Cat names

A short name with bright sounds, like ee or s, catches its attention more and stands out from everything else you say at home. Always use it for good things and it will end up coming when called (when it feels like it, being a cat).

Sex
Length
Where it comes from
Starts with

How to choose one it will answer to

Short, one or two syllablesIt is quick to say and easier to tell apart from everything else you say to it during the day.
With bright soundsMany cats pay more attention to ee sounds and to hissing sounds like “s” or “sh”: Missy, Fizz, Kiki.
Not like another name in the houseIf you already have a Molly, a Luna works; a Polly, not so much.
Link it to good thingsSay it before food, a stroke or a play session. Never to tell it off: that is how it learns to come.
If it is adopted, it can be changedAn adult cat learns a new name if you pair it with treats, patiently.
Think of the vetYou will be saying it out loud in the waiting room for fifteen years or more.

Names by coat colour → Still not sure which breed? Take the quiz →

What makes a cat turn its head

Many cats pay more attention to short names with bright sounds, like ee, and with s or sh sounds, which are close to the sounds people naturally use to call a cat. That is why names like Kiki, Missy, Fizz or Pip work so well, and why a very long name ends up as a nickname within a week. It is not a fixed rule: some cats answer perfectly well to Bartholomew. But if you are torn between two, the short, bright one usually wins, and it is also easier to call from the other end of the house.

Yes, it knows its name

The idea that a cat does not care what you call it does not hold up. Studies show that cats can tell their name apart from other words that sound similar, and that they react to it with a flick of the ears or a turn of the head even if they do not get up. Whether they come is another matter: that depends on what usually happens when they hear it. A cat that links its name to food comes; one that links it to being put in the carrier hides. The name works, but the cat decides whether it is worth it.

How to teach it

By saying it when something good is about to happen. Before putting its food down, when giving it a treat, at the start of a play session with a wand toy or just before a stroke it enjoys. Once, in a cheerful tone, and a reward as soon as it looks. Within a few days it will have made the link. The mistake is to use it for everything: to tell it off when it jumps on the worktop, to pick it up before the vet or to get it out from under the bed. For those moments it is better to use another word, or none, and save its name for things it likes.

If you adopt an adult cat

You can change its name, and it is quite common when the one it comes with from the shelter is temporary or does not suit you. It works just as with a kitten: the new name is linked to food and good things, and within a few weeks it recognises it. It helps to choose one that sounds like the old one (from Lulu to Lola, from Simba to Simon) if it already answered to its own. And if it has been called something for years and answers well, it is just as fair to leave it: for the cat, that sound already means something.

How to use this list

It has over 400 names with their meaning, and you can filter them by sex, length, letter and origin: classics, mythology, Japanese, famous cats from books, film and real life, food, looks and personality. Names based on looks work well when the cat has a very clear feature (a black coat, patches, striking eyes), and personality names are best left until you know it a little, because the shy kitten of the first week may turn out to be the boss of the house a month later. Try them out loud before you decide.

An educational tool from Michipedia. It gives estimates, not a diagnosis: for anything to do with your cat’s health, ask your vet.