Cat names by coat colour

Why a name based on colour works

Because it is the first thing you see about the cat and what people remember most, and because descriptive names are understood straight away: nobody asks why a black cat is called Jet. Many of the ones we suggest are also short with clear vowels, which is what best makes a cat pick its name out of the noise of the house. Cats learn to recognise their name, especially if they link it to good things (food, strokes, play), so more than the name itself, what matters is always using it the same way and not wasting it on telling it off.

Coat colour says nothing about character

You often hear that ginger cats are more affectionate, torties more temperamental or black cats calmer, but there is no serious evidence that colour decides personality. What does have a clear genetic basis is sex in some colours: almost all tortoiseshell and calico cats are female, because the genes for orange and black are on the X chromosome, and most ginger cats are male. A male tortie exists, but it is rare and almost always sterile. Character is shaped far more by socialisation as a kitten and by what the cat has been through.

How to choose between several

Say it out loud a few times, the way you would when calling it from another room. If it is hard to say, it will get shortened on its own. Avoid names that sound like words you use a lot at home, such as “no” or the name of another person or animal. Two-syllable names are usually the easiest, and if you like a long one, think of its nickname now. And there is no hurry: the first days with the cat at home tell you a lot about what it is like, and sometimes the right name turns up by itself.

If its colour is not on the list

Pick the closest one: a grey cat with stripes can go under tabby or grey, and a white cat with the odd patch under bicolour or white. Many moggies mix patterns (a tabby with a white chest, a tortie with a lot of white), and the genetics of each colour is explained in the coat colours section, in case you want to know exactly what yours has. And if none of them convinces you, the general list of names has hundreds more, filterable by origin and by sex.