Pet Names · Cat Names
By Sophie Kihm · Updated September 2026
Across 122 pages
of 122
English word name, diminutive of Barbara, Latin
"foreign woman"
Baby is rarely seen as a given name — or even nickname — these days, although it did rank in the Top 1000 from 1989 to 2003. These instances can be accounted for in two ways. Firstly, infants whose…
Hebrew
"house of bread"
The Spanish name Belén is a well-established girl name, but parents have been slower to use the English equivalent. It is beginning to come into wider use, along with other New Testament place names…
Korean
"strong"
An Asian name that would be easily understood in this country.
Japanese
"village; capital city; apricot; unite"
Also written as Kyō, this Japanese name makes a simple, sweet, yet spirited name for a son. Like many Japanese names, the meaning alters depending on which kanji are used, but Kyo can mean "unite,…
English word name
"clove"
Clove is a spice name that is a tad more piquant than Saffron or Cinnamon. It might get more attention now as a member of The Hunger Games family of names.
"dusty"
Dusty first became popular as a girl's name thanks to singer Dusty Springfield - born Mary. She used her childhood nickname professionally, and many parents embraced Dusty as a name for their…
German
"hardy, brave, strong"
Sometimes pronounced MAY-nerd, which is death to a name. However, the name Maynard was given to 25 boys in 2022.
German form of Maurice
"dark-skinned"
The unusual-to-the-English-ear Moritz is a Top 25 name in Austria and a form of Maurice or Morris, which are modern variations of the ancient Roman Maurus. There were several early saints named…
Native American
"happy fortune"
Resonant and unusual.
English
"peacock"
An evocative unisex one-syllable name, Poe is most distinguished by its literary reference. Edgar Allan Poe was an influential American author and poet, credited with inventing the genres of…
Arabic and Sanskrit
"hope; ruler"
Indian princely title, more exciting than Prince or Duke, that is also a widely-used name for both genders. In the US, the names Rajah and Raja are uncommon: Ten baby boys were named Rajah last year…
"low-lying land"
A surname occasionally used as a first, as in former attorney general Ramsey Clark. This spelling is now closely associated with the psychopathic Game of Thrones villain Ramsay Snow (later Ramsay…
English month name from Latin
"doorway"
Thanks to two cultural influences, January has joined March, April, June and August as a plausible month name. The first was a character named January Wayne in a bestselling 1973 Jacqueline Susann…
"not exalted"
Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab in the Hebrew Book of Kings, has long had a bad girl reputation. But in the modern secular world, this is somewhat mitigated by the feminist perspective of her as a…
Jory as a feminine name is an intriguing choice with several possible origins. It may be a feminine adaptation of the masculine Jory, which itself can be a variant of George (meaning "farmer"), a…
"a day of religious observance and abstinence from work"
Sabbath is a faith-inspired word name, like Sunday or Faith, that is attracting some notice since heavy metal musician Zakk Wylde chose it for his son. But then there's the band Black Sabbath, which…
Irish
"little dark one"
Kiernan Shipka, aka Sally Draper on Mad Men , brings this Irish surname into the girls' column. And, like Kieran and Tierney and Tiernan, it's one of the perfectly unisex baby names . Only 14 girls…
Sanskrit
"dark, black, blue"
Shyam is one of the alternate names of Hindu God Krishna.
Short form of Sidney, French
"Saint-Denis"
Sid originated as a nickname for Sidney, but we like it on its own, a la Sara Quin's and Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen's sons. Sid Vicious, member of the band the Sex Pistols, gives this name a punk…
Armenian, English, French
"moon; light; grove, light"
Sweet and stylish, Lucine is a versatile choice that can be used as a spelling variation of the celestial Armenian name Lusine. It is equally considered an elaboration of the classic Lucy and as a…
