there is Mr. Meowgie.    Perhaps you had to be born in the 70's for this one to land on you.  Maybe not.  It is obviously a play on the name Mr. Miyagi from the popular "Karate Kid" movies.  I would love to say I came up with it all by myself and I am just that clever, but alas, I am not.  I saw it on a homeschool forum once when we were talking about cats.  Someone briefly mentioned their bridge kitty was named Mr. Meowgie.  I immediately "got" it and cracked up.  I told my husband right then that I "needed another male cat so we could name him Mr. Meowgie."  At that time, we had 6 cats and I wasn't serious.  Little did I know that a tiny 2-week old male kitten would make his way into my life shortly thereafter and we would end up keeping him and naming him Mr. Meowgie!  He is very special to us for so many reasons...the name being one of them (the miracle of his little life, and him coming to us of all people, being the rest).  Most of the time, I call him "Maugie" (pronounced m ow gee) because it is much easier to say than "Mr. Meowgie."  I also call him Maugs (m ow gs) and "ittles bitties one."

Kramer -- I have no idea where his name came from. I didn't name him; I got him when he was a year old. I can only guess the previous owners named him after the Seinfeld character. He IS a bit strange... :lol3:

Boots -- This one's easy, if unoriginal. He's a tuxedo cat, so he has little white boots on! (It's better than Mittens or Socks, IMO.)

Well,the inspiration behind my kitties' names are pretty obvious if you are familiar with pop culture or literature even.

Piper:  When I found a Persian breeder, she named all her litters with a certain letter of the alphabet.  It helped her keep track she said, and Piper was "Peaches"... I didn't like it.  I thought it was too generic.  But, I wanted to keep it a "P" name.  My favorite tv show at the time happened to be "Charmed" about 3 sisters who are good witches and save the world from evil... All their names begin with "P" it's a family tradition.  Piper is the name of my favorite character and the oldest... So, hence Piper became "Peaches" new name!! 

Phoebe: 2 years later, I got Phoebe.  And because I had a Piper, the next in line was Phoebe from "Charmed"...

Paige:  Another year and a half later, I came across Paige.  Now Paige is not a Persian, she's a Birman and they are said to be the "angels of the cat world"  that fit perfectly with the next "Charmed" character and sister... The half sister, Paige, who is half guardian angel!! 

I rescued the next and youngest members of my furry clan's mom when she was very pregnant.  I named her Genevieve.  And when the kittens came, I decided to name them after the "Camelot" fairytale story of King Arthur, the small and weak boy who grew to become the greatest King ever!! 

King Arthur: He lives up to his name.  He was the runt of the litter.  Half the time, his siblings would push him out of the way and not let him nurse.... So I bottlefed him.  He is now HUGE!!  He weighs over 25lbs and he is not overweight!! 

Morgan La Fay:  She is a raven haired beauty, so of course her name from "Camelot" had to be Morgan La Fay.

cynder because SHE was a pretty grey and white color and looked like cinders from the fire,but found out she was a HE and thought well why change it lol but i wnated a unique spellingso thats what we came up with.

Holland and Daymon... both named at the shelter. What can I say, I am terrible at naming pets, and I fell in love with both both of them under those names. Though my friend/catsitter keeps telling me that every time I mention Daymon she only thinks about Matt Damon. Oh well, I figure there are definitely worse things to think about than Matt Damon!

Hahaha!  Now THAT is for sure!

Simon & Garfunkel were pre-chosen.  I put feelers out for adopting a pair of kittens and a friend told me her cat was preggo (now spayed, thank god!) so I reserved two babies.     I got lucky & there were two boys in the litter (mama, Strange Cat, is a calico so I was worried they'd be females), so I got to use my names!  I waited until their gotcha day to decide which was which; before that we called them Beige Boy and Gingie, ha.  

Joni, well - I picked it here on TCS when I was posting about whether or not I should adopt her from my friend who was going to send her to the shelter.  I said, "If I were to adopt her I'd name her Joni so I could have a trio of folk-singers," and someone said, "You know you're going to adopt her... you already named her!"  LOL - how true!  

I'm pleased as punch with my names.  I'm going to be ready, in a couple three years from now when I buy my first home, to adopt another pair, and I'll probably choose Harry Potter themed names.  I like Snape & Dumbledore for a pair of boys, Padma and Parvati (the Patil twins - though a mouthful, hm? might change it) for a pair of girls, and haven't decided on names for a mixed pair.  Neville & Ginny? 

RB Baby Hydrox: Black with a bit of white around his neck. A friend of ours adopted Hydrox's sister and called her Oreo. So, he became Hydrox. It's always fit him.

RB Baby Banshee: When she was a tiny kitten, she had lungs bigger than she was. That girl knew how to scream. She screamed like a......Banshee! Our son named her one night and the name stuck. She grew into a beautiful blotched tabby and the feline love of my life. No kitty has ever been as sweet and loving as my Banshee-girl. (Also known as the Queen B because she truly was The Queen)

Whisper: So grey that when she sits in the living room window, you can't even see her from outside. She's really tiny, just a mere Whisper of a cat. We thought she was very quiet, too.....we were wrong. So very wrong.

Bootser: Very dark grey with very white paws or boots.

BooBoo: When he was little, our Boo looked like a little bear cub. But he was not a Yogi, so Rick named him BooBoo.

Ms. Pepe: For some reason, she reminded Rick of Pepe Le Pew. But since she's a girl, she is Ms. Pepe (not Miss, she's a Ms.)

Amber Louise: Our little orange tabby, she reminded us of the color amber. The Louise was added-on later.

Mollipop: One night after meeting Molli at the animal hospital, I came home from spending time with her. I was carrying a basket of laundry to the basement and started singing, "Lollipop, lollipop". Only it came out, "Mollipop, mollipop". And I came back up the steps, called the hospital, and said, "Her name is Mollipop!"  When I went back to the hospital the next night to spend time with her, I said, "Baby girl, your name is Mollipop!" She started to purr and that was that. (If you could have seen me trying to figure out her name, you would have laughed at us. There we were sitting in the waiting room at the hospital....me with this little baby wrapped around my neck. "Bastet?" No reaction. "Bast?" No reaction. I really wanted a Bastet, but Molli had other ideas. When I said "Mollipop" the next night, she looked right me and started to purr. And I said, "We have a winner!")

Tabitha/Tabby: That girl became Tabby within the first two minutes of being with her. I was sitting in my neighbor's driveway with the food. She was very leery of me, but her hunger won out and she scampered into my lap and started eating. I said, "What a pretty girl you are, Miss Tabby." And there you go. (I don't know what her name would have been had she been a he! But I honestly think she was meant to be Tabby.....just like Molli was meant to be a Mollipop.)

Our first cat - Rainbow Angel Boots - orange kitty with white boots of course (not very original - but looked like a Boots)

After Boots went to Rainbow Bridge we went to the shelter and found another orange kitty, 4 mos. old.  BJ   - stood for Boots, Jr. - the son Boots never had.  He was always my special little baby!!

Same time we found BJ there was a long haired tuxedo in the cage next to him that Paul fell in love with.    It was during the time Dynasty was popular on TV and Joan Collins, who played Alexis Carrington  dressed a lot of black and white, so that's how we named Ali - short for Alexis. 

After we lost Ali to kidney disease we went to Pet Smart where a lady we know ran an adoption service.     She put Tony in my arms and it was love at first sight.    Didn't have a name for him until we went to the checkout and the cashier said "Can I see your little tiger?"   So that's where we got Tony (the tiger) - also known as Tony Baloney.

Angel came to us after our precious BJ went to RB.  She was a stray, we brought her into the house and she immediately sat on the chair where BJ spent the last weeks of his life, sniffed it, curled up and went to sleep.   So  (I know I posted this story before) she became BJ's Angel - the Angel BJ sent to us.

Tippytoes was also a stray who we found outside out sliding glass door.   Also a tuxedo, but with less white on her than Ali.     We were going to call her Twinkletoes, but Tippytoes seemed to fit her better.   Also, Paul used to tease my late mother about how she liked to dance - and he called her Twinkletoes --- so it just didn't seem right to use that name.    Also Tippytoes just looks like a Tippytoes!

Mine came from the shelter with their names.  They seemd to suit (Swanie and Cynthia) so we kept them.  The only thing is we've shortened Cynthia to Cindy Lou most of the time - unless she's up to something she shouldn't be, then it's Cynthia Louise!

All our white cats have had names starting with "A". After we picked Aristotle up from his foster mommy, Mom and I bounced names around as we drove home. Mom decided on his name.

Topaz gets her name from her pale topaz blue eyes.

Let's see.  I'll start with the oldest.

Hoot (Black DSH) - found her drowning in a mud puddle.  She is the first cat I ever owned.  She was about 6 weeks old and weighed less than a pound.  Had a herniated diaphram and needed surgery.  Had to fatten her up.  Vet said she had less than a 20% chance of making it.  I said she was going to die one way or another and I was willing to go through the expense.  Well, she came through with flying colors. She had a tiny body and a big head back then.  She used to sit on my shoulder and blink.  She looked like a little owl so I named her Hoot. She is 15 now.

Ramsey(Snowshoe) - It was his name when I got him from the rescue group and I kept it because he would come when called.  I didn't want another cat but he put his paws around my neck and wouldn't let me go. Well, I just had to take him home.  He was pretty sick when I got him home.  The vet thought he had the wet form of FIP. I refused to give up on him.  Nothing worked and he was dehydrated so we had to do the fluid injections to keep his fever down.  Finally I found someone that had been through this before.  I decided Zithromax in a kitty dose might help.  I had nothing to lose at this point.  So the vet put him on the kitty dose of Zithromax.  It was 27 days of antibiotics.  He got back to normal.  8 weeks later he had a relapse and I did another round of Zitromax.  He hasn't been sick since and he's almost 5 now.

'Bitz(Snowshoe)  - I had fallen completely in love with Snowshoe cats because Ramsey is more like a dog than a cat.  Someone on my Snowshoe rescue group posted a pic of 'Bitz and I had to give her a home.  We had problems getting her here.  She was in a high kill shelter in some nether land in Alabama.  I don't want to insult anyone but dealing with that shelter was like dealing with people from another planet. I was prepared to give them my credit card and pay her fees if they would hold her until Monday when I could drive down to get her.  They don't take credit cards... WTH? They would only hold her 48 hours. I had 4 days to go so I had to call and reserve her under different names.  I called their vet and said I would arrange for the cat to be taken to their clinic if they could keep her until Monday.  They don't take credit cards either... Sheesh... to keep it short, someone from another rescue group was going there and taking several dogs to their forever homes. He agreed to take 'Bitz with him if I would meet him at a point in Indianapolis.  I drove to Indianapolis in the middle of the night, in an ice storm and got my baby at 1am in the morning. She chattered constantly when I got her home and she looked like she was in conversation with someone all the time.  I wanted to name her Kibbitz but we decided on 'Bitz as a compromise.  She is about 3 years old now.

Swiffer(Maine Coon/Siamese mix)  - I thought she was a Snowshoe. She had all the markings of a Snowshoe kitten. She was about 8 weeks old and the runt.  I had to have her.  She got her name by running behind the china cabinet.  When she came out the other end she had dust bunnies all over her and she looked like a Swiffer dust mop. That is how she got her name. She now weighs in at 18 pounds and is big but all muscle.  Sweetest cat I've ever had.

I know we've had threads like this one before, but I always love reading about how each kitty got their name.

I named Cassidy within 30 seconds of seeing her photo on the humane society's website. She was a gorgeous red and white DLH and I was smitten with her from the first moment. I had actually seen her photo before, but it had been removed and I was certain she had been adopted. I can't remember for certain now, but I believe her name was Olina at the shelter. While that name is pretty and unique, it wasn't her name. I've always preferred human names for pets and I had already had a Madeline (my toy fox terrier) and considered that to be an Irish name. So, Cassidy just fit. And, it still does.

Delaney came second and she, too, was named within moments of seeing her photo. With both Cass and Laney, I gave the shelter my credit card information to place them on hold before even meeting them. I knew they were the right kitties for me even without meeting them in person. And, I was right each time. I couldn't imagine my life without them! Delaney's shelter name was Tiger Lily. I had considered keeping Lily as I do like that name, but, by then, my "theme" was in place. So, Delaney it was. And, Delaney it remains. She is a cute DSH brown tabby with white and her name just suits her.

I adopted Emory a year after I adopted Cassidy and Delaney. I had gone to the shelter looking for a black and white DLH kitty. And, I left with a tortie. Her name at the humane society was Emma. And, I liked that name. But, she had a rough life before coming to me and I wanted to give her something new -- but, I couldn't come up with anything. I like Fiona, I liked other suggestions, but it wasn't the same. So, I decided on Emory. Most people still think it's a name for a male cat, but that's alright. My tortie girl is an Emory through and through.

Finnegan was either going to be Finn or Flynn. I had toyed with both names, but, in the end, Finnegan won out. He's a red and white DLH male and is the epitome of my Irish theme. He was my first boy kitty and I love both him and his name. I couldn't ever imagine him having a different name. Flynn's a cute name, but it wouldn't have been the right name for my Finny.

And, last but not least, I've got Guinness (who I adopted just over a week ago). I saw his photo on Facebook and, from that moment, I was done for. I went to the shelter and brought him home that very afternoon. And, what do you know?! I finally have my black and white DLH kitty. Since I had Cassidy "C", Delaney "D", Emory "E", and Finnegan "F", I knew I wanted either a "B" or "G" name. (And, by the way, the initial four were not planned out that way.) I had tried out Barnaby, but I couldn't remember it and kept calling him Guinness. So, I guess Guinness it was. It suits him just fine and it suits my theme just as well.

So, that's my story. Or, rather, the story of how my cats came to be Cassidy, Delaney, Emory, Finnegan, and Guinness  .

My DB, Cojo, is an artist/illustrator. So when we made the decision to adopt our first furchild, he wanted to name him after a contemporary artist. After lots of ideas, R. Crumb's name popped up. I personally find both he and his underground comix fascinating in a bizarre way, and well.. Crumb just sounds like a sweet kitten name. We were even more sold when we found our boy at the shelter, because he looks a lot like R. Crumb's Fritz the Cat. 

After almost a year, we decided to get Crumb a kitten. Crumb has always enjoyed the company of other cats, so we wanted a highly socialized little brother for him. When it came to names, we wanted to play off of R. Crumb, but we were stumped. His brother Maxon? Fritz for Fritz the Cat? Finally, I asked Cojo if R. Crumb had any famous friends. A few years ago, Cojo took part in an art project called "The Pekar Project," where a group of artists illustrated pictures of Harvey Pekar, author of "American Splendor" --  and best friend to R. Crumb. We were even able to meet him before his death in 2010, and he signed Cojo's illustration and took pictures. Harvey was the obvious choice for a new bundle of fur.

Okay, Smokie came to me at 8 years old with that name- so I just kept it (So original, a grey cat named smokie lol)...

So when we got Bandit, he came from the shelter as Hondo and was only 2 months old, so it was easy to change his name it is actually (the) Bandit, but we just call him Bandit

So we have Smokie &  (the) Bandit



Nicknames for Smokie: Smokers, Smochachinno, Smokestack, Smokieboo, Smokes

Nicknames for Bandit: Little One, Bandito, Little Bandit, Ban Ban

Trout fish are cute, so was our new kitten so we called her Trout.

Love hearing about everyone's name choices... and there are some great ones!! I will start in the order they arrived here:

Rylee- My daughter named him, it just came to her.

Princeton- the girls picked that one, but I call him Bubby or Big Fatty. because he's is a big cat and loves to be cuddled.

Chyna- her name was Squirt when we got her from the Shelter, she wanted a prettier name, and she had those beautiful jade green eyes.

Nicki- my oldest daughter named her after the rapper, Nicki Minage.

Lucifer- Because he was kinda crazy when he showed up here, he wanted attention, but would bite me out of the blue. Since having him neutered the biting has stopped and I usually call him Big Grey or Poppa Bear.

Momma Kitty- because she was momma to my two feral boys.

Hocus & Pocus- My feral boys, they would disappear as quick as they appeared so I picked those names for that magic act.

Cash- when I originally found him we called him Moo because he was black & white like a cow.... it didn't fit him so we eventually went with Cash... since he was costing me a lot of it, poor sick little guy.

Mooshi- because when we took her in and she's just a tiny little girl, I was calling her smooshy face... smooshy became Mooshi.