How/why did you choose your cat's name?

Insipred by the post below about ideas for cat names - how and why did you choose your cat's (or cats') names?

Good idea, I always find this so interesting!

We knew we were getting two kittens, and Bri and I decided we would each name one. Since he is in the Air Force, I knew something strange was coming from him. He picked Amad - Airframe Mounted Accessory Drive - it is a part on the F-15 jet engine. Oh well...boys will be boys! He really is an Amad, though, if that makes sense? I was set on the name Magnus for my kitty, but when we got them home, the un-named kitten was so shy and quiet. Not a Magnus! Well, I was watching Fox news one day and I enjoy Bill O'Reilly, and the light went on, and I looked at the little guy, and Reilly just fit him. But I spell it Riley, it seems a little softer than the other spelling. But I kind of regret spelling it that way now. Oh well. So that is how they got their names!

Meeko: He was adopted when I was 11, and the Disney movie 'Pocahontas' had just come out - I saw it a few days before Meeko came home. The name of the raccoon in the movie was Meeko, so when I saw that my Meeko had a ringed tail like a raccoon's, I chose the name for him.

Esmeralda: No particular reason - at the age of 12, when Es was adopted, I thought this was the most beautiful name in the world and planned to use it for my hypothetical future daughter (I believe the exact first and middle name I planned to use was 'Esmeralda Starfire' ). But then I jumped the gun and used it for my new kitten instead (which is just fine, because I've since become disenchanted with the name for a human child ).

Phineas: No particular reason for Phineas's name, either - I just really like different (weird), old-fashioned type names (for people and cats), and was keeping a list of all the ones I like - Phineas was one of my favourites from the list, so I chose it for him (he could have been Hugo, Jasper, Tobias, Oliver, Dashiell, Atticus, Oscar, Rupert, Edgar or Leopold, too, I considered all of those, but Phineas 'won' in the end).

Henry: Decided I want to start doing a literary theme for all of my cats' names and name them all after writers or maybe characters from literature, too, when I adopted Henry, just because I'm a dork like that (wish I'd thought of this sooner, before I named Phineas, but oh well, I'm sure there will be many more kitties in my life), and I was reading a lot of Henry Miller at the time, so I chose Henry.

Hi Juniper!
This is very timely. I get my new kitty today and she has no name yet. I'm waiting to see her personality......and learn more about the events surrounding her rescue story from the lady who is giving her to me. I need to put my thinking cap on......

Originally Posted by sashacat421

Hi Juniper!
This is very timely.

I get my new kitty today and she has no name yet. I'm waiting to see her personality......and learn more about the events surrounding her rescue story from the lady who is giving her to me. I need to put my thinking cap on......

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Congrats on your new kitty, how exciting! And don't worry, the right name will come to you - Phineas was nameless for almost a week when I brought him home , but I finally decided, and he is SUCH a Phineas, so it all works out. Good luck!

Thank you! I love all your names. I am looking at little Henry and you know what--? He IS a Henry!

Stumpy: we found a lone feral kitten in our storm cellar - didn't see a mom cat going in and out of it and only found him because something had crashed and landed on his tail, chopping half of it off. He started wailing out of pain and fear and we simply brought him in, got him to the vets, bottle fed him for a few days (he was nearly weaned). He's our alpha cat and close to 10 years old now.

Scarlett: We were on a run with "color" names at the time with the ferals and this was a nice female name for a red tabby. Also orphaned and bottle fed.

Pinky: the first cat named one of the "color" names. He was a lighter shade of red than his brother Ruby.

Muddy Waters and Koko Taylor: the last set of orphans that we bottle fed (have brothers Jake and Elwood that were adopted). They lost their mom so young that we called them the "blues kittens", so all 4 were named after blues musicians (if you can call Jake and Elwood musicians).

Shep: from "faithful doggy shep" fame from George of the Jungle. Shep was the elephant in the show. Husband loved the cartoon and playfully called her Shep.

Eight-ball: black and white tuxedo - we were not very creative at the time.

Bob Marley: laid back and we used to joke that he was the rasta-cat. We simply like music.

Originally Posted by Cyclesarah

Well, I was watching Fox news one day and I enjoy Bill O'Reilly, and the light went on, and I looked at the little guy, and Reilly just fit him. But I spell it Riley, it seems a little softer than the other spelling. But I kind of regret spelling it that way now.

Oh well. So that is how they got their names!

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I like to think I helped in naming him... only cuz I bugged you to name him!

I know what you mean, sometimes I regret the way I spell Baylee's name. But it's too late now!

Baylee got her name orginally from Bailey's Irish Cream, an ingredient in a favorite drink of mine. But that was back when she was thought to be a boy and spelled like Bailey. Had I known she was a girl the entire time, I think her name would've been different.

I grew up with cats called Tiger, Fluff, Sooty etc... so when i got my own i wanted little girls names for a change.

Rosie was because she has red in her and i always loved the name Sophie.

Ok well I've got a few to get through!

Elmo- Elmos show name is Tickle Me Elmo, Elmo is a red boy and so it just fitted. I think the name Elmo is really cute.

Benja- When we brought Benja his name was Bear, he was almost a cat so we didn't want to chance his name too much.

Sophie- She is named after the singer Sophie Ellix Bexter. Sophie really fits her.

Holly- Well Sophies litter sister had to have a singers name too, so she is named after Holly Valance.

Muffin- I've always wanted a cat called Muffin and when Muffin was little she just looked like a little muffin!

Bridget- Keeping in theme with the Human names, Sophies kitten was named Bridget!

Katcha Fire- Sophies son, he is red so hence his name.

Applause- This was just kind of random.

Originally Posted by pinkdaisy226

I like to think I helped in naming him... only cuz I bugged you to name him!

I know what you mean, sometimes I regret the way I spell Baylee's name. But it's too late now!

Baylee got her name orginally from Bailey's Irish Cream, an ingredient in a favorite drink of mine.

But that was back when she was thought to be a boy and spelled like Bailey. Had I known she was a girl the entire time, I think her name would've been different.

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Of course, Ariana! You were the reason I finally settled on Riley! Bill O'Reilly was the inspiration, you were the voice in the deciding factor!

Originally Posted by Cyclesarah

Of course, Ariana! You were the reason I finally settled on Riley!

Bill O'Reilly was the inspiration, you were the voice in the deciding factor!

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Woohoo!

I agree that it is usually a mistake to name a cat too quickly - they find their own names. Here are some of mine over the years:

Uno - because I got her on UN Day
Pippin - because I was a Tolkien fan
Oscar - because he was an elegant tuxedo cat, half Siamese, and I was an Oscar Wilde fan
Sheba and Cleo - both dark mysterious princesses (mine were sisters)
Juniper - my daughter named him after her favourite trees at our French holiday house
Cinders - she was a stray no one wanted and black as coal, so it fitted both ways
Dushka - 'little female spirit' in Bosnian, because she fought to hard to live as a sick orphan kitten
Ellie - after a friend of mine who was visiting when I got her. Started as Helena (too high-faluting for a cat), then Jelena (Bosnian equivalent) and eventually got shortened
Persil - black with oil when I found her, and gradually with several baths her lovely white fur showed itself ( 'Persil washes whiter' for those who know the advertising slogan)

Well, Butch was named butch because he WAS so "butch", giggle, and as for Jasper, I named him that after watching one of the "Born Free" movies about Elsa's cubs and Jasper was the one that was the boldest, the leader of the others...

Originally Posted by Juniper

Insipred by the post below about ideas for cat names - how and why did you choose your cat's (or cats') names?

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I didn't name them...they named themselves.

I was holding Charlotte and reaching for a book on the bookshelves. She helped me choose a book; the complete works of Charlotte and Emily Bronte. Thus she became Charlotte.

Esse's full name is Quintessential Kitty, because she is absolutely the most kitty like kitty I've ever known. It got shortened to Esse because her whole name is a tad unwieldy.

Pie was nameless for a long time. She was sweetie pie, pumpkin pie (because she's calico and her orange is exactly the color of a ripe pumpkin), cutie pie, and on and on. Then, at Thanksgiving, she stole a leftover piece of pecan pie, and thus she became "Pie."

Penguin was named thusly because she reminded me of a penguin. She has hip/spine/leg issues, and so she waddles when she walks (her entire left side rolls under her). So she's Pengy.

And Simon just told me his own name. I don't know how to explain it. As I was holding him with his rescuer telling me his story (how she found him, stuck in her garage), and I was trying to get water into him (he was so dehydrated, it was an emergency situation) and looking at this destitute, pitiful, scrawny and tiny little guy, his name just popped into my head. I didn't want him to die without a name, and so I spoke it. He hushed immediately, and took the water. It was terribly strange. Then again, he's a terribly strange and wonderful cat.

Best-
Michele

This is a great idea for a thread!

Sandy--when I adopted her from the shelter, she was white with very light sandy colored spots (she is part Siamese). Also, she just seemed like a goody two shoes girl, she never got into trouble, she was prim and proper so she reminded me of the character "Sandy" from Grease. SO, I had two inspirations for her name.

Diddy--She was sooo tiny when I got her from the shelter! I always talked baby talk to her and when I called her "Little Kitty", it sounded like "Diddle Kitty" so my husband started calling her "Diddle" and that eventually got shortened to "Diddy"

Oscar- He was a feral kitten living under a big huge trash dumpster. When I first started feeding him and talking to him, he would hiss and spit at me, he was very grouchy. So, because he was a grouch who lived in a dumpster, I called him Oscar (for Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street)

Sui--This one has a few twists and turns. When I first got Sui, she was barely two days old and her little face looked like Chewbacca from Star Wars. I called her "Chewie" until I found out she was a girl. A little girl kitten certainly needed a prettier name than that but I didn't want to change it completely. I'm a huge Crocodile Hunter fan and his dog (R.I.P.) was named "Sui". I really liked that name and it was similar to her original name, so it stuck.

Miko was named after the raccoon in Pocohantas. I spelled his name differently because everyone else was naming their cat "Meeko".

Sebastian was named after the character in Cruel Intentions because I thought he was hot at the time.

Kionu (in hawaiian in means "wine lover") was named after his favorite activity, cuddling with an empty wine bottle.

My husband and I thought on it for several days before we settled on the name Chloe. We wanted a feminine name because those are what seemed to suit her best. It was also a name that she responded to...I'm guessing because it sounded somewhat similar to what her foster mom was starting to call her, which was Crystal.

This is a clever thread! How I got my kitties' names -

1. Pikachu (RB) - she was the first kitten I've ever cared for (but sadly she's over the bridge now). We were at the vets and they needed a name. We had a small towel with Pikachu's image on it and voila, she was christened Pikachu (Pika for short).
2. Moo-moo - originally "Miu-miu" because we thought he was a she (but turned out not). He would respond when I called him "Miu-miu" and stuck with that name. I have lots of pet names for him. He's my disabled kitty and I love him to bits.
3. Peanut & Butter - siblings (one male & female), couldn't think of a good name until I saw a jar of PB.
4. Jelly - got her after P&B, so I think this fits her nicely.
5. Mango - thought of a food-related name and came up with this.
6. Lucy - my mom got him (YES! Another he!), thought he was a she, and named him that after the Peanuts' character.
7. Tofu & Beanie - siblings again. They were supposed to be "Tofu & Tokwa" (both soy products) but my mom said to drop "Tokwa" and come up with another name. So Beanie was born. Beanie because it had something to do with beans (soy = get it?).
   
8. Little One aka Tiger - she was originally Tiger because she was such a fighter. She came into our lives weighing 300g, riddled with fleas, eyes shut tight, very dehydrated & undernourished. We call her Little One because she's very tiny (1.5kg for 4 months), I guess that has something to do with her genes, or maybe the runt of the litter.
9. Shrekie - I named my friend's dog Fiona (from the Shrek movie) and when they found a cat, I named him Shrekie, because he's a male cat, and very loving.
10. One-eye - found this cat without an eye.
11. Righty & Lefty - both have one good eye, named with which eye is working.

Love to read more interesting names!

~Steph