The 20 Most Popular Cat Names In The US December 20 2018, 35 Comments
Thinking of adopting a new kitty? Bringing a new cat into the family is exciting in itself, one of the best parts is getting to pick a name! Our pets’ names can say a lot about us—for instance, if you meet someone with a cat named Luke Skywhisker, there’s a good chance that they are a fan of a certain space saga.
So if you’re looking to find a new best feline friend, we’ve gathered 20 of the most popular—and some of the funniest—cat names in the US for some inspurration. This list was compiled by Healthy Paws Pet and Insurance Foundation and includes the 10 male and 10 female cat names that were most popular in 2017.
Scroll down for some name ideas that will be purr-fect for any feline!
Top 10 Male Cat Names
Oliver.
Thanks to the Disney classic Oliver and Company, which is derived from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, Oliver is ideal for ginger cats. It has a Latin origin and means "olive tree."
Loki.
Loki is known as the god of mischief in Norse mythology, and thanks to the Avengers, he's more popular than ever. If you name a cat Loki, though, be prepared: it might be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Milo.
Milo is of German origin and means "soldier" or "merciful."
Simba.
The Lion King pretty much instituted Simba as a classic cat name. It is originally of Swahili origin, and fittingly means "lion." You can give your kitty their very own mane and crown them the king of your living room!
Jack.
Jack is a durable, cheery everyman form of John. How did John get to Jack? It went from John to Johnkin to Jankin to Jackin to Jack. Language is strange!
Charlie.
Charlie has dozens of pop cultural references, from Charlie Chaplin to "Charlie's Angels." It derives from Charles, which means "free man." It became popular in France in the Middle Ages thanks to Charles the Great (aka Charlemagne).
Finn.
Finn is of Irish origin and means "fair or white." Popular characters featuring the name are Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and more recently, Finn from Star Wars: The Force Awakens!
Leo.
Leo is the purrfect name for any tiny house lion, especially as it literally translates to lion in Latin.
Max.
Max traces its origins back to Ancient Rome, from the Roman family name "Maximus," meaning "greatest."
Oscar.
Oscar is of Irish and English origins, and has multiple meanings, from "God spear," "deer-lover," and "champion warrior." Notable bearers of the name are writer Oscar Wilde and, of course, Oscar-Mayer (of the Oscar Mayer Wieners).
Finding the perfect name for your new cat can be difficult – but finding the perfect new toy doesn’t have to be! Shop our For Cats collection of toys, beds, treats, and more – all while giving back to shelter cats!
Top 10 Female Cat Names:
Luna.
Luna is of Italian origin and translates to, you guessed it, "moon." Luna was also the Roman goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.
Bella.
Bella is of Italian origin and means "beautiful."
Lucy.
Lucy is predominately English in origin, and is derived from the Latin "lux" which means "light." The purrfect name for a feline who lights up your life!
Lily.
Floral names are coming back into style, with Lily at the head of the parade! Slightly ironic in name as lilies are highly toxic to cats if ingested - so if you have a Lily, keep her well away from the lilies.
Daisy.
Another lovely floral name that is as bright and energetic as a sweet kitten. Daisy comes from the phrase "day's eye," because it opens its petals at daybreak.
Nala.
As with the name Simba, Nala became a popular cat name thanks to The Lion King. Nala is a name with an African origin, meaning "successful." In Sanskrit it means stem.
Mia.
In its simplest form, the name Mia means "mine" or "my beloved," as it does in Italian.
Chloe.
Means "green shoot" in Greek, referring to new plant growth in the spring.
Stella.
Stella means "star" in Latin and also provides endless amounts of fun each and everytime you reenact that famous line from A Streetcar Named Desire. You know the one.
Need some more ideas? Check out our collection of unique historical names for your cat!
Comments
Michelle Krischlunas on September 21 2019 at 09:01AM
My mother in law named a stray cat Hemmingway because it was a Hemmingway cat with polydactyl paws. When she realized the kitten was pregnant, she shortened her name to Hemmy. We recently had to euthanize 19 year old Hemmy due to cancer. 😿
Debbie on August 24 2019 at 02:15PM
My cat ( sadly in catty heaven) was named Wedgewood after Tony Benn. Know he wasn’t perfect but probably one of the only good guys in politics:… The Wedge ( as known by everyone he came into contact with) was a real character and loved by all.
Elsa on August 04 2019 at 06:56AM
I named my boy Loki because it’s both cute and mischievous, just like he is!
Our family cat was called Whisky after the whiskey brand “Black and White”. Our neighbours who found him named him, and we kept it.
They are both black and white cats, and incidentally came from the same human family. Since they looked so much alike, they even called one of the kittens Whisky. The kitten who ended up picking me! But I changed the name this time, to Loki :)
Janelle on June 06 2019 at 07:32PM
i miss my cat a lot his name is opie he is 2 weeks old and he is out on the streets alone god bless you opie
Katie on May 13 2019 at 06:12PM
Past cats-
Pepper was so named because he was solid grey.
Sophie was a calico. I think my mother picked her name because she didn’t want a “typical” calico name.
Lucky was a grey tabby. We found him abandoned in our yard-he was lucky we spotted him.
Peanut was named that because he was a tiny orange tabby when we got him. Later, the name became ironic because he got fat.
Belle and Beau were grey and white tabby littermates. Belle means “beautiful” and Beau means “handsome.”
Current cats-
Charlie is solid black. He’s named after Charlie Chaplin, both because I love Chaplin’s work and because he was found wandering around outside as a kitten (a tramp, so to speak.)
Selene is a grey tabby. I like mythology, and I named her after the ancient Greek personification of the moon, because she’s colored like it.
Jeanne on April 06 2019 at 03:35PM
I adopted two kittens when they were three and five months old their names are chaos and calamity, no more Explanation required 🤣 and I love every little tiny piece of fur on them ❤️
Sandy G on April 06 2019 at 11:45AM
I always name my cats human names. Here are just a few: I have Toby now. I’ve had a Charley, Zachary, Jack, Buddy, Leo, Alex (a girl), Rene (another girl). My sister names hers human names too. She has Bella, Rudy & Kelly right now. In the past, she has had: William, Harry (yes, names after Diana’s boy’s) Siobhan, Timothy, Baby Jack and more.
Bex Martinez on January 14 2019 at 04:14PM
I have had four cats in my lifetime. the oldest was named Julius Caesar (after the Julius Caesar) but we called him Ceasar. he was an American Shorthair and he was a black and white tom who was the man of the house, even though my dad was still there… he passed away 2 years ago, he was 13.
the next is Isabella, named after Queen Isabella. we call her Bella, and she is a calico. she is an American Shorthair too she is the alpha kitty and the kitty mama. she has looked over me and my siblings since we were babies. she is 15 now.
the next is Octavio, named after the Roman general Gaius Octavius. he is a black cat, a Bombay and my tubby tub tubs, which means he’s a fat cat, at a whopping 25 pounds. he is a softie and is the baby of the family. loves to cuddle. he is 5.
the last one is fiesty Victoria, named after Queen Victoria. she is a little Chartreux, with bluish gray hair, and she is a mean cat, like she trys to bully Octavio, but kitty mama Bella saves the day. she is also 5.
jessica jackson on January 04 2019 at 12:57PM
my cats names are Chance,Baby,Pebbles,Calie and Marven
Sandra on December 31 2018 at 10:31AM
Have named over 30 cats, but two favorites are Tortellini, a tortiseshell of course, and Sahara, the palest ginger I had even see that reminded me of desert sand.
Ren on December 30 2018 at 09:24PM
My orange tabby is part bobcat and is named after Alien (1979 movie) herocat and one of only two survivors, Jones (aka Jonesy.)
Moxie on December 21 2018 at 04:54AM
Had a simees who piper put a litter.
Notorious- he is the white plump of the group, thug life was his motto.
Luna- she is timid and a loner. (Renamed Muffin by new owners, personally think it’s a downgrade name)
Screech- he was the scrawny runt who has wired and liked to sing. (New owners renamed him Sherlock, it sorta fits his personality)
And my last two favs popped out black for some reason. (No clue who the father was) we decided to keep these ones:
Zoe – the princess she was
Galaxia- has a little white galaxy shape on her tummy and some shooting stars on her lower backside.
Jill on December 20 2018 at 07:52PM
We have a polydactyl tuxedo cat named Jane K. Meowling, my husband and I compromised between Jane Pawston and JK Meowling. She’s a sweet kitty. :)
Carly on December 20 2018 at 03:52PM
Dumpling got his name because he was a dumped kitten I found in some bushes…plus I’d just had Chinese food that day!!
Sakkt on September 10 2018 at 04:29PM
Tess. Teardrop Tess because she has a teardrop mark on her left eye.
Phyllis on July 26 2018 at 09:17PM
Ohmigoodness. Working backwards;
current cat is 18 years old, rescued from under the deck, named Velcro bc he wouldn’t let go of anything.
Huge silver grey tom named Smaug.
Ginger tom, more blonde than orange named marmalade bc of color and super sweet personality. Frequently called marmaduuuude bc he really is blonde.
Little black bobtail named Lilith – she really is satan’s daughter.
Siamese brother and sister adopted at 10 yrs old after owner had to give them up. We renamed brother Lummox because of his size. Sister stayed Sissy.
Siamese tom named Buddha bc of his little round tummy and silly grin. At vet’s recommendation, bought tiny female companion for him. She was 5 lbs to his 16, ruled him with an iron paw,headed for the heights when upset, earned the name Dragon Lady (from Terry and the pirates ).
Beautiful Persian registered name Lady Mariko Rose, affectionately called PJ because she looked like she still had her jammies on.
And besides them were :
Solomon – siamese tom
China – siamese mama
Imp – black female bobtail
Gravy – grey tabby tom
Darcy – dark grey tabby girl
Lacy – light grey tabby girl with beautiful white edges on her ears
Etta James – little solid grey girl who sings (talks) a lot
Odie on July 21 2018 at 05:46PM
I just adopted Charlie who is a 15 year old hray abasynian and he’s beautiful
Dinda on July 03 2018 at 06:15AM
I have a lot of cats in my house. And my favourite cat’s name are chila, Ello,uchu, and pinky.
Jana on June 30 2018 at 04:51PM
Tega, Ms. Daisy, Mario and Luigi.
Patricia on June 30 2018 at 04:43PM
I have Akira, (Kiri) tortie, & Purrin, golden tabby.
Ann on June 30 2018 at 01:14PM
I adopted my current pair of cats when they were adults, so they came with their names: Fritz and Shelby.
Before them, I had a bonded pair of siblings called Bagheera and Grizabella. Bagheera was large and solid black with yellow eyes. It seemed fitting to name him after the black panther in “The Jungle Books.” Grizabella was a small dilute tortoiseshell, and I named her after the character in “Cats” who sang “Memories.”
When I was growing up, we had a cat called Mr. Bartlett. The name was partly a joke, for he’d been named after a friend of the family who hated cats. Mr. Bartlett also had a tuxedo pattern with four white paws and a white front, so he had to have a name with “Mr.” in it, given his formal appearance. Much to everyone’s surprise, he turned out to have Siamese ancestry. The vet proclaimed him a Siamese mix after hearing him yowl.
Annette on June 30 2018 at 10:54AM
I name my female cats for goddesses (because cats were once worshipped as gods and haven’t forgotten), so I have had: Brighid, Athena, Isis, Nephthys, and Rhiannon. My son established naming males for composers, so we have: Igor Stravinskitty and Andrew"Drew" Lloyd Whiskers. Potential future names include Purrsephone and Moddest “Moddy” Mewsorgski.
Dee McCoo on June 30 2018 at 01:16AM
My cat is some sort of a Siamese so on her ears it looked like a mist over her head and she had the prettiest blue eyes so she became Misty Blue my precious baby.
HANA TO on June 30 2018 at 12:17AM
When I took my cat to my house, I put her into a paper box and put the box on my motorbike. It was rainning so heavy, she was very calm eventhough she was only 2 months. The box was wet and when my mother openned, first thing we saw was big blue eyes. The most beautiful eyes we’ve seen. So I named my cat Kim Tae Hee, a very pretty korean actress. But actually We often call her “nguoi dep”- it means Bella in English.
Megan on June 29 2018 at 07:08PM
I had to laugh when I read the list of common boy cat names. A friend I had back right after college had 3 male cats named Charlie, Max and Oscar – all on the list! I guess she wasn’t very creative in her naming. There is a male cat in the house now that belongs to my housemate named Gus, not a super unusual name but he has unusual coloring. He is a gray tabby with an undercoat of a golden color.
I have had cats named Sassy and Pandora back when I was growing up but I didn’t come up with their names, just agreed on them. My first cat as an adult was a beautiful dark calico named Mollly who lived to a day before her 16th birthday. Not a creative name but it fit her perfectly.
I share a house so I live with my housemate’s cats as well. She had Suki, a black Maine Coon and Tess Marie, another dark calico. Tess started as my cat and was named by my little girls (Tess – not sure why and Marie – from the Aristokats movie) but then adopted my housemate. Tess and Suki have gone to the rainbow bridge after long lives. She now has Gus (August) mentioned above and Maddi (Madeleine) – after the mischievous little French girl. Maddi is a tiny little tuxedo at 7 lbs and her “brother” Gus is 14 lbs. Yet, she is 100% the boss.
My cat right now is 16 year old Season who was named by my Amy when she was 5. I don’t know where she came up with the name but it stuck. Only pet named Season I had ever heard of until 2 years ago we saw it on one of those things you can buy for charity for $1 at the register at Petco and write your pet’s name on it and they put it up on the wall. However by then my Season’s name and picture had been all over our area in contests and stuff so we figured they copied us. Who knows? Personality wise, our Season will always be one of a kind.
Marisa on June 29 2018 at 02:34PM
Both Hernán and Rocío are simply two of my favorite names in Spanish (I’m Argentinian). But the last kitten whom we welcomed home was named David after singer David Mustaine – both are red haired, you know! 😁
Jo Jefferson on June 29 2018 at 11:58AM
I have a lovely smoke grey short hair who is what as known as a "failed foster’. She started out s a foster kitten named Suzie but after she decided this was going to be her home I renamed her Lily but because she had long legs and I always recalled the scene in Cat Balou of the bad guy with the dance hall girl saying to her "Oh Lily – long legs Lily:. She now runs the house and is a total Diva and goes by Lily or LiLi Belle
Cass on June 29 2018 at 10:51AM
So the very first cat I owned was named after one of my favorite tv cats The cat from Hocus Pocus , Binx. Then, I happens upon 3 homeless kittens and had to take them in again named them after cats from movies only this time they were big cats. Sangha and Koumal the twin tigers from Two Brothers and the tiger Raja from Aladdin. Then we adopted a 26lb cat and named him Sir Chunk A-lot. Then we had an orange kitten we rejoined from a friend who had named the cat after Oberon alcohol we didn’t like that so we renamed him Opie after The Andy Griffith show. And about 6 weeks ago we got two new kittens and named him Ares after the God of War which fits him perfectly because he is always picking fights with his sister Kamilah the Arabic word for perfect. As you can see I don’t care for common names for my cats or dogs for the matter. My last three Dogs have been Legend McDuff, Fable, and Aela the Huntress Rue.
Darla Evans on June 29 2018 at 06:07AM
Named my brown tabby Jenny of the block, because she always is roaming around. I also have Thumper, Maine coon/manx because when he takes off running he looks like a rabbit hopping.
Steph on June 29 2018 at 02:29AM
- Gus (fat crosseyed Siamese mix rescue named after the fat mouse in Cinderella)
- Cutie Raven Macaroni (named by a three year old bc a) the cat is cute, b) favorite teen totem character is raven and c) macaroni and cheese is his favorite food
- Lily Tiger Cloud (named by same child bc she looks like a tiger and her feet are white like clouds)
- Mr. Cuddles SIr Kittenpants Hershey (bc said child believes all animals require three names and the cat a) likes to cuddle, b) was a kitten and c) is black and the color of Hershey’s chocolate apparently)
Michelle on June 28 2018 at 11:40PM
My cat’s name is April. She’s an all black and they sometimes have a bad reputation, but she’s a sweetheart. She’s named after April from Parks and Recreation, she may be black on the outside but she’s a softie on the inside.
Mimi on June 28 2018 at 07:59PM
Baccardi (with an extra “C” for for cuteness) because I told my kids if they bring home one more cat I was going to start drinking! LOL!
Abby Miller on June 28 2018 at 05:32PM
I’ve been a fan of the Jackson 5 since I was a girl. I got my cat the night I learned of Michael Jackson’s passing and thought Blanket was a perfect name for her. She now has her own Instagram page @blanketthecat and her name suits her to a tee!
Ester on June 28 2018 at 11:52AM
My daughter is very ticklish. On our way home with our new little kitten, he was rubbing against her and she said to me: “he’s ticking me!” – so we aptly named him Tickles (The Greatest Tiger in the World).
Katheryn Clayton on June 28 2018 at 11:34AM
Love the Britcom “Keeping Up Appearances” so I already had an Onslow, who is a 26 pound chocolate brown lazy butt, and I needed a Daisy, of course. My friend’s cat was having kittens and I told her the first solid color kitten would be mine. Yup, first-born was solid white. But he turned out to be male! Didn’t matter. I named him Daisy anyway. He’s been a delight for nearly fifteen years. Oh, and he turned out to be a Siamese mix.