The Burdening Task of Naming a Cat
by Sherri S. Reese
Naming your cat can be as difficult a task for some as naming their own child. Even if the cat already has a name when you get it, it is not necessarily a name you want to keep. Choosing a name for your cat can involve a number of factors. First, it is recommended that you definitely double check the gender of your cat before it is given a name. You wouldn’t want to be called ‘Chucky’ if you were a female! What is the most popular name for a cat?
Once the gender of the cat is defined, you can move on to making a good choice. You can check the Washington Post’s latest results on their ongoing survey of the most popular cat name. According to their results on December 3, 2006, the most popular cat’s name at 76 votes is Kitty, what a surprise! Needless to mention, you may want to choose a slightly more original name than this popular name for a cat.
Others use names taken from popular animals known from television, books, and movies such as Mr. Bigglesworth, Garfield, and Felix just to name a few. The same can apply to names of famous actors, sports legends, and musicians. Names derived from such sources can certainly personalize the meaning behind the cat’s name although, naming your cat after Keyser Soze or Ozzy Ozborne could have negative effects.
Perhaps the easiest approach is to use the appearance of the cat to lead you to a decision. Ask yourself these questions: It the cat fat, or thin? What color or type of cat is it? I guess this is how cats end up being named ‘Fluffy’ or ‘Smokey’. It seems as though most people prefer to spend some time observing their cat, and spending some time with it before they give it a name. Can you imagine not having a name for your own child after it was born? I think avoiding an identity crisis for your cat is a good idea. At least decide on something within the first week. Otherwise, the cat may be less responsive to the name once you finally decide on one.
Generally, within a few hours you can determine whether or not the cat is friendly, aggressive, shy, or outgoing. These personality traits can clue you in to whether the cat is named ‘Cuddles’ or “Dracula’. KittyNames.com offers an excellent site for helping you choose a name based on any of the previously mentioned factors. It also offers a search engine which tells you the meaning behind your suggested name for your pet.
Although ‘Tigger’ may seem appropriate and popular cat name for an orange tabby with a bouncy personality, selecting a fitting name is essential in establishing a lifelong relationship with your cat.
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{ 47 comments… read them below or add one }
my cat has been nameless for years. and we call it a nuisance,
I love you You love me were a happy family give
a kiss and a hug to me and to you.I hope you have
a good day throuh.
the end
For My Cat Angel
My cat Cuddles Allen Smith,is the best cat in the world. The most beautiful calico cat in the world,is Angel Brett Smith,anyone could see that! If anyone says their cat is better,………well, their wrong!!!!!! If you are reading this right now,you might think,…..well,my cat is better! Well,…to tell you the truth my cat is way better,so,HA! But remember,Cuddles Allen Smith,and Angel Brett Smith,are the best,I mean BEST,cats in the world!
i just got my kitten today!!
the question is…what to name it??!!
I have five cats. Patches, Alley, Dumas, My Cat(Myke for short), and Indica/Fluffy(I call her Indica, my dad calls her Fluffy). I always thought Patches would be one of the most popular cat names.
Personially it depends on what kind of cat it is to decide the name. I think my cat is an americian short hair. and he has a bunch of twirls and swirls on him :] ( smiley face ) so i named him Marble. Tell me what kind of cat yours is caitlin smith!!!! and is it skinny or fat ( lol ) and does he have big or small eyes? Tell me!
Boom cha cha +*~*+..POOF..+*~*+
aka kat lova
i named my kitten diamond! because shes the most precious thing in the world 2 me. i watched my other cat of almost 5 years and only her and her sister survived they r now almost 4 months old.my cat,princess, did have 5 kittens but 3 died. now my best friend takes care of the other one.
Actually, I have found that people tend to name cats too quickly. Before they have a chance to know their cat’s personality. Just a spur-of-the-moment “Whitey” or “Shadow” or “Callie.” More than once I have decided on a name in the week after we get a cat, only to have a nickname develop into the name that the cat responds to. Tiny started out as “Pandora,” Skinny started out as “Star,” and Pickle Boy was originally known as “Binky.”
My philosophy is that the cat will let you know the right name if you just pay attention. As long as it is said with love, your cat will learn it and respond to it.
I have four cats: Missy, Ivan, Jesse, and Saba. Missy is my favorite, she is a buetiful tan Tonkinese and no dude, she’s the best. Ivan is also a Tonkinese cat. He’s dumb and sleeps all the time. Jesse is a black “rescue” cat. He is such a sweet lap cat, I forgive him for eating paper (that I sometimes needed). Saba is a Bengal. She is a troublemaker! She’s like living with a two year old. She eats anything, like my brother feeds her stuff just to see if she’ll eat it, and she ate grits right off of his spoon! They’re all really great cats, and I miss them so much now that I’m in College.
I have a cat that my parents rescued when i was like seven. He’s ten years old now. He was a stray and my mom named him Scooter. I probably would have named it something different, but I wasn’t very good at coming up with names then. My dad wanted to make him Mocha, although he’s pretty golden, so that wouldn’t have been because of his color.
My cat is a white /tortie ‘rescue shelter’ cat called Tansy. It is a herb. My other cat, who I got at the same time, was Fern. Suited them both. Short, pretty, easy.
my cat has many names. a few are:
1. midnight(Most of the time)
2. todd (yes, from the musical sweeney todd)
3. phantom (from the opera, ik)
4. inky (he is black, as you’ve realized)
5. albert (don’t ask)
6. princeton (from avenue q)
he responds well to all of these, though he does hate me.
Oh and my brother has cats with interesting names… Chubagis and Kittywompus. :]
My cat’s name is Traveler because heralways travels around the house. He is a Domestic Shorthair. He is the friendliest cat I have met so far in my life.
I have a cat that I’ve had for about 11 years. He’s so old! I named him Shadow because he follows me around so much, I feel like he is my shadow. He’s a black and brown kitty. Most of the time, We call him Shae because it’s short for Shadow.
I’m getting a new kitten tomorrow, and are trying to figure out a name for it. You guys didn’t really help!
I have Peanut, Snuggles (Snuggs) and Ruffian (Ruffy). I half jokingly gave all of them middle names after family members/a former cat. Peanut Marie, Snuggles Gloria and Ruffian Riley. I agree, though, that you tend to call them by nicknames instead of by the name you took a painstakingly long time to think of.
My cats are called Olly, Maisy, Ringo, and Mia
I have 3 cats. Sparkles, shes my favorite. Raja (from the movies Aladdin, princess Jasmine’s tiger), and Racer, we named her that because when she was a kitten she and Sparkles would race around the house.
I had a cat that I just lost not long ago and she lived to be 20 years old in human years… but her name was Tigger, then I have another cat named Sheba, China, Salem, Mystic, and Midnight.. although Midnight and Tigger have past on their still apart of the family, I have Sheba, China, Salem, and Mystic now and a new kitten which I have no idea what to name her.. I would like something different that no one really uses…. Any ideas.. anyone?
i ate my cat
maybe pipi { pronounced pi pee}
My cat’s names are Boomer, Silky and Pip.
I HAVE A BEAUTIFUL PURRFECT LITTLE GIRL WHO IS 14 AND A HALF AND AS FRISKY AS ALL GET OUT…. HER NAME IS CRUNCHY JUICEY MILDEW…. MILLIE FOR SHORT
I had an 18 year old cat my sister named her beauty but she ended up only answering to boo or boo boo. She died not long ago. I now have Alanis, Ely, Alex, Geddie (girl) and Mia. We had 5 additional kittens who got addopted. Betty, Fluff, Ralph, Ernie and squeek. (I miss him) And we have a few strays outside. Butch, Albert, Eddie, Randy and Ghost. My husband named them all but Alanis and Ely.
After watching my kitten for 2 day’s, I named him Lucifer… A few months later I can clearly state that this name really suits him. Not a really common name though, really weirds people out when I say it. But what can I do, he responded only to that name when I first started trying names that would suit him.
Im getting a beautiful Tabby kitten on August 2, and i dont know what to name it, shes a bit chunkier.
I have 3 cats and they all told me their own names… sparkie cause she is a orange ds and has a spark to her..Tori she is a ds i just looked at her and said a couple names and she seemed to like tori lol…. and then there is spookie my little girl she is a calicoe ds she scares herself if she looks at her shadow she jumps
my mom has a black cat and when she got him, the little girl had named him punkin because in bright light he had an orange tint to him. we wanted another name for him so of course being a black cat and thinking of the old tale of halloween and such, boo seemed good…..however the main reason he got his name was he would just sit and stare at me (something i hate) and i’d look at him and say BOO! it stuck with him and he is boo boo (or boo boo kitty from laverne and shirley)
We have 3 persian cats. We’ve named them Tink-tink, Baxter and Brophy. We are getting another this weekend and are undecided on his name. Maybe Barnaby…
my furry pal is named fuzzy
I have 9 cats, named Sprinkles, Binx, Digit (he’s a polydactyl with 24 toes), Lowla (she’s a munchkin and low to the ground), Slinky, Tux, Pumpkin, Mittens and Sherman. I know Mittens, Pumpkin and Tux are pretty common names, but my cats are uncommonly some of the nicest and sweetest cats around!
……I HATE CATS! I REALLY HAT CATS! MY FRIENDS SAID IT BRINGS YOU GOOD LUCK! BUT I WILL NEVER BELIEVE IT!EVER! is it true? that cats give you good luck?
My friend Tish named her cat THE COOLEST name ever: Company; so whenever the cat joined us, it was neat to say, “Here’s Company!”
I named my cats Amy & Emily; they’re sisters.
Past cats were named: Bartholomew (Bart, for short); Siegfreid, Ziggy for short; my then boyfriend had a cat named Isaac; I also have had other cats in India named Zorro, Tiger & Brownie. And my very 1st cat’s name was plain old “Pussy” as in “pussycat.”
Hail the Beauty & Sophistication of God’s marvelous creation, the Fine Feline!
Hi my names Gill i live in London and have to cats. I love them very much i would even go as far as to say i love them more than humans.I{ have a plan so me and my cats can grow old together not long now for me though (he he). I’m going to get married for a year then get a divorce hopefully this should leave me and the cats enough money to retire in peace.
xx
Hi my names Gill i live in London and have two cats. I love them very much i would even go as far as to say i love them more than humans.I have a plan so me and my cats can grow old together not long now for me though (he he). I’m going to get married for a year then get a divorce hopefully this should leave me and the cats enough money to retire in peace.
I had a very faithful, loving, male cat for years. He was a black and white, long-haired feline with a very unusual name, but one that I feel was most appropriate to his nature of patroling the house and property. “Squadcar” is sorely missed. I’ll probably use the name again someday when another black and white targets my house and decides to make it home. Dogs have Masters. Cats have Associates.
i named my cat, c.a.t. lol. (see.aye.tee.) !
Our cat is named Klaus.
My cats have been named “Mirin”, “Little Pony”, and “Fifty”
I have 5 cats
1. Captain Haddock “Haddy”(From Tin-Tin)
2. Pilchard “Pilch” (From Bob the builder)
3. Tiddles [Mittens] (Tiddles: Long Story, Mittens: because it’s what Ralph Wiggum named his cat from the Simpsons)
4. Fudge [Pickle] (Because he was the colour of fudge when he was born and Pickle because it was a funny name)
5. Register [Parmesan] “Regi” (Because she loves a brand of Parmesan called Reggiano’s Parmesan)
Key:
Name
() Expanation
[] Middle Name
“” Nickname
My cat name is Shadow
okay so origanally i have 12 cats but we gave away 7 know only 5 but the thing is mi cats names are fifi, (my baby) cici,mittens,runts,& loloa but she ran away and they are the best cats in the world but mitens & runts are sisters but mittens got prgnet 3 times this is her 3d bach but when her and ruts are about 8 inc away they hiss well mittens dose but i dont get it,they are fine when she is not pregnet but ya and my baby fifi fights with cici and it always gose down-hill from there we had to fix her eye it was a cut rite under her ye so i was like what the crazy happened when i got home but we checked it made sure it was not infected and she was fine in about a week so we were good im sure haha so remember my cats ARE THE BEST IN THE WORLD they may fight but i love em.
I had a chubby, cute and well behaved Siamese lady whom I named Mrs. Biscuit. She passed away two weeks ago, I loved her with all my heart. I’m sooo sad now
Hi, thanks for sharing the great information and resources by this helpful post, i found this blog while searching on Internet. Sarah
Our cat is called Mulan. She meows a lot. It suits her.
my cat's name is virtue… anyone? anyone?
My cats names are:
he is mostly gray with a little bit of white and he has a few orange and golden spots and he has strips but you can only see them if you look hard enough, at first I only wanted him because I felt bad because he looked all deformed and kinda gross but after a couple weeks of coddling him and playing with him I fell in love with my recently discovered undeformed kitten,
Missy, Yaten, Gurr, Bill, Juicy, Fuzzerz, Bailey, Meow Cat/Kinn, Ninja and Foxtrot.
but Foxtrot is mine, I originally name him High Jack because Ninja came flying through the window and I blurted it out but Ninja was/is to big so I couldn't rename him but I began to dislike saying it so I wrote down the Army's Alphabet and spent at least three hours crossing out names and I finally settled on Foxtrot