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The Top 10 Names NOT to Give Your Cat

NOTE FROM ROBIN: just before I was going to upload this post, I got a number of urgent texts from Maria about a kitten who was in dire need of rescue. As you may know, we rushed this kitten to the Vet last night and after getting him on fluids and an injection of B12 and some antibiotics to help soothe his upper respiratory infection, he was sent to Maria's to begin recovering. He is seriously underweight, but he's eating and doing all right so far. What's ironic is that he'll need a name, so I better make sure I take my own advice about what name to choose.

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Running a Cat Rescue often requires that I name incoming cats and kittens. I love the challenge of coming up with something unique, that speaks to the personality of each foster cat, but after naming a few hundred cats it becomes a bit daunting.

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©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. MacGruber.

The right name can make or break an adoption. If I have a somewhat shy foster cat, who does not rank very high on the must adopt list, meaning it's a black kitten or not a known fancy cat breed, the better the name, the better the odds are that I can get that cat adopted.

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©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Polly Picklepuss.

Do adopters keep the name I give their cat? Often times they do, but it surprises me when I believe I chose a great name and they change it. I'm sure if you asked the cat, they wouldn't care. As the saying goes; “I don't care what you call me, just don't call me late for dinner.”

Keeping in mind that this is ALL IN GOOD FUN, if you named your cat something on this list, PLEASE do not be offended! You could simply consider changing your cat's name to something more clever and appealing to avoid feeling badly. (I'm joking about the name change unless your cat is named, Kitty!)

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©2007 Robin A.F. Olson. Bob Dole-best cat name, ever.

THE TOP 10 NAMES TO NOT GIVE YOUR CAT

1. Kitty. Really? You can't come up with something better than that? Look around your home. Name the cat, “Maple,” “Cinnamon,” “Corian.” Anything is more creative than, KITTY! We KNOW it's a kitty. It's like calling a baby, “human” or “male.”

2. Max. If I had a $1 for every kid, dog or cat named Max, I'd be loaded.

3. Tiger/Tigger/Stripes. Firstly, it's not a tiger, it's a cat. Yes, it may have a striped pattern, but don't call it Stripes! Why not fancy it up? Give it pizzaz? How about LeTigre? Blaze? Some tabbies patterning looks more like herringbone. See? Herringbone is a much cooler name.

4. Boots/Mittens What's next? Naming your cat, “Underwear?” “Ear Muffs?”

5. Fluffy, Puffy, Fluff I named one of our foster cats Miss FluffyPants, which is a great example of how to use a hackneyed name and give it a memorable twist.

6. Lucky That name always connotates an animal with 3 legs or 1 eye (or both) and in my book, that's not particularly lucky.

7. Puss I wouldn't even say that name out loud these days.

8.Tabby. Good thing you don't have a black or gray cat. What would you name that one, Blackie? Gray-ie?

9. Harley This was a cool name at one time, but it's 15 minutes of cool are over.

10. Sooty, Inky, Midnight Only okay to use if the cat is NOT black. If the cat is black, how about choosing one our friend in the Philipines, who does cat rescue, called her black foster kitten: Skittles.

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©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Periwinkle.

Then there are those out there who ignore social convention, common sense or good taste. They have no regard for how the cat might feel being called by the name they chose or the fact that their Vet will one day have to say this name out loud when talking about a serious health issue the cat is battling. “Mr. Jones, I'm very sorry to tell you that we found cancer in Douchebag.”

10 STUPID NAMES FOR YOUR CAT

1. Bong/Token

2. Douche/Douchebag/DB

3. Lil' Hitler

4. Rabid

5. Dick

6. Al Qaeda

7. Slutbutt

8. Pissy

9. Tabby Turdstockings

10. Redneck

I love to think up names that are unique or have a play on words. I have to wonder if a well-named cat gets slightly better Vet care. Every time I went to a new Vet with my cat, Bob Dole, EVERYONE who heard his name laughed, smiled and REMEMBERED him any time we needed to have a return visit. Maybe a cat's name is not such a big deal, but I believe it's worth taking time to come up with a name that's special to you and your family.

BOUNDRY-PUSHING NAMES I JUST MADE UP FOR COOL CATS

1. Count Chocula

2. Rehab

3. Kevin Scent or Kevin

4. Sultan of Swagger or Sammy Swagger

5. Sir Chunksalot

6. Roger That

7. Phil Opian

8. Richard Widmark (you would always have to refer to him by his full name, no nicknames or else it falls under number 5 of Stupid Cat Names)

9. Loaf

10. Dammit. My Mother always wanted to name a cat Dammit so she could let it outside during the day, then have the pleasure of calling it to come back inside each night. “Dammit, get in the house!”

11.(bonus!) Rocky Road

I could go on and on about cat names and perhaps one day I'll share some insight into what inspires my curious name choices. For now, please promise to still be my friend if your cat is named Mittens or Max or anything else on these lists. I want to inspire you to consider coloring outside the lines when you name your next cat. Give that cat a special name that makes you smile every time you have to scold that cat and say its' name out loud: “Richard Widmark! Get off the counter!”

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©2012 Maria. S. Now that we've discussed what not to name the cat, stupid names and cool names I've come up with; I've chosen to name our newest foster kitten, Tater Tot.

Comments

I'm not a Max. Just want to clarify that up front.

Papa named me 'n' Faraday after famous physicists. (uhhh, is it okay if Momma *calls* me Max, though? Although it's usually Maxie, come to think of it...)

I'm here to add one to the "do not name" list. I understand I barely dodged this! (comes from having a physicist for as human dad)

Please do not name your cat after the particle TACHYON. Unless you want to own a really Tacky cat.

purrs to Tater Tot.

I have to admit to trying to take time to think up original names for my fosters. That being said, my brother and sister-in-law have two cats: Max and Boots. What can you do?

I also try to avoid people names - then of course people as me about my cats Tim & Tom. Not my fault - they came with those names.

Love the list...and so very true.

I love your lisr of names.  When I got my 2 rescues it took me weeks to come up with the right names.  One day it was obvious.  I love movies and TV and wait each year for award season to start.   Thus the names:  Oscar and Emmy--my 2 little prizes.   Their full names are Lady Emmy Kindle   and Sir Oscar Sinclair.   Kindle because I had just bought a Kindle ereader and Sinclair after the family in the old TV show The Dinosaurs.

Really like the "Roger That" name suggestion!
It gets me thinking of 1950's space mysteries ... like Lost in Space :*D

Robin, I'm just at the internet shop spending my time while waiting for the movie Prometheus. As I try not to bring attention to myself, I'm giggling like mad here. We have a term for this in asia, you will get (nei shang), means you will injure yourself internally doing that. I'm sure its no harm but you sure know how to get a girl laughing especially on not a good day (thank god this round its humans not cats). So here's what  I named my cat, i dont know how you would rate them, please feel free to tell me i'm a idiot, but thank you for your post! Sure give some thoughts what to name the kitty!


 


1. Brownie (took a loooonggg time to think up of this, i'm bad with names and i was going through a bad craving of those good ole chocolate stacks).


2. Bailey (have to be this what else, it rhymes with b)


3. Pipi, or Pikalilly (she's the move active of the lot, reminded me of a choo choo train somehow. Pikalilly just came out of no where)


4. Hehe (means congrats in chinese)


and leaving the best for last


5. Grey grey, his brother who is at the rainbow bridge was orange boy. And yes grey grey is a tabby, orange boy is ginger. I love them to bits whatever the name though!

"Tater Tot" is a way cool name for a kitten... but what will he be called when he's a big, grown-up, chunky male with beefy shoulders like a football player?  You'd have to call him "Mr Potato-Head"!  He's very cute though... and I'm sure he'll be "Tater" when he's big!

Loved this post - made us all laugh.

I have several names that I like and I also like the challenge of giving a uniqe names for my cats..I do, however, have a white cat with blue eyes named Lucky Charm...my hubby wanted to name him Lucky, which I don't care for, so I named him Lucky Charm after the dragon on Never Ending Story.  He looks like him too.                         I have used Shasta, Freesia, Calypso, Tempest, Stormy, Butter Bean, Jitter Bug, Braveheart, Chicken Little, Rugrat (little 4 lb black kitty full grown), Daisy, Gypsy, Flower, Mystic, Illusion, Checkers, Turtle Dove, Cricket, Spaz, Strut (bobtail I had), Spoofer, Jade, Bright Eyes, Dora(after the explorer of course), Testie, Tinkerbell, Trip (for obvious reasons), whatnot, Thumper, Blitz, Hurculese, Willow (beautiful for a tabby, either color), and I will have to think on some others..But you have a really big task naming all of those you care for and God bless you for giving them their own unique names according to their personalities!         Respectfully, Lorraine Lytsell Barnard

I love the name Dammit.  I doubt I would ever have the courage to name a cat Dammit just because I'd be too embarrassed to ever mention him in public or take them to the vet, but thinking of all the hilarious play on words that would exist is tempting.

And I'll admit, I have a cat named Tigger.  I'm in no way offended it was near the top of the list, but I do have a reasoning.  He looks nothing like a tiger, he's actually a gray and white tortie rescue with a nub of a tail.  His huge hind legs and very muscular build makes him look exactly like a manx.  If I didn't know he was a rescued kitten from a stray, I would have assumed he was a pure bred manx.  We tried to think of a catchy name having to do with his nub tail, and we nearly settled on Stubbins.  But my wife didn't like it so I jokingly mentioned Tigger.

Tigger was my favorite Pooh character as a kid, and it was simply an ironic name.  The real Tigger bounced around on his tail, our Tigger has no tail.  For some reason my wife loved it and so it stuck.  But like you said, he could care less, as long as we feed him in time.

That's a great use for Tigger!!!! So it doesn't count. :-)

my son, a car geek, has Turbo and Deizel. My Twittens (short for 2 kittens) are Furfeather and Kalypso. I don't think we have ever used a 'normal' cat name. We've had Pins and Needles, Barely Visible  and Hardly Visible-both so black you could barely/hardly see them, DumCat, Princess Sweetie Bones, Yahoo, Lavender, Kitty Itty Bitty, Smidget, Samew, Sneaker-who liked to sleep in shoes, etc. I knew Kalypsos name as soon as I saw her-she's a sleek black little goddess of a cat who loves men. Furfeather took a couple of weeks before he told me his name-he is a big fluffy , sweetheart of a maine coon with a tail like a plume.

I cracked up laughing over #10 of the Boundary-Pushing Names. That would be hilarious if someone actually did that.

Now, I'm making a broad sweeping generalization here, of course, but I find most human names for cats really banal. Bob Dole is an exception, because he shared that name with a politician, and that makes it funny for both of them. But I really cringe at names like Debbie, Missy, Frank, Charlene, Gertrude, Dave, etc., etc. when introduced to an animal that is inherently so superior to a human. Bud? Really?? Ashley?! *gag*  

Cats deserve fun, descriptive names, since we mere humans can never begin to guess what they call themselves, and couldn't translate it into words even if we knew. Robin, really... Kevin? Kevin?!  *sigh*

Now MY cat has a name that fully captures his unique and nigh indescribable wonderfulness - a name so fitting that I can't actually bear to share it here, lest your readers pick up on it and it sweeps the nation and my cat becomes one of a thousand sharing his otherwise perfectly suited name, which rightfully should be HIS and only his.

However, I generally refer to him as Fluff.

When I was a kid, we had cats with pretty typical cat names. Typical in that they were mostly names chosen by us kids. Tigger, Thai (a Siamese), Smokey, etc. At one point we got a new female cat and decided to let my dad have the honor of naming her. Big mistake. Being a scientist who traveled worldwide, he got clever on us. The name he gave her I will have to spell phonetically, as we never did figure out how to spell it and the original requires Cyrillic letters. Her name was "Yay-leez-zvav-yeta" which he said was Russian for Elizabeth (I later confirmed this with a native speaker, but he pronounced it much better than I ever could). Try saying it using your best Russian accent and it's kind of pretty! We ended up calling her Yayleez, which required constant explanation. Cat names can be conversation starters!

I admit it, my Mommeh named my brother Harley.  But it is because he has such cool harlequin markings, his whole name is Harley Quinn.  At the shelter he was named Neptune.  Changing the name after adoption is sort of a ritual, like saying "you're mine now!"

One of my fosters is named Luba..I like that name. It means "someone who has love". Her human mom is Russian. She had to give her up because she was moving back to Russia.

I work in a vet clinic...a client actually named one of his cats Snatch, another named Roach, and we did have a little pooch called Scruffy Dammit, RIP Scruffy Dammit.. you were fiesty but had lots of character!

I have never had a common name for my cats.. Velvet was my first cat. (I was 6 so I think that's acceptable!) Right now I have Karma... Kismet.. Sadari.. Independence and Liberty.. the latter two a friends daughter named him.. Independence and since the other tabby was his sister.. Liberty seemed most appropriat! Of course they have nicknames.. Karma.. is boo, boo bear, Kismet Kizi- Kiza=dee.. Dee.. Sadari.. Dari, Minx and Imp... Independence is Indy, Indiglo.. Glo bear.. Liberty is Libby.. Libby's on the labe (must be sung! ) and Liblib.. with many more! LOL


Great chioces as always, Robin!

My parents like easy names for their pets.

We've always given ours...unique ones with a middle name (we only use both names if their in trouble. It works as well on cats as it does kids!)

We've got Luna Lovegood (grey and white female), Nebula Andromeda (female tortie with a half blind eye), Auora Bella (Nebula's mostly white and some orange sister), Apollo Anton (Tuxedo male. After my fav olympian, and usually his name is also followed by OH NO!....Bad pun is bad), Hala Calypso (grey ticked tabby female), Orion Edward (grey ticked tabby male), Rigel Fawkes (after Guy Fawkes and the phoenix, Rigel's grey ticked brother), Naboo Padme ( female tortie named after Star Wars planet and character! sister to Rigel and Orion), Eclipse Abyss (black with small white patch female. She appeared UNDER my parents house...we're still not sure how, so we gave her a mysterious name. She's also not friendly...so looking into her eyes is dangerous lol). Endor Amidala (female tortie, also named after Star Wars planet and character. She' had bad fleas...that kind of looked like little ewoks on a planet when we got her. My mother-in-law likes to relate her to the witch of Endor. She bites alot--the cat, not my mother-inlaw), and then brother and sister duo name Sirius Black and Nimbus Prescious (an intentional mispelling for the girl. Siriud id all black, has the orangest eyes I've ever seen, and thinks he's a dog. Nimbus is fluffy looking, tiny, sick when we got her and is a mostly white calico).

Then we got the dogs--Ares Reed (chihuaha/daschaund on the one side and beagle on the other--his sister and him are 40lbs), Ariel Jasmine, Angel Baby (a chihuaha), and a minature daschaund rescue (we think she's full blooded) named Ambria Yavin-4 (two star wars planets in that one!)

Our overall theme is Celestial whether it be gods and goddesses, planets or stars. And the dogs all have A names.

LOVE the name tater tot!

My sister has a cat named Homerun XD

I volunteer with a rescue organization and mostly foster pregnant cats and kttens.  It's hard to be original when I have had so many come through my home.  Last spring a cat gave birth to 8 kittens.  I decided to go with flower names and it worked well.  Recently I've been on a Beatles kick so my recent rescues are Penny Lane, Michelle and Jude.

My first kitties were Athena & Zeus (obviously, I was into Greek mythology st the time). 16 years later, after they'd gone to the rainbow bridge, we got Ruby (named after a bluegrass song--we're huge bluegrass fans) and Banjo (again cuz of bluegrass). Sadly, Banjo had FIP and passed 5 months later. We got 2 new kittens to be Ruby's furfriends, and to pay homage to our poor baby Banjo, we named the kittens after 2 of our favorite banjo players, Scruggs & Vann (for Earl Scruggs & Mark Vann).

Our cats were/are Charlie, Tim (named after Father Tim in the Mitford books, which I was reading when we adopted him), Rainy, Rosie (both girls were named by their shelters, and we liked the names so they stuck), and our newest, Alexandra/Lexy, named after the character on Monarch of the Glen.

We love British TV shows, so I'd love to have a Barnaby (Midsomer Murders), an Owen (Vicar of Dibley), a [Doc] Martin and Louisa, Lewis and Hathaway (Inspector Lewis) or William and Julia (Murdoch Mysteries). The character Constable Crabtree on Murdoch has tons of aunts, all with flower names like Petunia and Primrose and Zinnia which could be fun for the right female cats. With a litter of males, you could name them after great 80s bands like Duran Duran (Simon, Nick, Roger, etc). But I also adore sweet old-fashioned girl names like Cora or Caroline, or when people choose personal names from their heritage, an Irish name if they are Irish, a Russian name (Natasha!), if they are Russian, etc.

Names to avoid are the overused baby names; as much as they are pretty, there are too many Emmas, Bellas, and Sophias running around right now, on two and four legs.

I have 14 cats. Their names are:

Monster aka Monty, white and siamese patched, 7

The Siamese brothers:

Tai, 7

Chi, 7

The rest:

Miss Kitty, black, 6

Tigger, tabby, 5

Bear, black, 4

Smokey, blue, 4

Lacy, blue, 4

Elizabeth aka Lizzy (Pride and Prejiduce), siamese, 4

Whisper Kitty (Noisest cat we've ever had), black, 4

Tinsel (found right before Christmas), grey bulls eye tabby, 2.5

Toby, white with tabby striped patches, 2.5

Brother and Sister Bengals:

Jasmine, silver bengal, 10months

Kipling, brown spotted bengal, 10months

My cats have always told me their names.  Sometimes they tell me with first eye contact, sometimes it takes a while, but if you pay attention they will let you know.  I understand people who foster and rescue have to come up with a lot of names so "themes" can be helpful, but in general I feel the same way about cats named on a theme as you do about Max and Midnight and Mittens.  I know at least six cats named Midnight, two Mittens and too many Maxes to count.  I also know four cats named Karma and two named Kismet. The article was entertaining, anyway. When my mother worked in rescue, she started naming cats after Catholic Saints. :)

A neighbor had a cat named DC.  Turns out it stood for Damned Cat, but she was too polite to say so in front of children...

We also had a neighbor with a cat named Kitty Cat.  They said that they were just using Kitty Cat as something to call him until they could think of a good name, but they took so long to come up with one, he only answered to Kitty Cat.

I think our most unusual cat name was Kermit Zero Yo-Yo Kitty (known affectionately as "Kermie").  This is what happens when you have small children and end up naming the cat by committee.

 I think the funniest single name I heard was 'you'. as in  'You , get down,"  'You, come here".  I had twin girls at one time and looked hard for names.  After I settled on Ginger & Taffy (I know, not so creative) for my ginger girls I heard someone had named their twin siamese 'Martini & Rossi'.   Now I think it would be fun to have Dolce & Gabanna. 

one last one we had for one of our fosters was 'smidget'.  She was so tiny and her white furs had grey brush strokes all over.  Her vocal chords were anything but tiny though which was so at odds with her diminuitve size.  She was the first to be adopted with that name.  Where did she go live?  With a GREAT DANE!!!   LOVED IT! 

Lisa - a 16 year old calico

Thomas T. Tomcat (the "T" stands for "trouble": a 13 year old tuxey rescue

Precious: 6 year old domestic long hair muted calico rescue

Precious kittens, she was pregnate when I found her:

Amber: 5 year old muted calico

Maggie Mae: 5 year old blue calico

Mikey (he WILL eat anything) 5 year old tabby

Tigger: 5 year old orange tabby

And the the First Day of Summer rescues of 2 years ago who were dumped by the roadside at 4 weeks old:

Sugar: 2 year old silver tabbly

Spice: 2 year old red tabby

Keep up the good work, Robin, you are a special lady.

My current cats both had different names when I adopted them.  My long-haired tabby was Fiona - which was a pretty name for a pretty cat - but had to go because I didn't want a cat whose name could be shortened to Fifi!  So it actually took me a week or so to come up with a name for her, and I finally decided to name her after an owl because she looks just like one with her big round eyes and tufted ears.  Then the challenge was to find a pretty owl name (because she's just a beautiful, dainty little cat). That was harder than I thought it would be! Apparently no language has a word for Owl that sounds pretty. I finally had a revelation and decided to name her after "Sophos Glaukopis" - the Greek phrase referering to the goddess Athena's "wise little owl".  Hence she became Sophie - and it's a name that fits her perfectly.

 The other, a Turkish Van mix, came to us with the name Lila and I wanted to name her something closer to her heritage. So after scouring Turkish and Arabic baby names, she became Zehra - which means "white" and "flower". It suits her and she's learning the name.

My current cats both had different names when I adopted them.  My long-haired tabby was Fiona - which was a pretty name for a pretty cat - but had to go because I didn't want a cat whose name could be shortened to Fifi!  So it actually took me a week or so to come up with a name for her, and I finally decided to name her after an owl because she looks just like one with her big round eyes and tufted ears.  Then the challenge was to find a pretty owl name (because she's just a beautiful, dainty little cat). That was harder than I thought it would be! Apparently no language has a word for Owl that sounds pretty. I finally had a revelation and decided to name her after "Sophos Glaukopis" - the Greek phrase referering to the goddess Athena's "wise little owl".  Hence she became Sophie - and it's a name that fits her perfectly.

 The other, a Turkish Van mix, came to us with the name Lila and I wanted to name her something closer to her heritage. So after scouring Turkish and Arabic baby names, she became Zehra - which means "white" and "flower". It suits her and she's learning the name.

I've had lots of kitties.   My mom always rescued cats, and folks often dumped them on her.  One of the first kitties I remember was Corky.  He was black and white and got his name from my dad, who said he was "putting a cork on having any more cats, hence the name, but it was far from the end of the cats."  I had a white cat named Drifter, a buff colored tabby named Beans (because he loved to eat beans), and a black and white cat named Hamlet (Hammy for short.)  I had a white cat with little yellow spots named Piccolo, a pastel tortie named Little Guy (she was actually a little girl, but would only come to that name), Starch, a beautfiul marmalade tabby, and a dark gray Persian named Pichou (pronounced Pee-shew), which is French for "little slipper" because he liked to sleep with his head in shoes.  We had one beautiful tabby named Suds, because she loved to suck on your shirt collar and get you soaking wet, and Pedro,which we shortened to Pedo,  a gray and white tabby who looked like he had a mustache.  I had a black cat with orange eyes named Potion.  My current cats are Maggie, which is short for Magpie, because she always goes after shiny things and carries them away, and Cody, short for Commander Cody from Star Wars because he has two C's on his stomach---one on each side.  Most of our cats are named after things they like or do.  We usually choose the unusual because cats are independent and each is unique.  :)

Pedo is fart in Spanish.....I teach second grade in Peru, so this comes up often...

Best name ... Melonbelly. It is. You know it is.

I like giving  my pets interesting names, especially cats.  I get my naming theory from the musical Cats  (and the book it was based upon). I give my pets full names, then they have several nicknames.  Here are my current pets:

 

Maxwell Smartt - My dog, named for the main character in 60's sitcom Get Smart.  Maxwell Smartt responds to Max, Maxxy, Lil Mutt and My Bestest Buddy.

Eartha Kitty - Cat #1, named for actress Eartha Kitt (who played Catwoman in the 60s).  Eartha Kitty responds to Eartha, Pudge, Chubba Bubba, and Babyhead.


Sam-I-Am - Cat #2, named for the Doctor Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham (a childhood favorite).  Sam-I-Am responds to Sam, Sammy, Sweet Sammy, Big Boy and Tinkyboo.

 

Other cool pet names:  Solis, Lunar Debris, Doofenschmirtz, Holy Terror, Bootilicious, and Wet Blanket. <3

I like some of your cat names, particularly Tater Tot, and Roger That. I had a huge tom cat I named Major Tom, a playful kitten I named Bounce, who lived up to his name--always gave me a bounce when I petted him! His sister's name was Pounce. Downy, Snuggle, and Cuddle are some other names I have thought of. I had 4 kittens born on Palm Sunday, so named them Glory, Praise, Alleluia, and Hosanna. I rescue cats and give them away, so have lots of names I can't even remember!

My brother's favorite movie is "Spaceballs the movie". So he named his first cat "Spaceballs the cat". He calls him "Spaceballs". At first we were all thinking what kind of name is Spaceballs for a cat but we are all used to it by now and it's ended up seeming like the perfect name somehow. 

Nissa Faradae, is our champagne and white girl; it means "Spirit who guards a homestead".

answers to Nissa, Nissy, Nis


Oberon Baemy, is our black male (six weeks younger than his half-sister Nissa); his name means "Black Prince, brave as Bear"

answers to Oberon, Obie, Obe

Both are unique names, and fitting to their personalities.

I had a whimsy, yet eccentric aged neighbor, several years ago, whose two cats (a seal point siamese mix and a black oriental shorthair) were named, Waltham Roll Watcher and Lights Out Ivory Tickler. My neighbor had an old player piano that the cats often used as a climbing, feeding, litter box and napping station. So, my neighbor named her siamese mix after the brand of the old piano, Waltham-Roll Watcher, since the cat would paw and tear the paper piano roll as it spun around. Her other cat being jet black, Lights Out- Ivory Tickler, often walked across the piano keys.

My neighbor has long since passed on, her cats too, and so has that old, rattly, player piano.

I have 4 cats. Oliver , Olivia, Oscar & OliveOyl.

I think people who names thier cats stupid & mean names shouldn't really have a cat.  Having a cat or a pet for that matter, should be a pleasant experience & if you name it like the names on the list above then you should not have a cat. Why be mean about it? How would you like to called mean names as your real legal name? geez.... well, that's my opinion & some people just don't understand.

We named the family cats when we were old enough to realise the responsibility of giving them good names. My sister didn't want human names for them, so the only name we could agree on for the ginger male was Ginger (but I always called him Mr Ginger man!) and his sister got the best name because a friend suggested Tiger-Lily, after the Indian Princess in Peter Pan. She does get called Tiger most of the time, or Giger by my 1 and a bit year old niece. :)

I have a cat named after Tiger Lily too! But we just call her lily!

My sister has a mixed breed tabby shorthair she named Hairlo-Cuttinfella. I asked my sister's how she came up with the cat's name and she said Hairlo is because of the cat's short hair, and Cuttinfella is because the cat's claws are long and very sharp. Yes, this kitty once used my leg as a scratching post and ruined a new pair of my nylons! Ouch! My mom had a small Cornish Rex named Tiny Toy (kind of a cute name) when she was living in her apartment. Tiny Toy was a little sweetie and loved to talk. My mom had Tiny Toy for 12 years. Ironically my mom passed away (my mom made it to 79) just three days after Tiny Toy died:( 

Maurice: Medium hair orange tabby.. We were kids when we named him

Theo: short hair orange tabby with blue eyes

Wolfgang/ Wolfie: answered to Wolfie. Grey and black  wolf like tabby.  Strong stripes. Striking. 

Blackbeard and Soya: Short hair tuxedos brother and sister.  He had a semi white face with a black "beard". She was very dainty and mostly black with extremely almond shaped eyes. 

Pheobe and Blackie.  Pheobe tuxedo black and white short hair.  Blackie's real name we later found out was Sherlock.. But Blackie had somehow stuck and he responded to it. Medium hair black catfish visible fangs that stuck out .

 

All my babies. All deeply loved and dearly missed.  About to adopt two identical orange tabbies.. Full grown... Named by shelter Ginger and Marmalade.  Strongly considering changing names.  

 

 

I have two cats,one called fluffy (tried to name it pumpkin but everyone kept calling it fluffy because it was just sooo fluffy) and Nagini (because it just snakes around anyone he can cuddle) so here some pretty cool cat names -

  • Mrs Norris (harry potter reference like nagini)
  • Church (lots of churches used to have cats for good luck)
  • chairman meow
  •  frog (because every cat likes to jump)

I would love to have a Mrs Norris.  My Treeno is Filch's cat's twin I swear.  He looks just like the actor that played the part in the films.

My daughter's cat Kitty Pride (I think it is a superhero thing?) should absolutely be Crookshanks.  


My tabby is Sebastian - but if I'd gotten a girl instead of a boy I was going to name it Minerva....

My bearded dragon is Norbert.


Yeah, I'm a Potterhead.

Same! so amazing there is someone else! All my freinds are not at all Potter Heads!

I like themed names, but over time the cats always tend to name themselves:

Gizmo

Shadow

Athena aka Fluffernutter, goddess of war (long haird white kitten with spots of orange and grey) ... and her mom (feral outdoor cat) Mamma Fluff (looks exactly like her daughter ^ ) AKA Miss Piggy.

Mooch  (another feral, Orange, and probably Athena's dad as she has his ears) with the sweetest Moocher of a face you'll ever see.

What I want to name my cats: 

Gonzo, Rowlf, Scooter, Rizzo, Sweetums, Zoot, and of course, Animal :) But as you can see above, most of our cats are Girls and Shadow totally named himself.

i have a cat named the most off the head name, Fiji. i named her when i was little it fits torties perfectly though. we are also getting an outside cat soon too, his name will be Neko, which is japanese for cat. :P

No, not Mr Pussy!

Zigzag: not named after rolling papers. Aka gizmo. His favorite spot was in my lap.

Spike: a wicked cool cat who thought he was a dog. He killed voles, moles, mice and chipmunks by the hundreds but never killed a bird. Also a lap cat.

Zack: ultra laid back, long hair, loved to be brushed - even his belly

Dagger: named after Dagney Taggart of Atlas Shrugged fame. Not so much a lap cat but loves attention and is usually in the same room as I am. Has supernatural hearing and can tell when I open the fridge if it's to get her food or not.

The last three are also nicknamed Stinky. Spike had stinky breath because he LOVED tuna, Zack had a stinky bottom sometimes because of his long fur, and Dagger has a stinky litter box because she doesn't bury her poops.

We had a cat named Honda. You could hear him purring anywhere in the house.

My neighbor, who is very nice, has/d cats named Tabby, Butterscotch, Snowball, Pumpkin and Smokey. Yes, for the exact reasons you guessed.

Another friend named his cat Schroedinger. Awesome.

Another friend named her cat Winston and her dog Churchill.

After picking up my new two year old Orange/cream Ragamuffin mix from the pound, he hid under my bed while I looked up names. ( He was no mufasa. ) I stumbled upon Colby ( the cheese ), and thought it was adorable, but I imagined it would be a little awkward to call out Colby with the L. So I got on my hands and knees, saw him huddled in the corner under my bed, and asked. "What do you think about the name Coby." And he got up and walked up to me. So it stuck, and omg is he a little brat sometimes. xD

 

There's a brand of catfood here called Felix... and SO many cat's are called Felix.  If you know who Felix Unger of 'The Odd Couple' is, well... that's why we named ours Oscar ; )

Of course, that meant that if we ever had a second, then 'Felix' would be have been the obvious choice.

Next door there's a 'Harlequin'...

It suits him well as his Front-Left and Hind-Right quarters are almost all white, whereas the opposite quarters are a busy tortoiseshell.  Of course, they usually just call him 'Harley' : )

When I lived in Spain there was an ex-pat with a brown cat with perfect blue eyes... it was such a rare looking cat that just about everyone stopped and commented.

His name?  'Frank' ... after ol' blue eyes himself apparently : )

-Gary

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