Pet Names · Cat Names
By Pamela Redmond · Updated September 2026
Across 7 pages
of 7
Word name
"ashes, partly burnt coals"
More distinctive than Ella, if you're inspired by Cinderella, a rarer alternative to popular Ember, perhaps, or even a modern spin on Cindy. Cinder is the name given to partially burnt wood or coals…
French
"blackbird"
A sleek, smooth, understated name off the grid in the US but among the Top 100 girl names in Germany. In the US, it is a unisex name, while in Germany and the Netherlands, it is predominantly…
Greek
"dark flower"
The th sound both softens and complicates this Melanie relative.
Feminine variation of Nigel; botanical name from Latin
"black"
A name that sounded unthinkably priggish until it became attached to Domestic Goddess British TV chef Nigella Lawson (named for her father), who gave it a big dollop of glamour.
Aboriginal Australian
"black swan"
Maroochy Barambah, an Australian singer, brought this name into prominence in Australia.
Bird name from German
"night singer"
Charming nature name made even more appealing by the connection to iconic nurse and statistician Florence Nightingale.
English word name
"causing harm"
Disney turned Maleficent into a name in 1959, when it was used for the "Mistress of All Evil" in the film Sleeping Beauty . Prior to that, maleficent was a word meaning "causing harm," the antonym of…
Latin nature name
"dark cloud"
Nimbus is a word from nature for a type of cloud that has occasionally -- very occasionally -- been used for a human. But it's evocative and upbeat and certainly makes an intriguing and stylish…
Manx, Irish
"little blackbird"
Typically spelled as Lonán in Ireland, Lonan is its Manx form, though it could also be considered the anglicized form too. The name comes from the Irish lon meaning "blackbird", paired with a…
Japanese
"ninth son; black"
Traditionally given to the ninth-born son, which is a rarity nowadays.
Animal name
Grrrr.
Greek mythology name
"the darkness of the night"
Name of the legendary ancient Greek poet and musician — whose music was so beautiful it made trees dance and rivers stop to listen — would provide a child with a challenging but indelible identity.
Cornish
"little dark one"
Also spelled as Piran, this Cornish saint's name is thought to have derived from the Irish Ciaran. Borne by a 5th-century monk who founded a monastery, it also appears as a place name in Cornwall, as…
Native American, Blackfoot,or Greek, "golden eagle, or rock, stone"
"golden eagle, or rock, stone"
Too tightly tied to the acronym for the activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Literary name
Glinda is famous as the name of the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz, invented by author L. Frank Baum. but has there ever been a real life, non-fictional Glinda? Not in the US last year. The name may…
English occupational name
"blacksmith, metalworker"
Farrar has two separate origins: an occupational name meaning "smith", and a Scottish river name, from a Pictish word meaning "to wind". Barely ever recorded as a first name, Farrar is a blank slate…
Italian
"blacksmith"
If you're looking for a really unusual international occupational name, this could be it!
Sanskrit
"dark, of the night"
Lots of charm.
"young blacksmith"
And this sounds like the synthetic fabric washed with Fabrice.
Latin
"equal night"
A dramatic nature-inspired possibility for either sex.
