Pet Names · Cat Names
By Sophie Kihm · Updated September 2026
Across 13 pages
of 13
Invented nickname
Up-and-coming actress Beanie Feldstein is attracting attention toward her unusual — but rather cute — nickname. She was born Elizabeth Greer Feldstein but nicknamed "Elizabeanie" by her childhood…
Welsh
"beloved friend"
A diminutive of the (male) name Dafydd, the Welsh form of David. In the US, it's strongly associated with the candy.
English word name
Most likely to be borne by a spotted cat or dog.
"an immature bean pod used as a vegetable"
The unisex word name Bean, distant cousin of the infamous Apple, was used for the name of a child in Louise Penny's novel "A Rule Against Murder." A cute choice, it's likely best reserved for a…
Animal name
"bamboo eater"
Panda, welcome to the baby name menagerie! Panda is an adorable animal name (after an adorable animal) that is sure to be both very rare and very cute. In Skins there was a character called Panda,…
While we don't see many parents adopting Otter as a name for their own babies, Zooey Deschanel put this one in the lexicon when she used it as a middle name for her adorably-named daughter Elsie…
Word name, English from Spanish and Portuguese
"banana"
Banana is one fruity name we wouldn't recommend. Pick Plum instead. There is a Japanese novelist whose pen name is Banana Yoshimoto--birth name Mahoko.
Literary animal name
Tigger is the bouncing not-a-tiger from Winnie the Pooh , a symbol of buoyancy and resilience. As Tigger says in the books, he's "the only one", and it should probably stay that way when it comes to…
Word name
Bamboo is a plant name that you might want to save for the zoo's name-the-panda contest. It was used for a starbaby in 2000, though, the rapper Big Boi.
English
"musk nut"
Aromatic spice used in cooking, and a cute route to Meg, Nutmeg is predominantly used on pets rather than humans.
Modern invented name
Australian writer Wendy Orr put this name on the map with her hit Nim's Island " series of children's books, about a smart young girl who lives on an island in the South Pacific. Abigail Breslin…
Nature name
As a name, it's linked to Sir Mulberry Hawk, a character in Charles Dicken's Nicholas Nickleby.
Tippi is best known as the nickname of actress Tippi Hedren, star of Hitchcock's "The Birds" and "Marnie." Hedren's real name was Nathalie Kay; her father dubbed her Tippi. Although the name will…
French diminutive of Josephine, Hebrew
"Jehovah increases"
Fifi is a perfect name -- for a French poodle. But Fifi may seem more child-friendly as names like Coco and Lulu rise. Fifi in its fluffiness also balances the seriousness of such full names as…
Fruit name
Fig was the unlikely name of a beautiful character in Curtis Sittenfeld's Man of My Dreams . It could make a playful middle name or a sparky nickname for the likes of Philippa, Fiona, Felicity, and…
Mittens is a common name for cats with mitten-like fur patterns on their paws. The word actually has feline origins — it shares a root with mite , an Old French pet name for a cat. It became linked…
English diminutive of Aminta and Araminta, Greek
"defender"
Minty isn't a fresh word name — it's an old-fashioned nickname for Araminta, the romantic smoosh name coined by playwright William Congreve in 1693.
"small fish"
This adorable fish name debuted on the baby name charts in 2020, inspired by a young girl character in the Netflix movie Love and Monsters . Minnow resembles well-established girl names Minnie,…
Combination of Marie and Lou or Louise
Milou and her near-identical twin Malou are adorable names popular throughout Europe; they're contractions of Marie or Mary and Lou or Louise. The Malou spelling will probably be easier for English…
Latin, diminutive of Frances
"from France or free man"
If Frances and Fran are too serious for you, and Fanny too saucy, you might like Franny, still identified by some with J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey stories.
