Naming your cat :)

Good morning all! Happy Friday! Just one day to go to meet my kitty! Yeah!

How did you name yours? Did you have a name picked out before hand? Did you wait to meet him/her?

Where did you get your inspiration from?

My previous pets were named after movie/book characters I liked. My last dog was Evita (after I saw the movie with Madonna) and my cat was Zoya, from   Danielle Steel's book.

Looking forward to reading your answers!

I wasn't quite sure what to name my cat when I first brought him home. I wanted a meaningful name for him, but also somethjng that matched his personality. I made a list of all the names I liked prior to getting him to get some ideas. When we got home, I put him in his safe room and started reading to him from a book the shelter gave me ( it was the holiday time so they must have had tons kf donations as I also got a toy and a blanket). They told me to read ro him to bond. So i did, and found a name I really liked in it: Mr. Huxley.
He came cuddle with me on day 2 while I was reading to him. It was just too cute so he became Mr. Huxley!

People are probably sick of hearing me tell this story, but here goes:

Buddy is my first cat. Well, he's my first real pet in general. When I adopted him, I had a whole bunch of awesome names in mind. At the time I was obsessed with Game of Thrones (and I still am, to be fair), so I named him Khal Drogo. I thought it was funny to name a tiny kitten after a huge Dothraki warlord.

Well, that didn't fit. And I didn't know what to call him, so for almost two weeks he didn't really have a name.

During that time I would call him buddy. Like "Hey little buddy, here's your dinner!" Or "Okay buddy, time to get up!" when he was napping on me and I had to move.

So a member of my family was over one day and said, "That should be his name. Bud. He looks like a Bud!"

And that's how Buddy became Buddy. I suppose he's always been Buddy. Some people think cats don't know their names, but I assure you Bud knows his name and reacts to it every time. And the truth is he's really my best little buddy.

Honestly I felt stupid at the time because I didn't have a name for him, but people here assured me that's common. So one thing I've learned is that, when it comes to cats at least, it's good to spend time with them and get to know their personalities before deciding on a name.

We got our kitty as a Christmas present for my youngest son so he got to choose his name. On the ride home with our new kitten my son was trying to pick a good name for him. We were sitting in the backseat staring at this tiny kitten and he yawned really big and my son and I said "awwwww" at the same time, my son said Jinx (because we said aww at the same time) and my son said that's what I want to name him, Jinx. Kinda boring and not much meaning behind it but that's how Jinx became Jinx[emoji]128568[/emoji]

My family has always named our animals after things or characters from books. So for example we had dogs named Nimbus, Veela, and Luna from Harry Potter. 

When we got our first cat, we already had the name Carrot Ironfounderson picked out (terry pratchett's discworld books). We knew we wanted an orange cat so the name would work well in that way as well. Carrot was perfect with that name from the beginning. 

For the other two cats we wanted to pick names from the same book series. It took a while to find good ones, but eventually our second cat became Angua. And the third cat became Ruby (a more obscure character). 

I'm a little embarrassed to tell this story but here goes - our last cat, Neely, in my avatar got her name from my oldest daughter who was 21 at the time.

When we introduced her to our dog she immediately went over to his water bowl and started lapping it up like a lush.  That's when my daughter said, "let's call her Neely O'Hara," after Patty Duke's character in the movie, Valley of the Dolls.  

My first cat was called Sammy by the rescue, but it didn't feel right to me.


I decided to let my (then) six-year-old twin niece and nephew name him. And that's how I ended up with a cat named .... Fuzzyhead 
My sister said "He looks like a Pierre", and I had to admit, he did.

I know I've posted this some where before but we named Komere   because she does not 'come here' and Zeus because he thinks he's a god  both were named after we got them.

Thank you, T.S. Elliot, for your wise advice.  

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter--
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover--
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

My first cat was called Frisky.  Forgive me, I was nine.  Since then, I have tried to be a bit more thoughtful.  In order, subsequent cats have been Mistoffelees, Jasmine, for her wide-eyed, flower-like face, Ashes, Meshuggenah (she was called "Little Kitten" for weeks, until I picked this name), Alexandria, Amelia, Cleo, Dakota, Kimchi, Agatha, Mist, (quiet and lovely, it fit), and the current crew, Geoffrey (from the Christopher Smart poem, and, to my dismay, spelt wrong), Jennyanydots, Truman (as in Burbank, although his beautiful coat would have made him an elegant addition to Mr. Capote's famed Black and White Ball), and Lucy.  I also have Violet and Mouse, but they had names when I got them.  I also took in a cat named Marmie (short for Marmaduke) in his last couple of years.

It's unusual for me to name a cat, or any other animal, right away.  The name must suit the cat.  I usually watch them for at least a day or two.   

Mogli (German spelling of Mowgli) came with his name. He was named that at the shelter, adopted and renamed Momo, then returned after a few months and given back his original name. I don't particularly like it as it's so common around here, but he knew it, so we kept it. We call him Mo(w)gli Monster or Monster a lot due to his habit of crouching on the stairs or in a dark corner and jumping out at us. :lol3:

~ I have too many cats and as yet have not named them all. The last ones to come along I simply call #1 , #2, #3, ...
Eventually I will name them all .

JamesCalifornia said:

~ I have too many cats and as yet have not named them all. The last ones to come along I simply call #1 , #2, #3, ...
Eventually I will name them all .

Click to expand...

Hi  James   How many cats do you have?

 A few posters have many from rescuing like yourself.  That's Wonderful!

Seventhheaven
~ Hello ! I counted 20 the other day when I gave them a Frontline flea treatment. But I know a few were hiding . I think I have 25. It's my 'cat farm' .
I took over my Mom's stray cat rescue when she passed away and a few litters happened before I could trap the mama . It's very hard to find homes for them .
Best wishes to you !

JamesCalifornia said:

Seventhheaven
~ Hello ! I counted 20 the other day when I gave them a Frontline flea treatment. But I know a few were hiding . I think I have 25. It's my 'cat farm' .
I took over my Mom's stray cat rescue when she passed away and a few litters happened before I could trap the mama . It's very hard to find homes for them .
Best wishes to you !

Click to expand...

It is that.  Have you been able to handle the kittens?

I think it's wonderful that you can help the cats and, at the same time, honor your mom's memory by keeping her rescue going.  She must be smiling down on you, very proud indeed.  

JazzyP-
~ Hello to you ! Thanks for the kind words.
The kittens are all healthy and happy All cats here are spoiled ! I think somebody put a pregnant cat in my yard to get rid of it. Now she's in the house and safe. I hope I can get her to the spay/ neuter clinic soon.
~ Best wishes to you !

I was watching an old anime called "Wedding Peach" when I got my first kitty. I thought he was a SHE so I gave the name Momoko after the main character. When I took him to the vet I discovered my kitten was a boy and just kept the name shortened to Momo. But I love to come up with silly names for him too like Momo-licious. Or Momo-delish, Momoso, Momo-mio, etc. Or His Royal Momo-ness. The last one particularly suits him, hehe. He definitely knows his name.

I got my second kitten after she crawled out from my neighbors house. I had been feeding her 2 sisters for just over a week when this tiny, patchy, dirty looking fuzzball squirmed out from under the house, ran to the food bowl and hissed like a DEMON at the other 2 cats and started chomping all the food. I remember she even got a claw stuck in another's kitten mouth for a moment (didn't stop her from eating though!) I said,"WOAH DEMON CAT!" And so the first demon that came to my mind was Mephistopheles (I also assumed Meph was a boy at first, I'm really bad at gendertyping). And so the name stuck. But she's the shyest, most demure kitty ever, with a raspy, whispery meow. So sweet. But the demon side comes out occasionally. I stayed with my friend who took her sister (sadly the 3rd kitten died) and when the sister, Luna, tried eating Momo & Meph's food, Luna cried a little when I pulled her away, and Meph went into demon mode! She was like, "don't mess with my sister!!" Obviously I call her Meph for short, and it's cute as she'll response in a short puffy meow when I call her short name. It's always a treat to hear someone pronounce her name for the first time. Her current vet said they looked up videos and just call her Mephi for short. I, and she I suspect, like 'Meph,' but there are some joke-sters that think I'm saying 'METH.' Jeez!


Sleepy Momo and baby Meph. SO FLUFFY I COULD DIE!   

On the way to get our kitten (who hadn't even met) I was looking up top cat names - we wanted to name her non human name like tibbles, paws, chops etc.. Anyway she was a tiny fluffy grey tabby kitten ! She was the only one in they had in the house (in retrospect we think they were desperate to get rid of her cause her behaviour and eating issues, which we didn't know). She bite my partner straight away so that should have been a hint ! Anyway she fell asleep on my lap on the way home and my partner said gracie (probAbky partjy Her colour ). I love the name and when she's naughty I shout stop it Grace ! It's a lovely name and its a shame as if I ever have a baby girl I now can't call her that name [emoji]128516[/emoji] my cat will have a better name than my daughter ! She is a very naughty kitten and when we find her stalking us and she tries to bite and hit us we call her 'Sharky' ! Haha so if we named her after knowing her personality she would have ended up being called sharky, jaws, rocky or psycho !

My cat names have gotten weirder over the years, I think, but they have all fit the cats. My first kitty I got when I was seven and I adored the name Isabel at the time so that's what I named her. We called her Isy (like Izzy), which fit her because she was very much a fiery, spunky kind of cat and I think Isy has that feel. She was the only of my cats ever allowed outside, purely because she wouldn't stand for being kept in, and she used to beat up the other neighborhood cats all the time.

The oldest of my cats now is Maya Rose. It took me a long time to name her before I came across that. She was abused and when I adopted her I knew she needed a new name to go with her new life (her previous name was Poppy). I liked the flower theme but Poppy didn't sit right with me and I tossed around Rose a little but it wasn't quite right. After going through about a hundred names online and consulting my entire family I finally found Maya. It means "hope" and "princess" which I thought was just perfect for an abuse rescue. Maya Rose was just too pretty not to use, but we mostly just call her Maya. My boyfriend has taken to calling her Boo, because she's a total scaredy cat and he thinks it's funny.

The kittens are Aria and Calypso. My boyfriend named Aria after a video game character he loves, and being a name buff I love it since it's a word for a musical solo and she's very chatty. I also had Ariel on my list of potential names when we were planning to adopt her and it's close enough to make me happy. Calypso went through the most names of any of ours before I settled on Calypso. She was Tinsel at the shelter, which we considered but tossed out pretty quick, Jinx at first, Aisling for a little bit, then Puck, then Macha, and in the end Calypso. She's the one we affectionately call the demon cat so being named after a mythological witch seemed perfect. She's Caly for short.

My baby Isy (passed away August 2015)

Maya posing for the camera

Aria looking for attention

And Calypso enjoying a box, as any self-respecting cat must

I want to just keep getting more cats so I can name them all! I love naming, but have only named one of my cats!
My first cat when I was in high school was Big Kitty. My mother wanted to call HIM Sophie and I refused and so his name was just Kitty. Until we got another similar but smaller cat and then he became Big Kitty.
A new-born kitten who some friends found after the mama was poisoned was named Rascal by my sister and her friends. It fit

My first cat that was my own was found by my sister in a litter of kittens. Tiny little tuxedo. I was studying in China at the time and my sister was visiting and told me about her. I thought she sounded like a panda, being black and white and we were visiting the panda sanctuary at the time so mandarin for panda is xiongmao, which means bear-cat. I flipped it to cat-bear, since she was a cat, so maoxiong. But pandas have those cute names, so it ended up as Mao Mao. Which I suppose technically just means cat cat [emoji]128515[/emoji] She fit her name as well, she was weird but very mellow. I called her my Zen cat She just died this past fall [emoji]128546[/emoji]

Right now I have Bubbles, who my sister also found and named because he is very talkative and his meow is so cute she thought it sounded like bubbles.
Annabel Lee was Annabelle at the shelter and the goth inside me wanted to keep the Poe-esque name, so a tiny change in spelling. She is bright and silly, so I'm not sure the name fits, but it makes it a kind of funny juxtaposition with her character.
Augustus was Auggie at the shelter, which I didn't like at all, plus I work with a woman named Agi (pronounced the same) so I changed it to Augustus. I think that'll fit too because he has quite an attitude, an emperor's name seems to fit!

Love hearing everyone's names! People can be so creative when naming cats, I think