Cat Names · Pet Names · Names from the Arts and Pop Culture
Literary Cat Names
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O'casey
Irish surname
To modernize and add some oomph to the dated CASEY, add an O'-and also honor the great Irish playwright Sean.
Orleanna
Literary name
"gold"
Orleanna was the young heroine of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible , whose name may share the same golden meaning as New Orleans, or be a twist on Orlena and Arlena.
Tom
Diminutive of Thomas
"twin"
Just like Sam and Ben, Tom could be revived as a simple, well liked name on its own. Tom, just Tom, is one of the Top 100 Boy Names in France
Yoko
Japanese
"good girl; ocean child"
There are many in Japan, but for most Americans there's only one Yoko. Yoko Ono writes her name with characters meaning "ocean" and "child".
Orno
Literary name
Is it a real name....or no?
Oskar
German variation of Oscar
Oskar is to Oscar as Jakob is to Jacob: more distinctive and continental.
Tao
Spiritual word name, Chinese
"large wave; the path; harmony of the universe"
Tao is the Chinese word for the underlying harmony of the universe, combining both yin and yang. Extreme kayaker Tao Berman made this one of the spiritual names prime for adoption, and more recently,…
Princess
Word name
"princess"
Part of the trend for formerly canine royal names; this is one a little girl might love—up till the age of eight.
Garfield
English
"triangular field"
Despite the presidential pedigree, it's still hard to shake the image of the cartoon cat (named after his creator Jim Davis's grandfather). However, there are other Garfields, such as Barbadian…
Pansy
English flower name from French
"thought"
Pansy is an early floral name that lost credibility when it became a derogatory slang term for gay people. Better these days: Posy or Poppy.
Ralph
English from German
"wolf-counsel"
Ralph has two diametrically different images: there's the suave Ralph Fiennes-type Brit (often pronounced Rafe), and then there's the Jackie Gleason blue-collar, bowling blowhard Ralph Kramden bus…
Paz
Hebrew; Spanish
"gold; peace"
Paz, currently represented by actresses Paz Vega and Paz de la Huerts, would make a sparkling middle name choice. It originated as a title of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Peace, and is one of the…
Pete
Diminutive of Peter
"rock"
Sixties-style short form that sounds cool again -- though the unscrupulous Pete on "Mad Men" is not a character to emulate.
Pluto
Greek
"rich"
The Roman god of the underworld, the former ninth planet, a cartoon dog...but not a baby.
Petronius
Latin
"stone, yokel, woodpecker"
Petronius is an Ancient Roman family name that may be drawn from the word petronis , meaning yokel or woodpecker, or the more familiar meaning stone, which applies to all the Peter names. Gaius…
Pecola
Literary name
Name of the winning young heroine of Toni Morrison's first novel, The Bluest Eye .
Petal
English from Greek
"leaf"
Petal is the soft and sweet-smelling name of a character in the novel and film, The Shipping News . With the rise of such flower names as Poppy and Posy, we believe Petal — down-to-earth yet romantic…
Phineas
English, Egyptian
"the Nubian, the bronze-colored one"
Phineas is the English variation of Phinehas, a Hebrew name likely derived from the Egyptian name Pa-nehasi. Pa-nehasi, meaning "the Nubian" can also be translated as "the bronze-colored one." The…
Pilar
Spanish
"pillar"
The fact that this Spanish classic, which honors the Virgin Mary, does not end in the conventional letter 'a' gives it a special sense of strength, elegance, and style, making it a worthy choice. The…
Pip
English, diminutive of Philip
"lover of horses"
The original Pip was the main character in Great Expectations (full name Philip Pirrip). Cute for a tike, maybe too cute for an adult.