Pet Names · Cat Names
By Sophie Kihm · Updated September 2026
Across 122 pages
of 122
English word name
"love, fondness, attachment"
Love makes an endearing middle name, as in Jennifer Love Hewitt. However, more parents are considering Love as a first name — enough for it to enter the US charts for the first time in 2022 as one of…
Italian from German
"old and wise"
A spirited German name very popular in Italy and occasionally used here, Aldo is one of the unique baby names with international flair. And names that mean wise have an enduring appeal.
Norman
"man power"
This image of this distinguished Anglo-Scottish surname, drawn from the French place name of the ancient castle of Saint Foi de Montgomery, is rapidly shifting from fusty and formal to cool. And…
Scottish
"foreigner, stranger"
Wallace is so square could almost be ripe for a turnaround, especially with the hipness imparted by the British Claymation series Wallace & Gromit . And Wally makes an adorable Leave it to Beaver…
English diminutive of Ann or Agnes, Hebrew or Greek
"grace or pure"
To some, Nancy is a sweet, sparkly, vintage choice with plenty of energy and style. For it strays too much into '"old-lady" territory to be cool again yet. It's out of fashion in France, New Zealand,…
Latin
"fifth"
Quentin, an offbeat name with lots of character, relates to the Latin for the number five and is by far the subtlest and most usable of the Latin birth-order names, masculine as well as stylish and…
Serbo-Croatian
"dawn"
Zora is a meaningful literary heroine name honoring Zora Neale Hurston, an important black writer and leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Spelled Zorah, it is a biblical place name, and is also the…
Place-name
"home on a forested dune"
With Brooklyn, Trenton, and Camden on the rise, Harlem is one to watch out for. It has lingered down the lower end of the US Top 1000 since 2018 but has been trending upwards. It's already been…
English or Latin
"queen's manor; fifth"
Quinton is among several attractive Q-beginning, n-ending two-syllable names for boys , that also includes Quentin (the most popular iteration) and Quenton. They only suffer from their similarity and…
Diminutive of Tobias, Greek, Hebrew
"God is Good"
Sweet and spirited, kindly and handsome, posh and approachable, Toby is a versatile nickname, popular in the UK as a stand-alone choice, but familiar in the Netherlands and New Zealand too. In the…
Latin; Celtic
"heart; daughter of the sea"
Cordelia is exactly the kind of old-fashioned, grown-up name for girls that many parents are seeking for their daughters today. The name of King Lear's one sympathetic daughter, Cordelia has both…
Slavic, Turkish, Russian, Arabic
"give peace; iron; heart, mind, conscience"
The most common form of Damir is of Slavic origins, deriving from the elements da , meaning "give" or "take," and mir , "peace." It's also seen as a variation of the Turkish name Demir, meaning…
English
"faithful, loyal"
Loyal is one of the few virtue names suitable for boys, an honorable and principled Boy Scout-esque appellation with a surprisingly long and distinguished history. Loyal was a mid-list name at the…
Scandinavian variation of Andrew
"strong and manly, masculine"
Friendly and rugged at the same time, Anders is a Scandinavian form of the Andrew and Andreas family, used across Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and in the US. Consistently in the American Top 1000 since…
Japanese
"young thunder"
The name Jiraiya was created in 1806 for yomi-hon — a type of book from the Edo Period — called Jiraiya Monogatari. The character was revived later in the century for a folk tale series Jiraiya…
"the golden one"
Since Aurelius was given the supermodel seal of approval by Elle Macpherson, it has joined Augustus as an ancient Roman name that feels usable today. Slightly mystical and magical with a golden hue,…
Scandinavian
"army ruler"
The name of the last Anglo-Saxon king of England before the Norman conquest, and a name that's long been associated with a pipe-smoking, bespectacled grandpa or uncle. After years in style limbo,…
Word name
"one who gathers information covertly"
Scout, a character nickname from To Kill a Mockingbird (her real name was Jean Louise), became a real-life possibility when Bruce Willis and Demi Moore used it for their now-grown middle daughter,…
German, English
"high guardian; brave heart"
Howard, once hugely popular in the Top 50 from the 1870s to early 1950s, hitting Number 24 in 1920 -- has been stuck in Dad-Grandad limbo for decades, but is showing some signs of stirring back to…
English and Scottish surname related to Walter
"son of Wat"
What with the resurgence of W names like Weston and Walter, the prominence of high profile actress Emma and golfer Bubba, and even the attention paid to Watson, the IBM computer on "Jeopardy" (named…
