How do you name your cats?

Emily is just a name I like. I wanted a name that is unique for a cat.

My dad said, "Pat the Cat." My sister preferred the name Patricia.

The shelter named Wilbur. I have no idea why, but I love the name.

How did your cats (both living and dead) get their names?

l usually have male cats, so typically l give them plain old guy names.

The two l have now are Tanner (l liked it, and already had another cat with a T-name), and Bretten. Bretten is a Cornish Rex (English) so l wanted something British-sounding. l liked the sound of "Breton" but didn't like the way it looked so l changed the spelling.

The kitten l'm getting will be named Rhys (pronounced Reese) because l like it.

The only cats l've named for a specific reason were my last Siamese, and a big orange cat l had many years ago. The Siamese l named Thai, for the obvious reason, and the orange fella started out as Orange Puss, shortened to OP, then Opie.

I have a thing about giving my pets a theme names. All my birds I've had growing up was named after the song "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys. (Kokomo, Aruba, Seas and 'Macia)

The cats I've decided to start with famous artists. Monet and Picasso. If I ever get a calico, I'd name her da Vinci.

Draco said:

I have a thing about giving my pets a theme names. All my birds I've had growing up was named after the song "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys. (Kokomo, Aruba, Seas and 'Macia)

The cats I've decided to start with famous artists. Monet and Picasso. If I ever get a calico, I'd name her da Vinci.

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You know what de Vinci is quoted as saying?

"The smallest feline is a masterpiece."

Because of  that, I would definitely name an orphan Leonardo.

Mostly human names.  Ferals get a played on name of a cat I have had.  Some are named on the spot others get a few names before one sticks for good.

Abby

She is my 14 year old DSH orange/white kitty. She came to me at 4 months of age already named. I could have changed it, but she looked like an "Abigail" or "Abby"

Spencer

He will be 2 in September. I adopted him and his sister from the Vet clinic where I take Abby.  I had recently seen a movie that had a character named Spencer and for some reason it stuck with me.  As soon as I decided I was adopted a boy kitty, the name Spencer popped into my head.

Katie

Spencer's twin sister.  I was trying to think of a name with hard sounding vowls and consenants. I also like 2 syllable names. I thought of "Kate" and then it became "Katie".

However, when I tell people their names, most think of Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn.  So I just go with that,  LOL
 

EmilyMayWilcha said:

You know what de Vinci is quoted as saying?

"The smallest feline is a masterpiece."

Because of  that, I would definitely name an orphan Leonardo.

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One of my favorite quotes!

I considered naming Monet Leonardo.. then I thought "Leo" for short and it's too common for a cat's name, so I declined. I didn't really think of da Vinci till after Cassie, lol

Natalie_ca said:

Abby

She is my 14 year old DSH orange/white kitty. She came to me at 4 months of age already named. I could have changed it, but she looked like an "Abigail" or "Abby"

Spencer

He will be 2 in September. I adopted him and his sister from the Vet clinic where I take Abby.  I had recently seen a movie that had a character named Spencer and for some reason it stuck with me.  As soon as I decided I was adopted a boy kitty, the name Spencer popped into my head.

Katie

Spencer's twin sister.  I was trying to think of a name with hard sounding vowls and consenants. I also like 2 syllable names. I thought of "Kate" and then it became "Katie".

However, when I tell people their names, most think of Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn.  So I just go with that,  LOL
 

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I know what that's like! People asked me if Wilbur was named after a fictional pig. I told them, "No, but he eats like a pig so the name fits."

I normally live with the cat for a couple of weeks to learn their personality. It can sometimes take that long IMO to really see a cat's true colors. I think even the friendliest of cats will tiptoe around new owners until they get to know them. My names generally have 2 or 3 meanings b/c of this time I take.

My girl Oksana is blue DSH with green eyes and a big smile. She looks like a Russian, so I gave her a Russian name, plus she's a total priss and Oksana is pretty prissy. It fits her.

I agonized over my new kitten Leonidas name for about a week until I made a decision. He is a 4 month old Flame Point Siamese and he's very cocky. He tried to dominate Oksana immediately and he's just a kitten. I decided on Leonidas ("Leo" for short) b/c he had such a dominant personality. King Leonidas of Sparta is off at the vets getting snipped right now. Who knows? The name may not fit any more when he comes back and calms down.

EDIT: Oh yeah Leonidas is Greek for "Son of the Lion"

bigperm20 said:

King Leonidas of Sparta is off at the vets getting snipped right now. Who knows? The name may not fit any more when he comes back and calms down.

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Patricia's name definitely does not fit. Her name means mother. She was only three months old when she was spayed.

Turkey earned his name by crawling up into the nether regions of,,,, yep you guessed it,,,, a turkey, an extremely unsupervised turkey.

It took me a good hour to calm down from laughing and watching my girlfriend toss the bird in a garbage bag and slam it into our garbage can WWF style.

We ended up ordering pizza.  I still had bouts of spontaneous laughter every couple of hours for the next 2 days.

I think that was our bonding moment, you see I never really liked cats before MR Turkey.
 

All my cats already came with names.

I hope you give him the cat version of your Thanksgiving dinner!

EmilyMayWilcha said:

Emily is just a name I like. I wanted a name that is unique for a cat.
My dad said, "Pat the Cat." My sister preferred the name Patricia.
The shelter named Wilbur. I have no idea why, but I love the name.

How did your cats (both living and dead) get their names?

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My cats tell me what their names are. Some right away, at first eye contact. Others have taken longer. A cat will always let you know what his or her name is. You just have to pay attention. When a name comes to you that sounds just right, it's because that IS the cat's name.

otto said:

My cats tell me what their names are. Some right away, at first eye contact. Others have taken longer. A cat will always let you know what his or her name is. You just have to pay attention. When a name comes to you that sounds just right, it's because that IS the cat's name.

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Would you mind explaining how they do that?

Most of my cats have "people" names, but a few have non-people names. I usually just try out names with them until I find one that just sounds right. Sometimes with fosters I go with theme names for them, its cute when I am adopting them out.

Their pet names are usually people names, sometimes taken from the pedigree names (which are usually themed as a litter) but other times completely different. I plan names in advance, especially for litters.

Malika means Queen and she was my foundation queen.

Ashia means hope, he father was a very slow developer and we hoped she'd be better 

Hattie - I just liked the name. She also goes by Magic, which is part of her pedigree name

Farley, again just liked the name

Anastasia was coming into a house of boys at the time and needed a Princess name

Demetri, was to be part of his pedigree name but it was too long, the pet name stuck however

Charlotte, again just liked the name

Malachai was named after his mum Malika who I retired after his litter

Palmer, part of his pedigree name

Dargo is in his pedigree name, haven't decided on a pet name as yet

From oldest to youngest:

Herakles was the cat my step dad had when I was growing up, it was his original registered name. (He was a Persian. 1980-1999 )

Utu is Utu's registered name. Short and simple so I use it. It means mist/haze in english. He does have nicknames too, like Uzi.

Casper's real name was Fidel. His breeder and his previous owner nicknamed him Kasperi (Finnish version of Casper) and Kassu, so I used those. (He was a BSH. 2007-2010 )

Kuura is Kuura's registered name. It suits him well and I like it so I kept it. Means Frost in english.

Tomu is also Tomu's registered name, and short & simple so I use it. It means dust in english. He was almost named Tommy, but it reminded too much of my ex bf, Tommi, so his breeder luckily changed the name.

Luna's registered name is Dascha. She's from Germany so the pronouncing sounded very silly 'cause my german sucks.. and I think she looks like Luna, so she is called Luna.

Mina's registered name is Somniferum. The litter was named after drugs/poisons: Cyanide, Arsenic, Laudanum & Somniferum. She was nicknamed Wilhelmina and that shortened to Mina.

otto said:

My cats tell me what their names are. Some right away, at first eye contact. Others have taken longer. A cat will always let you know what his or her name is. You just have to pay attention. When a name comes to you that sounds just right, it's because that IS the cat's name.

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That has happened here, too. It may take awhile, but they let us know.

Banshee - she was a screamer when she was a kitten. Our son looked at me one night and said, "Mom, she screams like a Banshee!" And that was that. She was Banshee from that day on. And she quieted down, too, and became the sweet little girl that we loved for so many years. Also known as the Queen B.

Da Pumpkin Boy - Rick brought him home from work when he was about 3 months old or so, right before Halloween. He was a big (really big for his age) orange and white boy with huge paws. He became Pumpkin right away. But it wasn't enough, so Rick started calling him Da Pumpkin Boy. And it stuck. We called him Pumpkin, but he knew his full name, too.

Amber Louise - the only kitty in our house with two names. I don't remember exactly how that happened, but she became Amber Louise almost as soon as she was placed in my arms at work. My co-workers thought "she" was a little boy, but, somehow, I knew right away that she was a girl. I asked her if she was a Marmalade; she looked at me and said, "Are you insane?" And Amber Louise it was. Although most of the time, I just call her Miss Amber.

Whisper - it was like she didn't know how to meow, she would give out a little croak more than anything (she lied....she can meow just fine, thank you very much!). And she's grey, so when she's in the bay window in the living room, she blends right in with the background....you can't see her until you're right outside the window. (Her old family called her Smokey....she was not amused by that name at all....we just knew)

BooBoo - he reminded us of a little bear cub. Yogi just didn't fit him, but the name BooBoo did. (He really loves it when we call him Mr. Boooo. He gets all excited and starts to knead with those front paws.)

Bootser - she's Whisper's sister. Her old family called her Mittens and she hated it. We thought about Boots, but she didn't like that either. It became Bootser and she was happy. Always said twice when we talk to her. "Bootser, Bootser"

Ms. Pepe - with a streak down the middle of her face, our little tortie reminded Rick of Pepe Le Pew. Ms. Pepe she became. (And it's Ms. not Miss!) I call her Ms. Pep. (Our vet's receptionist kept calling her MISS Pepe. So Pepe helped me write a little note to the receptionist one time, saying that while she really liked the receptionist, she really wanted to be called her proper name: MS. Pepe. It was even signed with a pawprint. The receptionist, who is a real sweetie, started laughing and, from then on in, she called her MS. Pepe.

Hydrox - was all black with a few white hairs at his neck. It was a case where this little 5-week old fluffball flopped in my lap, looked at me and said, "It's Hydrox, woman!" And that was that.

Mollipop - I kept trying to call her Bast or Bastet, but it wasn't working. She was so not a Bastet. She would lay in my arms at the hospital and I kept saying "Bastet" and she wanted no part of that at all. No matter how hard I tried, she was not a Bastet. No way. One night, I had just come home from the hospital.....I was taking a load of laundry to the basement, singing "Lollipop, lollipop" only it came out Mollipop. That was it! I immediately called down to the animal hospital (we adopted her from the animal hospital when she was about seven weeks old) and said, "This is Pam! Her name is Mollipop!" Right away, they started calling her Mollipop.  The next night when I went down to the hospital to spend time with her, they brought her out and put her into my arms. I said, "Hello, little Mollipop!" And she started to purr. It's a good name for our little girl.

Tabby - Within five minutes of meeting her, she told me that her name was Tabby. Our neighbors found her, called me and I took food over to the lttle kitten. She came out from under the car, meowed to tell me that her name was Tabby, and plopped on my lap to eat. I tried Tabitha and that's really her name. But she likes Tabby better. I swear. And how do I know that? Because if I call her Tabitha, I get an ear flicker or a tail twitch from her and that's it. But when I say, "Tabby" she'll look right at me and say, "What??"

So yes, I agree with Otto that, if you give them enough time, they will tell you what they want to be called.

EmilyMayWilcha said:

Would you mind explaining how they do that?

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Baby : I rescued him from a lonely existence with he was about 4 months old. He had a terrible name. I tried a few names on him but none fit. A friend came over one day and when he came trotting out to the living room to greet her I said "You haven't met my new baby!" When I said the word Baby he looked up at me quickly and stared at me. I said Baby again and he ran over and climbed up me like I was a tree. Baby was his name.

Sissy : I rescued her when she was 7. Her name was "Slick". I hated that name, but did not want to make the transition too hard on her so I tried several Sssss names. Sissy was the one that made her eyes light up.

Squeaky : He came to me at about 2 months old, he squeaked and squeaked and squeaked, there wasn't any doubt about his name :lol3:

Bibbs : Bibbs, Squeaky's litter mate, was a tuxie, and her white bib was so marked, even to the way it went around her neck and "tied" in the back. As I was considering names for her I kept telling her how much I loved her Bib. Every time I said bib she reacted. So her name was Bibbs.

Ootay : She came to me when she was 2 months old. My (then) husband rescued her actually, and wanted to name her some outlandish unpronounceable thing. But it did have an "oot" sound in it which she appeared to respond to. As he repeated the long word to me, she sat there so tiny staring into my face and I said "Her name is Ootay". She agreed.

Tolly : I rescued Tolly from a terrible rain storm, he was barely 5 weeks old. He took some nursing. He looked so much like my Bridge Angel Baby it was difficult at first not to call him that by accident, but in a few days his personality starting coming out and he wasn't anything like Baby. I tried on names for a week, but he wasn't having any of them. Finally on the 7th night (another rainy one) I was reading in bed and he (for the first time ever!) managed to climb up on the bed. He was down by my feet and he got on me and walked the length of me, so proud of his accomplishment. When he got to my chest I opened my mouth to tell him how proud of him I was and what came out was "Oh Tolly you are such a smart clever boy!" He gave me lots of head bump kisses while agreeing that he WAS a smart clever boy, and that he WAS indeed, Tolly.

Mazy :heart3: : Mazy Chose me when I was at the shelter looking for a kitten for Tolly. Ootay and Bibbs were getting too old to play with him. As I watched all the kittens tumble on the floor I heard this urgent Prrt! PRRT! from behind me. I turned to see a half grown cat in a cage by herself with the name "Trinity" written on card taped to the cage and the legend "do not open, ask for help" (she was unsocialized). She said PRRT again and our eyes met and I said in surprise "Oh, you're Mazy!" She agreed that she was Mazy and I should take her home right away.

Jennie :heart3: : I rescued Jennie as an adult when she was living on her own, raising a family all by herself. (I didn't know about the family, at first). I was feeding her on the porch and at first all I ever saw was her white hind feet disappearing over the porch rail, so I was calling her Socks, just to call her something. One day after she jumped over the porch, instead of running away she crouched in the grass and stared up at me. Our eyes met and I said "OH! You're Jennie!" She gave me a slow blink to tell me that is who she is. She allowed herself to be trapped that very night. (the kittens, about 2 months old, showed up the next day, they also were trapped and brought to a rescue to be fostered and socialized)

Queen Eva :heart3: : Queen Eva was a tiny little four week old kitten when we first met. She was in a very very bad situation, covered with fleas, possibly being abused by a five year old. They were calling her "Lucky" because of her polydactyl paws. She was crouched in a shoe box and I went over and squatted next to her. I was warned that she was "mean" and I should "be careful" (imagine calling a 4 week old baby mean). As I reached a hand out to her she lifted her chin for me to scratch it. She stared into my eyes, told me her name is Eva and that she belonged to me. Eva begged me to take her home.

It took me four weeks to get her out of there, but I did finally. I picked her up very early on a Sunday morning. She was in the carrier, strapped into the back seat. She opened her mouth and screamed demandingly at me. I opened my mouth to tell her "Don't worry Eva, everything is going to be all right now" And instead what I said was "Queen Eva, I love you so much I can hardly wait to get you home". So I know she was telling me her name was QUEEN Eva, not just Eva.