Looking for a cute cat name? These are 152 of our favorites from the 1,553 cute names in the Mad Cat Cartel name book, for girls, boys and every kitten in between, from classics like Mochi and Peanut to sweet finds from around the world.
Every name comes with what it means and the kind of cat it suits. Tap Pick a name for your cat and the Cartel chooses one for you.
Japanese mochi is a rice cake of steamed glutinous rice pounded until smooth and stretchy, and it is a traditional food of the Japanese New Year. Soft and squishy to say, the name suits a cuddly cat who relaxes in any lap and turns boneless when hugged.
Each one with the note it got from the Cartel desk that approved it.
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Cat ID · 01 · Common
Mochi
Cute · Food · Japanese
Japanese mochi is a rice cake of steamed glutinous rice pounded until smooth and stretchy, and it is a traditional food of the Japanese New Year. Soft and squishy to say, the name suits a cuddly cat who relaxes in any lap and turns boneless when hugged.
Memo from the desk of Meowchi "Chi"
Everyone at the catalogue shoot kept asking which stylist had done Mochi's fur. Nobody had. Mochi simply wakes up camera-ready and naps like an off-duty model between takes. I told them the stylist was me, which was only half a lie.
Generations of parents have called a baby peanut, and the word hands that fondness to a kitten who never quite catches up with its littermates. The two-seeded shell lends it a rounded, snack-sized shape, which is why it lands so softly on whichever cat in the household is the most compact.
Memo from the desk of Mewster
The junior accountants call small sums peanuts and then ignore them, which is just how fortunes leak away. Peanut now sits on my accounts desk as a reminder that small sums add up. Tell every new junior that Peanut outranks the loose change.
In Britain a biscuit is the crisp treat from the tea tin, in America a soft breakfast bread, and either way it sounds homely. Cat people also call kneading making biscuits, so it belongs on an affectionate cat who pads a blanket rhythmically before settling down.
Memo from the desk of Meowchi "Chi"
When we shoot knitwear, Biscuit ignores the props and poses next to the cable-knit as if it had designed it. Cosy is the quiet trend this winter, and our people trust nobody else to sell it. The knitwear campaign is yours, Biscuit.
Muffin is an old English name for a spongy breakfast cake, possibly from a Low German word for cakes, and it sounds as cosy as butter melting on toast. It is right for a friendly cat who waits for the household at the kitchen door each morning, wanting company more than breakfast.
Memo from the desk of Meowchi "Chi"
The design team named the pyjama line after Muffin before anyone thought to ask the cat. Muffin gave the verdict by sleeping on every sample, which is roughly how fashion critics work too.
With its autumn colouring and fireside warmth, Pumpkin matches a ginger cat that dozes by the radiator once the evenings draw in. The word grew from pompion, through French and Latin, from Greek pepon, a melon, and it is also an old pet name for a child or sweetheart.
Memo from the desk of Meowchi "Chi"
Pumpkin arrives with its own fairy-tale coach, so I never need a car on gala nights. That kind of ride deserves the October cover, and it got one. Pumpkin may ignore midnight entirely, since my parties end when I say so.
On its own, with no given name attached, Bean is pure endearment, the word people already use for anything dear and pocket-sized. The cat to give it to is the compact one that naps in a neat oval and fits inside a cupped pair of hands.
Memo from the desk of Meowchi "Chi"
Bean has one syllable and no surname, so no one misspells it on a guest list. I choose my own company at dinner, and brief names win. Long ones wait while I read. Short and unforgettable is exactly how I like the people around me.
Merriam-Webster defines a boop as a brief, light touch, especially on the nose, and also as a short electronic sound lower in pitch than a beep. It makes an affectionate, faintly silly name for a cat who greets favourite people by pressing a nose to their cheek.
Memo from the desk of Meowchi "Chi"
It has the one name in the studio that interns and investors alike say in the same hushed voice. No ad budget can buy reverence on that scale. Boop accepts it with half-closed eyes. The tail flicks once for every visitor who says it right.
A plural pet name that promises hugs in quantity, Cuddles tells visitors what to expect before they are through the door. Cosy and unashamedly soft, it describes a lap cat who climbs onto anyone who sits still and stays until their legs go numb.
Memo from the desk of Meowchi "Chi"
At every launch, someone asks to hold the cat, and Cuddles agrees before I can answer. Giving affection away is the oldest trick in the business. Cuddles, as names go, is pure strategy with the claws politely tucked in.
The sweet owes its name to the marsh mallow, a plant of salt marshes whose root paste went into the original recipe. Squashy and good-natured, the name promises a chunky cat who flattens into any cushion and bounces back unbothered.
Memo from the desk of Meowchi "Chi"
Marshmallow pairs total softness with a serious stare, the exact mix every cute brand chases. Put that face on one plush toy and the factory will need a second shift.
A cat built for comfort, who settles on a lap like a sandbag and sees no reason to move for hours, is a true Dumpling. First recorded around 1600 in Norfolk dialect, the word refers to a ball of boiled dough, and English has long used it fondly for a plump person or animal.
Memo from the desk of Mewster
I rate every cat on the balance sheet, and Dumpling is my safest holding. Heavy assets hold their value. So do round names. Every afternoon the cat sits squarely on the open books, a warm paperweight with a purr like compound interest.
A pip is the seed of an apple, and as a name the word keeps a crisp, lively snap. It goes to an ambitious kitten who sizes up the curtains and the stairs within the first hour. Dickens fans will think of Great Expectations, whose hero Philip Pirrip could manage nothing longer than Pip as an infant.
Memo from the desk of Meowchi "Chi"
You sat through your first front row with a veteran's calm, Pip, tucked between my bag and the runway without one squeak. Three letters fit any caption, and the editors will be typing yours all season.
Daifuku is a Japanese sweet of soft mochi wrapped around red bean paste, and its name means great luck, a reading that grew from an older name, harabuto mochi, or full-bellied rice cake. It has a gentle, lucky sound, the kind of word you give a contented cat with a full belly and good timing.
Memo from the desk of Cargo Katsuki
Every route I run has one stretch I cannot control, and privately I call it luck. Daifuku carries that word in its name, and since it arrived the weather over the Pacific has behaved itself. The warm shelf beside the dispatch desk is yours now.
With its bouncy, cheeky ring, Coco suggests a cat who ambushes shoelaces and vanishes before anyone can complain. Through Coco Chanel, the name has a note of Parisian chic too. Spanish ears also catch coco, the coconut, and el Coco, the bogeyman of nursery tales, a sly second side.
A cat with an eye for the treat tin and the brains to open it is what people mean by a smart cookie. The word came into American English from Dutch koekje, a diminutive of koek, cake, and has sounded fond and familiar ever since.
Honey has been a sweetheart's word in English for more than six centuries, and it doubles as a girl's first name. It carries warmth and slow sweetness, right for an affectionate cat who presses against whoever sits down and hums a purr into their sleeve.
Sugar came into English via Arabic sukkar, ultimately from Sanskrit śarkarā, which originally meant gravel or grit. As a name it is purely affectionate, right for a cat who presses its cheek against any hand within reach. Sweethearts have been called sugar in English since at least 1930, so people answer to it too.
Peaches belongs on a peach-toned ginger or cream cat with an easy, sociable manner. The fruit reached English from Latin persicum, Persian apple, and slang has long called anyone delightful a peach, so the plural sounds fond and faintly old-fashioned.
Butterbean is the American South's word for the lima bean and a fond endearment in its own right, and the cat behind it melts into any lap that stays still long enough. With butter for creaminess and bean for smallness, the name comes out mellow and warm before anyone learns it is a vegetable.
Buttercup, the glossy wild flower of spring meadows, suits a sweet-faced cat with a surprisingly firm opinion about being picked up. Fiction backs that up: Buttercup is the toughest Powerpuff Girl, the heroine of The Princess Bride and Prim's scruffy cat in The Hunger Games.
An attention-loving cat who appears the moment guests arrive and circulates for compliments is a born Cupcake. The cakes were named for the cups they were baked in before muffin tins were common. English also uses cupcake as a pet name for a sweetheart, so it reads as affectionate as well as festive.
Paws that are a different shade from the rest of the coat, as if the cat had pulled on gloves, have earned countless pets the name Mittens. The word is cosy and homespun, and the nursery rhyme of the three kittens who lost their mittens keeps it gently comic.
A fistful of packed snow, white and ready to throw, is the cheeky picture behind Snowball. It suits a kitten with a full white coat who ambushes ankles from behind doors and gathers speed with each lap of the hall. As a verb, snowball means to grow ever faster, and the Simpsons' cat is called Snowball II.
Fluffy names what anyone notices first about the cat: a coat so full there seems to be twice as much cat. In Harry Potter, Hagrid's three-headed dog is also called Fluffy, which shows how firmly the word stands for harmless. Gentle and unfussy, it suits a full-coated cat who enjoys the daily brush and leaves a drift of fluff behind.
Teddy, a pet form of Edward and Theodore, gained a new meaning when Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a tethered bear in 1902. A shopkeeper's stuffed Teddy's Bear followed, and the name has sounded soft and huggable ever since. It belongs to a cat who goes limp when lifted and lets himself be carried about like a toy.
Before it meant a rabbit, bunny was a pet name for a sweetheart or child; the rabbit sense grew from Scottish dialect bun. It suits a springy cat who leaps straight up without warning and kicks out with both back legs. Having started as a pet name for people, it carries a fondness plain Rabbit never could.
Pixies belong to the folklore of Devon and Cornwall, where the sprites were blamed for leading travellers in circles across the moors. Anyone lost on familiar ground was pixie-led, and turning a coat inside out was the old cure. The name holds on to that elfin mischief, ready for a cat that lures its people into chases around the garden.
The scarlet wildflower gives Poppy its name, and it has been a top-ten girls' name in England and Wales in recent years. It belongs on a cat that appears wherever there is company and has an opinion on every visitor. Worn each November for remembrance, the red poppy also gives this cheerful name a quietly serious side.
The sweet pea is a fragrant climbing flower that grows wild in Sicily and southern Italy, and its clinging tendrils give the name a tender air for a devoted cat who loops around ankles all evening. Popeye fans know Swee'Pea, the baby boy Popeye adopts, and in one early cartoon Popeye even calls Olive Oyl Sweet Pea.
Kiki began as a pet form of names containing a K sound and is used in English, Greek, German and Dutch. In Hayao Miyazaki's film Kiki's Delivery Service it belongs to a young witch who runs a courier business with her talking cat, Jiji. Bright and spirited, it suits a lively cat who drops hair ties and bottle caps by your shoes as if delivering parcels.
Lulu began as a pet form for Louise, Lucinda and other names starting with Lu, and it is at its best on a cat whose mischief is the remarkable kind, from the unravelled toilet roll to the sock paraded down the hall. Slang has called anything outstanding a lulu since 1886, so the cheerful name is also a fair warning.
A doubled pet form of Maria, Marie and other names beginning with M, Mimi is an affectionate choice for a sweet-tempered cat who naps on whatever you are reading. Opera lovers know it from Mimì, the gentle seamstress heroine of Puccini's La Bohème, whose story adds a tender, old-fashioned charm.
In Japanese, momo means peach, and in one of Japan's best-loved folk tales the hero Momotaro is found inside a peach floating down a river. The sound is soft and sweet, and it calls up a gentle cat with a fuzzy, peach-soft face who melts into any lap on offer.
Group 02 · 15 names
Cute names for girl cats
Soft, pretty names for a little lady with big opinions.
Bambi describes an innocent kitten still unsteady on its legs and prone to skidding on polished floors. The given name comes from Italian bambina, young girl, though most people know the roe deer of Felix Salten's 1923 novel and the Disney film. That deer is a buck, so on a cat the name has no fixed sex.
A cat who turns floppy and content when lifted, happy to ride on a shoulder like a favourite toy, is the natural Dolly. The name is an old English pet form of Dorothy, and the word doll grew out of that same pet form, which gives Dolly its sweet, vintage charm.
Maisie began in Scotland as a diminutive of Margaret, which descends from margarites, the Greek for pearl, and Henry James gave it literary weight in What Maisie Knew, his novel told through the eyes of a sharp young girl passed between quarrelling parents. It is right for a watchful cat who absorbs every household drama from the top step, missing nothing.
Lover of horses is the root meaning of Philippa, and Pippa is its English pet form. In Browning's Pippa Passes, a silk-winding girl's song on her one day off stirs those who overhear it to do better. With a galloping meaning and a sunny song behind it, the name is happiest on a cat who races the hallway, then purrs.
Rosie, the affectionate form of Rose, borrows a cheerful glow from rosy, meaning pink-cheeked and hopeful. It pictures a plucky cat who marches into the kitchen to supervise and checks out every new noise first. It also recalls Rosie the Riveter, the wartime emblem of women in factory work, and her can-do spirit.
Blossom derives from Old English blóstm and has been given to English girls since Victorian times. It suits a cheerful kitten who opens up slowly, shy at first and then everywhere at once, like a branch coming into flower. Pop culture added a backbone too, since Blossom is the clever leader of The Powerpuff Girls.
A cat who can walk across a sleeping lap without waking anyone moves the way Petal sounds. Its root is Greek petalon, a leaf, and English parents occasionally choose it for daughters. It also works as an endearment, and that keeps it tender rather than twee.
Bonbon began as French nursery talk, bon, good, doubled into a word for candy, and Bonbonette adds the dainty -ette that French uses for little things. Spoken fast, it skips along, which is what a candy word should do. Its cat is pampered and particular, accepting treats one at a time as if each came wrapped in foil.
Kitty Aiko describes a devoted kitten who brings her favourite toy to her person as a gift, as the Japanese name Aiko opens with ai, love. Kitty is the English pet word for a cat and, separately, an English diminutive of Katherine. It also nods to Hello Kitty, Sanrio's famous Japanese character, lending the pair a doting, homegrown sweetness.
Hana is a girl's name in Japan and Korea alike, and -chan makes Hana Chan the call for a little sister at supper. It points to a sweet-tempered cat who adopts the youngest in the household and sleeps at the foot of their bed. Korean hana also means one, a bonus for a cat meant to be someone's only.
In South Pacific, Nellie Forbush dresses as a sailor to sing Honey Bun about a sweetheart, while in American shops a honey bun is a glazed, cinnamon-swirled roll from the vending machine. Affectionate and teasing at once, it pictures a cat who greets each guest at the door like a long-lost sweetheart.
In Sanskrit lila means play or amusement, and Hindu thought applies the word to divine play, the idea that creation springs from joy rather than need. English speakers also treat it as a variant of Leila, and its light-hearted ring matches a kitten who can make an afternoon's sport out of one dropped hair tie.
A child, a sweetheart or anyone the speaker feels soft about can be a sweetie. In Scotland a sweetie is also a sweet from the corner shop, so it carries a cheerful, pocket-money ring as well. It belongs to a loving cat who treats each visitor as an old acquaintance and curls up in the nearest lap.
With -lina tacked on, as in Angelina and Carolina, Poppy becomes Poppylina, and the rhythm lands close to Thumbelina, Hans Christian Andersen's thumb-sized heroine born from a flower. The effect is pretty and old-fashioned, a name for a storybook on a nursery shelf. It goes to a cat who naps in the tiniest basket available and wakes ready for adventure.
Loulou is a French pet form of Louise and a fond word for any youngster, boy or girl. It belongs to a bouncy cat with a Pomeranian's swagger and an opinion on everything. In French that breed is the loulou de Poméranie, and fashion remembers Loulou de La Falaise, born Louise, as Yves Saint Laurent's muse.
Group 03 · 15 names
Cute names for boy cats
For the tiny gentleman who still wants to be carried everywhere.
Teddy Bean recalls the bean-filled plush toys of the Beanie Babies craze, stuffed with plastic pellets so they slump into any pose. The cat behind it sits slumped against the sofa back, legs splayed and belly out, as floppy as one of those toys. One letter off teddy bear, and a boy's pet name besides, it keeps the toy-cupboard softness too.
In the days of Wodehouse, old bean was a British way of saying chum, so Milo Bean calls up a sociable cat who treats visitors like fellow members of the club. Milo, short and modern, stops the pairing from sounding stuffy, so the whole rings like a schoolboy nickname.
A nosy cat who goes where he should not has a fine model in Peregrin Took, the hobbit known as Pippin in The Lord of the Rings. Older still, Middle English pipin meant a seed, and pippins were apples grown from one. By the 1890s a pippin also meant an excellent person, an admiring ring the word still carries.
Piccolino is the Italian diminutive of piccolo, small, and Irving Berlin took it for the carnival number in Top Hat, where Ginger Rogers sings it to Fred Astaire. Jaunty and light on its feet, it describes a cat who never quite stops being a kitten and tap-dances across the kitchen tiles after whatever rolls.
Bambino is Italian for a baby boy, the Christ Child is il Bambino, and baseball knew Babe Ruth as the Bambino. Cat breeders borrowed the babyish word for the Bambino, a hairless, short-legged cross of the Sphynx and the Munchkin, so it belongs first to a hairless cat with a kitten's face and a toddler's curiosity.
The word people shout to make someone jump sits after a lion's name in Leo Boo, suggesting a theatrical cat who makes a great deal of noise and means no harm by any of it. The picture is a lion playing ghost, all announcement and no threat, so the name stays on the playful side.
Pepito is the pet form of Pepe, the everyday Spanish version of José, and suits a cheeky cat who never looks guilty, however the vase reached the floor. Across the Spanish-speaking world it is also the rascal schoolboy of a whole genre of jokes, the local Little Johnny. That boy comes to mind first, and he keeps the name light.
Tigger is the bouncy tiger who joins Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in Milne's The House at Pooh Corner. The name is a child's twist on tiger, so it sounds fond, not fierce. The cat to call it is a springy one who launches at feet, toys and curtains with complete conviction and no plan for landing.
Toby is the English pet form of Tobias, and the cat who greets everyone the same way, tail up and without suspicion, carries it naturally. Tobias stems from Hebrew Toviyyah, God is good, and the short form has a homely, storybook warmth.
Scotty is the familiar diminutive of Scott, originally a surname for someone from Scotland, and it nods to Scottish Folds, a breed traced to a folded-eared farm cat discovered in Scotland in 1961. It is an easygoing, first-name choice for a cat with owlish ears who welcomes strangers like old acquaintances.
A diminutive of Pancho, which Spanish speakers use for Francisco, Panchito is also the Mexican rooster Panchito Pistoles, who teams up with Donald Duck in Disney's The Three Caballeros. Some of that cartoon swagger stays in the name, which calls up a cat with a showman's strut who chats at every visitor from the doorstep onward.
Mishka, the pet form of Mikhail, is also the friendly Russian name for a bear, and Mishkin is a Russian surname that probably grew from it. A cat with this name lumbers rather than walks, naps as if hibernating and stays cuddly through all of it.
Pairing teddy, the bear children take to bed, with boo gives a cuddly name to a cat who sleeps tucked under an arm. In American slang boo means a sweetheart, dated by Merriam-Webster to 1988, and it softens the name further. Teddy is still given to boys in its own right, which is why this compound reads as male.
Meowlito pictures a young cat with plenty to say and the charm to be forgiven for it, built from meow and the Spanish -ito, with an l that echoes boys' pet forms such as Manolito. That ending adds the warmth of a family pet name. Rolled with a Spanish accent, it comes out half greeting and half meow.
Count Snuggleton sets a continental title before a surname that sounds solid and English until its first half registers as snuggle. Nobles once collected tribute, and this one collects it in laps and warm blankets. The cat for it is a cuddly homebody who presses into the nearest person and stays there, half asleep, until the lap gives out.
Group 04 · 15 names
Names for tiny kittens
Small names for small paws. They still fit when the kitten does not.
Chibi, Japanese slang for a young child or a very short person, is made for a kitten who acts out every mood larger than life, from a puffed-up standoff with a sock to a sudden demand for cuddles. The chibi drawing style gives characters oversized heads, stubby limbs and exaggerated emotions, so it reads as cute and comic at once.
Calm and unhurried, Pebble matches a cat who sits as still as a smooth stone on the windowsill for an hour at a time. The word goes back to papolstan, the Old English for pebblestone, and its doubled b has a soft, harmless bounce.
English borrowed button from Old French boton, a bud. Cute as a button has long been a compliment for anything neat, wholesome and appealing. The name goes to a button-nosed cat with a sweet, tidy face that looks freshly sewn on.
Michael Ende's novel Momo centres on a girl of mysterious origin with an extraordinary gift for listening, one that helps people untangle their own problems. Little Momo keeps that portrait of a patient listener who makes everyone feel heard. The cat it describes is calm, sitting beside its person through an endless phone call and purring steadily at every complaint.
The moon is a lightweight beside the Earth, yet its pull drives the ocean tides, and Tiny Luna borrows that mismatch of size and influence. Imagine a cat with a commanding streak who sets the household timetable: breakfast, play hour and the moment the curtains open.
At New Year, mochi is traditionally pounded by hand in a mochitsuki, one person swinging a wooden mallet as the other turns the rice, both keeping a steady beat. Little Mochi brings that homely scene to a helpful cat who turns up for every chore, supervising the laundry and nudging the dustpan like a junior helper at the mortar.
Baby Mochi doubles up on softness, setting the English nursery word beside the Japanese rice cake. Expect a cat who stays a baby at heart, happy to be carried about like a parcel and patted on the head. Japanese even names that texture: mochihada, mochi skin, a compliment for skin as smooth and soft as freshly pounded rice cake.
The beanie, a snug knitted cap, was named from bean, an old jokey word for the head, and the pet name holds on to that warm, close-fitting feeling. Picture a cat curled tight against your neck on a cold morning, staying put like a hat you forgot you were wearing.
A bun is a soft bread roll, often sweet and glazed on top, and hair pinned up in a coil at the back of the head is a bun too. Said at bedtime it sounds gentle and unhurried, and it pictures a cat curled into one tidy knot for most of the day.
Puff casts a long-haired cat as an airy cloud with whiskers, especially straight after grooming. Its source is Old English pyffan, to blow with the mouth, an imitation of a quick breath of air. It also describes a startled cat doubling its outline as every hair stands on end.
Tippy, in informal English, means liable to tip over, the way a canoe or a tall stack of plates can be. It describes a wobbly kitten or an older cat whose leaps fall short of the ledge as often as not. It also echoes tippy-toe, a playful form of tiptoe, for a cat who creeps up on its toys.
In the Netherlands Pim is a pet form of Willem, the Dutch William, and in Thailand it belongs to girls. That single crisp beat describes an impish cat who stirs up a commotion and is gone while the household is still blinking.
Pokémon fans know Mew as the rare pink creature numbered 151, said to carry the DNA of every other Pokémon. As a plain word, a mew is the high-pitched call of kittens, which grown cats still use when uneasy or deferring, so it makes a quiet name for a soft-spoken cat who asks rather than demands.
Min goes well on a quick, sharp-eyed cat, since one common Chinese and Korean reading of the name means quick, clever or sharp. Another frequent character means people or citizens, and the name is used for either sex. Its brevity matches the meaning, because the name is over before the cat has finished moving.
Tinker sums up an inventive cat who pokes at latches, drawer handles and loose screws as if planning a repair. A tinker was a travelling mender of pots and pans, and to tinker came to mean fiddling with something to see how it works. Peter Pan's author gave that trade to Tinker Bell, a fairy who mends pots and kettles.
Group 05 · 15 names
Fluffy cat names
For the cat who is mostly fur and leaves a little of it on everything.
Light, feathery stuff is the first meaning of fluff, and theatre slang later gave it a second sense, to fumble a line on stage. Both meanings fit a shaggy cat who leaves soft drifts on every cushion and now and then fumbles a toy it was sure it had caught.
In plain English, a fluffball is any creature that seems made of fluff, from a day-old chick to a kitten. The ball adds bounce and a hint of comedy, so the word is rarely said without a smile. Picture a kitten that rolls belly up to invite a tummy rub, then seizes the offered hand with all four paws.
Cottonball borrows the puff of cotton kept for make-up and first aid, and it suits a white cat who naps curled so tight that no paw shows. The pairing works twice over, cotton for the colour and the softness, ball for that compact, tucked-in shape.
Cloudpuff is for a shaggy cat whose fur rises after every shake like weather building on a summer afternoon. Run together as one word, cloud and puff stop being a picture and become a texture, airy and slightly springy. Said at speed, it is a breath let out at the end of a long day.
Cotton came to English from Arabic qutn by way of Old French coton, and Beatrix Potter named one of Peter Rabbit's sisters Cotton-tail. Soft as a cotton boll, it suits a white cat who prefers arms to the floor.
Cloud started out as Old English clud, a mass of rock or a hill, and only came to mean the heaps in the sky around 1300, because cumulus clouds look like piled stone. Cloudy fits a placid cat who sleeps in a loose heap on the bed and seems to change shape with every stretch.
Snowy describes anything covered in snow or white as snow, a crisp, wintry word for a pale animal. A white cat of cool, unhurried manner fits it best, happiest on a cold windowsill watching the garden. English readers also know Snowy as Tintin's wire fox terrier, called Milou in Hergé's original French.
Fluffy Mochi puts an airy English word beside mochi, which is prized for its dense, stretchy chew. Its cat looks as light as a cloud in a long coat, yet goes limp and surprisingly solid when lifted. The order matters, since the English word describes what visitors see and the Japanese one what they find in their arms.
Floof, in web slang, is a pet with abundant fur, or the fur itself, and -chan is the Japanese suffix for children, close friends and pets, so Floofchan is about as affectionate as cat names come. The cat it calls up sheds generously, wants to be held and leaves a trace on every dark sweater in the house.
Cloudybear joins an overcast-day word to a cuddly bear, and together they could be a toy kept for wet afternoons. Cloudy brings a mild gloom, bear supplies the hug, and neither cancels the other. The cat for it has a permanently worried face and a gentle heart, looks unimpressed by everything and yet never leaves your side.
Cottonfluff is a gentle cat who melts into any lap and stays put until the lap gives up. The word names the white, weightless bits that drift off cotton and collect in pockets and tumble dryers, so the name is homely before it is pretty. On a long white coat it also praises how light the cat feels.
Fluffino belongs on a kitten with so much fur that his coat arrives at the door a moment before he does. The English fluff takes the Italian -ino, a boyish diminutive, so the result is a pet word to murmur over a cot. Soft to say and softer to stroke, the name promises fur on every cushion.
Fluffelle calls up a cat so fluffy that her fur arrives a moment before she does, giving fluff the -elle ending of Gabrielle and Danielle. The effect is airy and graceful, a puff of fur with a dancer's name.
Flufferton hangs on fluff the -erton found on old estates and family names, so it could be carved over the gate of a country house, and Duke sets a ducal crest above it. The cat to match is long-haired and voluminous, a slow-moving cloud who leaves a souvenir on the furniture of every room he graces.
El Fluffador is for the proud cat that puffs out its long fur whenever someone admires it. The Spanish ending -ador marks the one who does something, as in ganador, a winner, so hung on English fluff it makes the cat the one who fluffs. The article El in front adds the swagger of a ring announcer's introduction.
Group 06 · 15 names
Sweet food names
Desserts, pastries and treats, for a cat as sweet as one.
Cinnamon is the inner bark of a tropical tree, dried until it rolls into quills, and the cat to match rolls up just as tightly in the crook of an arm. It has a warm, sweet sound with some heat underneath, much like a gentle face that keeps strong opinions.
A mellow brown cat who warms to strangers slowly, then stays devoted once won over, is well matched with Caramel. It reached English from French and names sugar heated slowly until it browns, and that slow heat is where its comforting, toasty tone comes from.
Boiled from sugar and butter until glossy and brown, toffee is a British sweet, brittle or chewy. It belongs to a toffee-coloured cat with an innocent face and a cheeky swat for anyone who overstays the petting. First written tuffy or toughy in the 1820s, a dialect form of taffy, the word hints at bite under the sweetness.
Fudge, a soft sweet of boiled sugar, butter and milk, makes for a warm, homely-sounding name. As a verb, fudge means blurring the facts, a cheeky second side. Picture a mellow cat that claims any free lap yet wears a guilty face when a sock goes missing.
Custard, the warm pouring sauce of milk, sugar and egg yolks served over British puddings, gives a comforting name to a loving cat with a mischievous streak. That streak has a famous precedent: in the BBC cartoon Roobarb, Custard is the pink cat next door who naps on the fence and spoils the green dog's schemes.
Brioche is the French bread enriched with butter and eggs, tender inside under a glossy crust. On a cat it reads as rich and comfortable, the kind of cat that sinks into any lap on offer. The word is soft in the mouth, two syllables that end on a gentle hush.
Croissant is French for crescent, and its cat sleeps in exactly that shape, curled tight in a curve like a new moon. The pastry's layers come from butter worked into the dough fold after fold, and the word borrows their light, flaky elegance. Said the French way it sounds graceful, and the English way comfortably homely.
Crumpet is the British griddle cake whose spongy top is dotted with holes, and the name sits on a sleepy cat who settles on the warmest lap on a cold afternoon. The word may go back to Middle English crompid cake, a curled cake, and today it carries the cosy comfort of a British teatime.
Éclair means lightning in French, and it belongs to a fast cat that is gone the instant a hand reaches for it. The pastry of choux dough, custard and glossy icing may owe the name to how quickly it disappears, though some say the shine on top looks like a flash.
Flan is a baked custard set over a layer of caramel, the dessert Spain and Latin America call flan and France calls creme caramel. Its root is Old French flaon, a flat cake. Short, wobbly and sweet, it is right for a cat who trembles with excitement at the rattle of the treat tin.
A churro is ridged fried dough, an Iberian favourite usually dipped in hot chocolate, and colloquial Spanish also uses the word for a botched job or a lucky fluke. That mix of treat and happy accident sets a carefree tone, ideal for a cat that misjudges jumps, lands anyway and looks pleased with itself.
A nursery doubling of the French bon, good, bonbon fits a treat-motivated cat who will learn almost any trick for a reward. The French have called sweets bonbons since the seventeenth century, and the name still has a cheerful, old-fashioned bounce.
Taffy suits a languid cat that stretches to twice its length on waking, like the chewy sweet that is pulled again and again until it lightens in colour. Salt water taffy, sold by the box along American seaside boardwalks, adds a breezy, holiday air.
Butterscotch, the buttery brown-sugar sweet long linked with Doncaster in Yorkshire, gives a mellow name to a golden ginger cat who settles on any lap that stays still. Its scotch may mean scored, as the slab was cut into squares before setting, and a tin given to Queen Victoria in Doncaster made the sweet famous.
Cheesecake is a rich dessert of soft cheese set over a biscuit or pastry base, baked slowly or simply chilled, and the word has a plush, indulgent sound. The cat behind it is a glamorous one, draped across the armchair as if a photographer were due any minute.
Group 07 · 15 names
Cute Japanese cat names
Japan gave the world kawaii. These names carry it.
Meaning spring, sun or clear weather, depending on the kanji, Haru is given to Japanese sons and daughters. Studio Ghibli fans know it as the schoolgirl of The Cat Returns, taken to the Cat Kingdom after saving a cat prince. Sunny through and through, it calls up a cat who wakes early and chirps at the birds from every window.
A chick or fledgling is hina in Japanese, a youthful word for a kitten who peeks past the curtains at every new sound. It also names the hina dolls, figures of the imperial court displayed for the Girls' Festival on 3 March. Written another way, Hina topped Japan's girls' names seven times in the Heisei era.
Dango are chewy Japanese rice-flour dumplings threaded three to five on a skewer, and it is a good name for a sociable cat that likes to line up beside its companions. The proverb hana yori dango, dumplings over flowers, praises the practical choice over the pretty one. So under the sweetness sits a streak of good sense.
Dorayaki are two pancakes sandwiched around sweet red bean paste, and the name is generally linked to dora, Japanese for gong. The name has a comforting, teatime warmth, the right sound for a cat that presses close to whoever is sitting still.
Matcha, Japanese for ground tea, pictures the serene cat of a household, the one that watches everything with unhurried focus and moves only once its mind is made up. The vivid green powder is milled from shade-grown leaves and whisked to a foam for the tea ceremony, a ritual long tied to Zen Buddhism.
Bear in Japanese is kuma, and the word sits inside two famous mascots, Rilakkuma and Kumamon. The image is cuddly and comic, with some strength underneath. Laid-back cats that sit up on their haunches like teddies and put up with long hugs carry it best.
Koneko is everyday Japanese for kitten, put together from ko, child, and neko, cat. Japanese editions of Beatrix Potter title one book Koneko no Tomu no Ohanashi, The Tale of Tom Kitten. It belongs on a kittenish cat of any age who will chase a string for as long as someone holds it.
Neko is simply Japanese for cat, so the name is a wink, like calling a dog Dog. Cheeky and self-assured, it suits the cat who is pure cat, nosy about every bag and answering to its name only when it pleases. The word also lives in maneki-neko, the beckoning cat figurine that shops display for luck.
Pochi is Japan's stock dog name, the local Spot or Rover, and it spread across the country in the Meiji era. On a cat it signals a dog-hearted companion who comes when called and fetches bottle caps. Its origin is still debated: one theory hears the French petit in it, another the English patch, for a spotted coat.
Two cultures share Kiko: in Japan it is given to girls, pairing ki, such as hope, with ko, child, and Crown Princess Kiko bears it. In Spain it is a familiar pet form of Francisco, so it rings bright in both. It belongs on a cat who chirps at every arrival, as if it were good news.
In Japanese, kuri means chestnut, and it gives a cosy name to a brown cat who bristles at strangers like a burr yet goes soft and warm once trust is won. Chestnuts are a favourite flavour of autumn there, from chestnut rice to kuri kinton, the glossy sweet served at New Year, so the word has a seasonal glow.
Miyu combines Japanese characters such as beautiful with gentleness or with bond, and it is a current favourite for newborn daughters in Japan. The soft sound belongs to a gentle cat who climbs into laps uninvited and purrs at the first touch. Other spellings use characters for evening or fruit, so families can tune the meaning.
Written 莉子, jasmine child, or 理子, child of reason, Riko has been a fixture of Japan's girls' top forty for years. Clever and neat, it sums up a cat who learns which drawer hides the treats and taps it until someone gives in.
Mei, a Chinese girls' name, can mean beautiful, though another way of writing it names the plum tree that blossoms in late winter. The blossom's delicate sweetness suggests a tender cat who grows most affectionate on the coldest days.
Chiku is one of the common names of the sapodilla, a tropical fruit grown in India with an exceptionally sweet, malty flavour. Its two quick syllables already work as a nickname, made for calling across a room. It belongs on a sweet-natured cat who trades head bumps for attention all day long.
Group 08 · 15 names
Cute names from around the world
Pet names people use for the ones they love, in many languages.
French for baby, bébé is also a pet name between French couples, much as English speakers say babe. The tone is tender and teasing, for a cat that clings to its kitten habits for life and still asks to be carried. In French it sounds exactly like the letters BB, the initials by which Brigitte Bardot was known.
Gatito, everyday Spanish for a kitten or a little cat, is gato plus -ito, and households hold on to it after the cat has grown up, for one that still plays like the youngest in the house. The -ito carries affection as much as size, which is why it sounds tender rather than diminishing.
Minou is a fond French word for a kitty, said with real affection. For girls it doubles as a pet form, as it did for the French poet Minou Drouet, born Marie-Noëlle. Cosy and familiar, it fits a kitten-hearted cat who comes running as soon as she is called and asks to be scooped up.
In German, kleine Maus means little mouse, a pet name for toddlers and anyone else being cared for. Everyday words at each end keep the phrase cosy, like something said at bath time rather than chosen from a list. The cat in question scurries along the walls in bursts and vanishes under the sofa at a footstep.
Cariño means affection in Spanish and is the everyday way to call someone darling, so it fits an affectionate cat that greets every arrival by leaning its whole weight against their shins. The Royal Spanish Academy calls its origin disputed, comparing Latin carere, to lack, and it still lists longing among the word's meanings.
A peck in Spanish is a besito, the diminutive of beso, kiss, and the word makes a sweet match for a cat that welcomes its people nose first with a flirty head-butt. In the plural, besitos is a common sign-off in Spanish messages to friends and family, much like a row of x's in English.
Yiddish speakers call babies and grown-ups alike bubbeleh, darling or sweetie, and Bubaleh is a phonetic spelling of that word. Its -le ending is a Yiddish diminutive, which is why it sounds doting even to people who speak no Yiddish. Give it to the cat that clambers onto any chest that holds still long enough, purring loudly.
The diminutive of amor, love, Amorcito is an everyday Spanish endearment. On screen the word is tied to Pedro Infante, who sang Amorcito corazón in the 1948 film Nosotros los pobres. Its flirtatious warmth goes with a cat that charms every visitor, then chooses one lap for the evening.
French chouchou means the favourite, the teacher's pet, and also a fabric hair scrunchie, while chou alone means cabbage and gives lovers the endearment mon chou. It conjures a pampered cat that expects to be chosen first, carried first and admired ahead of everyone in the house.
The classic Russian name for a she-cat, Murka is built on mur, the Russian sound for a purr, and it goes with a cat who starts the motor as soon as anyone sits down. An Odessa underworld ballad from the early Soviet years, about a gang whose Murka turns out to be a police agent, adds a sly, streetwise edge.
A bublik is the Eastern European ring roll, boiled then baked like a bagel but larger, with a wider hole. As a pet name it is cosy and comic, picturing a cat who naps in a tight ring. A hole from a bublik is Russian for nothing at all, so the name comes with its own deadpan idiom.
Russian for squirrel, Belka fits a cat who darts up the curtains and hides toys in corners for later. It also honours Belka the Soviet space dog, who orbited Earth with Strelka in 1960 and came home alive, and that history adds a spirited, adventurous edge.
Bao is the short name for baozi, soft yeasted Chinese buns steamed around a savoury or sweet filling. The name pictures a snuggly cat who likes to be bundled in a blanket with only a face showing. In Chinese the same character can mean to wrap or bundle, so the name has a tucked-up, cosy feel.
Cielito, the diminutive of cielo, sky, is a Spanish endearment close to sweetie, and it sketches a cheerful cat that welcomes its family with chirps and a raised tail. Most listeners recognise it from Cielito Lindo, the Mexican song that Quirino Mendoza y Cortés popularised in 1882. Paired with lindo, lovely, the title comes out roughly as lovely sweet one.
Süße Maus, sweet mouse, is a fond German endearment heard every day, the kind said to a partner on the phone or to a child at the school gate. On a cat it describes a creature that goes limp with pleasure at the first cooing word and leans into every compliment.
Group 09 · 15 names
Silly cute names
For the cat who blepps, boops and falls off the sofa on purpose.
A boop is a light tap on the nose, and Boopster names the cheeky cat who hands them out, pressing a paw to any face that leans too close. The -ster suffix hands the gesture a job title, as it does for a prankster. Spoken, the doubled o mimics the tap itself.
Boop is English for a brief light touch, especially on the nose, and Booples stretches it into a bouncy pet name. It fits a friendly cat who pushes its face into every outstretched finger and waits for the next tap. It sounds like a toddler's first joke, impossible to say crossly.
Bleppo is a contented cat whose tongue tip slips out mid-nap and stays out, unnoticed, for the rest of the afternoon. Blep gets the chummy -o of kiddo and weirdo, so a passing habit becomes a pal's name.
Binkyboo pairs binky, the rabbit keeper's word for a joyful twisting leap, with boo, a fond English word for a sweetheart. Bouncy and affectionate, it brings to mind a kitten who springs sideways out of nowhere, then curls up in the nearest lap. In the US, binky also means a pacifier, which adds to its nursery softness.
Boopsy hangs the cosy -sy of old pet forms such as Betsy and Patsy on boop, which leaves it sounding cheeky and nursery-soft. It suits a mischievous cat that pats each ornament on the shelf exactly once, then watches to see who noticed. The sound also recalls Betty Boop, the cartoon flapper known for the scat refrain boop-oop-a-doop.
Booper is the one who does the booping, the light nose tap that owners and pets trade as a greeting, so the name records a habit, not a look. It goes to a curious cat that investigates every new face by touching it with a cold nose first.
Outgoing and cheerful, Bubbles is for a cat who works the room at every gathering and is last to tire of a game. The plural keeps it light and giddy, the way children say it while chasing soap bubbles. Cartoon fans also know Bubbles as the sweetest Powerpuff Girl, so the name stays firmly cute.
Bumble is an old word for a buzzing hum, the sound behind the name of the bumblebee, and it can also mean to blunder along in a muddled, good-natured way. Picture a good-humoured kitten that misjudges the leap to the windowsill, lands in the washing basket instead and keeps purring as though that had been the plan.
Wigglyboy is nursery talk aimed at the kitten whose whole body joins in when he is pleased, tail, shoulders and back end going at once. The -y on wiggly keeps it nursery-soft, and boy lends it the warmth of a call across a park. It is the boyish cousin of good boy, the praise usually saved for dogs.
Chaosbean sets the Greek-born word for total disorder beside bean, the coo that makes anything sound harmless, so the threat arrives already forgiven. Expect the cat who tears around the rooms at full speed, scatters the rugs and then falls asleep mid-step looking blameless.
Bumblet pictures a bumblebee still learning to fly, and it belongs on a kitten forever chasing moths over the garden and landing slightly off course. The -let ending, as in droplet, scales the bee down to nursery size and keeps the comedy gentle.
A cat who eats in neat, polite mouthfuls and tests visitors' fingers with gentle love bites is well named Nibbles. In British English, nibbles are the savoury titbits set out with drinks, so the word also has a cheerful party feel.
Snuggle describes a cat that burrows under the duvet every night and presses its back against yours until morning. Built on snug with the -le ending English uses for repeated movements, the verb means to keep shifting about until you lie close and warm.
A cat that attaches itself to a single chosen human and trails them all day, step for step, fits Pookie, a pet name for whoever you hold dearest. Couples used it long before Gen Z took it online as slang for a best friend, so it sounds cosy and current at once.
Bubu doubles one soft sound the way toddlers form their first words, close to boo-boo, the childhood word for a scraped knee. Cosy and gentle, it has no set meaning, so its charm lies in the saying. It belongs on a cuddly cat that chirrups at every hello and likes riding on someone's shoulder.
All cute cat names, A to Z
Open the full list, A to Z. Tap any name to read what it means and issue its passport.
That depends on the cat, but short, soft sounding names like Mochi, Peanut and Biscuit are favorites for a reason. They are easy to say in a happy voice, which is how you will be saying them most of the time.
Should a kitten name still work for an adult cat?
It helps. A kitten stays small for only a few months. A name like Tiny can be funny on a big adult cat, which is part of the charm, but if you want a name that grows with the cat, pick one that sounds sweet without being about size.
Do cats really recognize their names?
Yes. A 2019 study from the University of Tokyo, published in Scientific Reports, found that pet cats can tell their own name apart from similar sounding words. Whether your cat comes when you call is another matter.
Are these names for girls or boys?
Both. This list mixes girl, boy and unisex names, and the girl and boy groups make it easy to find one. For more, see our girl cat names and boy cat names.
How many cute cat names are there?
The Mad Cat Cartel name book has 1,553 names tagged cute. This page shows 152 of our favorites. Open the A to Z list to see every one.
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Tell the Cartel about your cat in two questions. It picks from more than 4,500 names and issues a passport with what the name means.
Japanese mochi is a rice cake of steamed glutinous rice pounded until smooth and stretchy, and it is a traditional food of the Japanese New Year. Soft and squishy to say, the name suits a cuddly cat who relaxes in any lap and turns boneless when hugged.
Chi
Mewster
C. Katsuki
