Cool Names That'll Make Other Cats Jealous

There must be a million varieties of names describing a cat's coat, which is ironic, given that the vast majority of housecats are either domestic longhairs or domestic shorthairs, with only a little variation around the edges. Names that evoke soft, fluffy fur are fine for almost all cats, regardless of their actual fur length.

Think for a bit before you choose Fluffy or Fuzzy as a name for your hairless kitty though.

These names go two ways, from the frankly obvious to the slyly ironic. Naming a black cat Blackie, Inky, or similar seems obvious, but you can have a lot of fun here if you're creative. Try calling a black cat Snowy or Blondie.

If your cat companion happens to be all white, fall back on the all-black names for kicks. If nothing else, it's a decent conversation starter.

These are an exception to the color-naming rule. If your cat has an interesting color pattern, it might be worth it to choose a name that reflects that, such as Patches, Checkers, or Socks.

An exception to the exception for unisex names, anything having to do with a calico pattern is almost certainly going to be for a female cat since only around 1 in 3,000 male cats have the genetics to sport a calico pattern themselves.

Giving a cat a name that basically means "cat" can be a tricky business. While many names like Kitty and Tabby have been used for as long as English-speaking people have kept cats, you may feel less than creative when you go with them.

Kit is a nice compromise here. It's obviously related to Kitty, but when asked, you can tell people you were always a huge Knight Rider fan, and the cat secretly talks.

Spot is traditionally a dog's name, making it a popular choice with families that ironically keep cats. Spot was also the name of Lt. Commander Data's cat in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in the interest of full disclosure, the author of this piece once had a seal-point Himalayan named Jean-Luc, so no complaints about this one.

Spot also works if your kitty has an actual spot, but that's not exactly a high-effort connection there.

Felines are famously lucky, and Lucky works for many of them. Luck-related names are trendy for rescue cats (um, you DID look into getting a rescue cat, right?), and for housecats who've survived a close call early on in life.

Lucky is a good name for the pet who sits on your computer keyboard when you have work to do, doesn't take to catnip, and likes to pick fights with the family dog.

Rascal is simple, direct, and to the point. Most cats have a rascally side, and yours is no exception. It works for cardboard box cats works for clawed-your-drapes cats.

If one of your friends already has a Rascal at home, think about some alternatives that basically mean the same thing, like Sport, Bandit, Twitch, Popper, and so on. Remember you can't get mad when a cat named Mischief unrolls your bathroom tissue, even the 10th time.

Super-cutie names such as Baby, Cutie, and Sweetie really are more for indoor cats than outdoor ones, and it's important to run these past the others in your household before you make it official.

Remember that everybody else in the house has to use these names, and hopefully, they'll all be comfortable with making kissy noises and calling for "Snookums" where the neighbors can hear them. It's kind of good for a genuinely pampered kitty though, so this can work.

Names evoking a nighttime hunter, such as Midnight, Phantom, or Shadow, slipping through the darkness and stalking prey like a spectral menace, are pretty cool, no doubt. It might seem odd to choose this imagery when your cat gets tangled in packing tape someone left on the floor, but it's really the image that counts here.

These names work well with outdoor cats, but even a lap-pilot who's never hunted anything bigger than a housefly can pull off a "Spectre."

This name really doesn't evoke anything associated with felines. It can be a good one if your kitty is an outdoor ranger, however, and they always make it home safe. This way, when they're gone on one of their two-day hunting trips in the neighborhood, you can make the dad joke that you've "lost your marbles," and it will be as funny the 20th time as it was the first.