Looking for a food name for your cat? These are 128 of our favorites from the 861 food names in the Mad Cat Cartel name book, from classics like Peanut and Biscuit to dishes from Italy, France, Japan and the rest of 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.
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.
Borrowed from German Nudel, noodle has also long served English as slang for the head, as in use your noodle, and for a silly, harmless fool. It suits a floppy cat who drapes over the arm of the sofa as if boneless and seems faintly baffled by its own long legs.
Memo from the desk of Chef Paulie Gatto
The boys in this famiglia all have nicknames, and the softer the nickname, the more respect it hides. Ey, nobody keeps an eye on a cat called Noodle, so it will hear every secret in the house and never pass one along.
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.
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.
Memo from the desk of Meowchi "Chi"
Everyone at my studio has started calling this season's capsule the Cookie collection. Cookie encourages this by turning up beside every sample we photograph. Guard that name carefully, because anything that makes strangers smile beats any slogan.
Nacho is the everyday Spanish nickname for Ignacio, and the cat behind it is a sociable charmer who wanders into every gathering as if he had been invited. The snack takes its name from a real Nacho, Ignacio Anaya, who first improvised it for guests. So the name is a person and a crowd-pleaser at once.
Memo from the desk of Don Whiskerone
In our circle, whoever feeds people when the pantry is bare is remembered longest. Nacho's name carries that memory, and he has earned a chair among us.
Pickles is a classic pet name for a cat that stumbles from one scrape into the next, since being in a pickle has meant being in a fix for over four centuries. The word traces through Middle English to a Middle Dutch word for brine, the liquid that keeps cucumbers sour for months.
Memo from the desk of Chef Paulie Gatto
It shares a label with the crock in the corner of my pantry, the one that sits for weeks and bothers nobody. Pickles bothers everybody. The cupboards have not had a quiet afternoon since it moved in.
Vinegared rice is the heart of sushi, and the word most likely grew from an old Japanese adjective meaning sour. Precise and fish-minded, it is a name for cats that go silent and still the moment fish appears in the kitchen.
Memo from the desk of Chef Paulie Gatto
You and I work the same way, Sushi: clean paws, steady nerves and respect for the work. It washes its face with the care of a cook wiping down the board at closing time.
Cheddar is a good match for an unhurried cat that likes company, taking its name from the firm cheese first made in the Somerset village of Cheddar. Cheesemakers still sell it from mild to extra mature, and the word carries the same warm, savoury plainness. Shouted at supper, it sounds homely rather than jokey, more farmhouse than snack aisle.
Memo from the desk of Chef Paulie Gatto
Cheddar is a kitchen name with manners, solid and honest, nothing sprayed out of a can. The real cheese stays on the board, capisce, because most cats handle dairy badly. Cheddar will be the calmest regular at our Sunday dinner, the guest who never argues.
Waffle came into English from Dutch wafel, the batter cake cooked between patterned irons, and in British English to waffle also means to talk at length without arriving anywhere. Both senses meet in the indecisive cat who chatters about nothing and hovers in every doorway, never quite choosing a side.
Memo from the desk of Stitch Romano
I rate waffle weave highly, a raised grid of cloth that keeps its shape wash after wash. Waffle has the same honest structure under all that talk. I am keeping Waffle, and keeping my good towelling out of reach of those claws.
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.
A brownie is both the fudgy chocolate square of American bakeries and, in Scottish folklore, a household spirit that does the chores at night in return for a bowl of cream or porridge. Both senses suit a helpful brown cat who does the rounds after bedtime and expects a treat for its trouble.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Donut is the shortened American spelling of doughnut, the ring of fried dough, and it belongs to a cat who sleeps in a tight ring with its nose tucked against its tail. The clipped spelling, spread by American chains such as Dunkin' Donuts, gives the name the easy feel of a nickname.
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.
Picture a secretive cat who vanishes into the back of the wardrobe and has to be hunted for: that is a Truffle. The prized fungus grows unseen underground and is tracked by trained dogs or pigs, hence its price. Chocolate truffles borrowed the word from the fungus they resemble, which makes the name sound luxurious in either sense.
A sugarplum is an old sweet of seeds or dried fruit coated in hard sugar, and the word stands for holiday dreaming, from the 'visions of sugar-plums' in the Christmas Eve poem to the Sugar Plum Fairy of The Nutcracker. As a name it describes a dozing cat whose paws twitch through every afternoon dream.
Snickerdoodles are soft cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking, and nobody quite agrees where the name came from, a German pastry word or a New England taste for whimsical cookie names. Either way it has the sound of a giggle, which is the right fit for a cat whose dignity collapses at the sight of a ribbon.
Jelly beans are the glossy, bean-shaped sweets sold in every colour, and run together as one word the name sounds as bouncy as they look. It suggests a kitten that zigzags from chair to rug in sudden bursts, then nods off mid-game. Owners often compare soft paw pads to jelly beans, which hides a wink in the name.
Pudding originally meant a kind of sausage, and the soft dish of flour, milk and eggs came later. It is right for a cat that settles into a lap like a warm weight and will not move until someone has to stand. In Britain, often clipped to pud, it doubles as dessert, which adds an after-dinner comfort.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Meatball is Italian-American kitchen language more than Italian, since in Italy polpette are usually eaten on their own rather than piled on spaghetti. The word is round and comic, affectionate the way nicknames for heavy friends often are. Here the cat is chunky and good-natured, flopping over for anyone holding a brush.
Couch potato, the old American jibe at someone who spends whole evenings watching television, hands this name to a solid, sofa-bound cat. As a pet name it is plain and affectionate, an easy tease for someone you love who will not move. The shape matters too, since a well-fed cat curled up really does look like one.
Tater is the clipped, folksy dialect form of potato, a word from the farmhouse, not the restaurant. It carries a porch-swing warmth, informal and unhurried, without a trace of airs. That homely ring belongs to a cat who sleeps away every afternoon as solidly as a sack of potatoes.
A potato in plain English slang, Spud is the name for a cat who stays planted in one warm place all afternoon, solid and unhurried. The word began as a stubby knife and then a small digging spade before it reached the potato, which lends the word an earthy, garden-shed plainness.
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.
Pancake belongs to a cat that sleeps sprawled on the rug with all four legs pointing outward, as flat as a pancake in the old simile. The word is a plain compound of pan and cake, as old as Middle English. In Britain and Ireland, Shrove Tuesday is Pancake Day, so the word has a festive, family ring.
Meatloaf, the family-supper standby of minced meat baked in a loaf tin, is a hearty name for a cat of solid build and unhurried habits that settles with every paw folded underneath. Cat owners already call that tucked-paw pose a loaf, so the name doubles as a description.
Gravy is the sauce made from the juices a roast leaves in the pan, and the old phrase it's all gravy says that everything from here on is a bonus. It feels warm and easygoing, and the cat answering to it is a relaxed one who counts every lap on offer as extra.
Chowder is the thick soup of the New England coast, most famously made with clams, and the word is most likely French in origin, from chaudière, a large cooking pot. It sounds hearty and a bit clumsy, as if it were ladled rather than spoken. The cat answering to it tends to be a cheerful goof who blunders through doorways and forgives everybody for everything.
Popcorn is named for the pop a corn kernel makes as it bursts open, so the sound comes first and the snack second. The name is bouncy and loud in the best way, and the cat behind it launches straight up from a standstill whenever something rustles.
Pretzel comes from German Brezel, traced back to the Latin for arms, since the knot was said to look like arms folded across the chest. The cat it pictures sleeps in impossible twists, one paw over an ear and the back legs pointing the other way. English also calls anything tied in a knot a pretzel, so calling it out is affectionate and slightly mocking.
Bagel comes from Yiddish beygl, from an old Germanic term for a ring or bracelet, and the dough is boiled before baking, which gives it a dense, chewy body. The cat it names is dense with character and hard to unsettle, a steady presence that does not wilt when the household gets busy. The ring sense lends it affection, like a bracelet worn every day.
Cornbread, the skillet bread baked from cornmeal, belongs to the neighbourly kind of cat that treats a stranger like an old friend. It is a staple of the American South with roots in Native American corn cooking. Heard from the next room, the name rings like an invitation to sit down.
Ground from dried peppercorns, the sharp spice found on every kitchen table gives Pepper its name. The name is quick and peppy, and it suggests a cat with a quick temper and a hiss ready for anyone who takes liberties.
Pickle comes from Middle Dutch pekel, brine, and to be in a pickle has long meant to be in a fix, while Britons also call a cheeky child a pickle. Tart and comic, it belongs to a cat that climbs into the drawer, the shopping bag or the high shelf and then yowls to be rescued.
Despite appearances, chickpea has nothing to do with chickens, since its first half is a folk reshaping of French chiche, from Latin cicer. Homely and comic, it pictures a busy kitten who trots about the kitchen with great purpose and no visible result.
Spaghetti gives the best-known Italian pasta to a playful cat with long, wandering legs that wind around chair legs and ankles like strands around a fork. Called across a kitchen, the word sounds warm and everyday, the sort guests repeat with a smile.
Named from nocchio, Italian for a knot in wood, gnocchi is a rustic name for knobbly dumplings of potato or flour. It calls up a sleepy cat who naps curled as tight as a knot, nose buried in its tail.
Ravioli, the Italian stuffed pasta pockets, lends its name to a cat that likes to be sealed in somewhere snug, a cardboard box or a pillowcase. Italian treats the word as plural, one piece alone is a raviolo, so the name promises a cheerful sense of abundance.
Cannoli is the plural of cannolo, Sicilian cannolu, a diminutive of canna, tube or cane: crisp fried shells piped with sweet ricotta. Clemenza's line in The Godfather, leave the gun, take the cannoli, fixed the pastry in mob-film lore. It belongs on a cat with a cool, guarded manner toward strangers and open devotion to its own people.
A comforting cat who senses a low mood and turns up with a head-butt at the right moment suits Tiramisu. In Italian tirami su means pick me up or cheer me up, a fair promise for coffee-soaked ladyfingers layered with mascarpone. Though the dessert seems to date only from around 1970, the name already feels like an old family recipe.
A cat who dips a paw into every glass left on the table, then studies the ripples, has the mischievous streak Biscotti promises. Its root is Medieval Latin biscoctus, twice-cooked, for the hard almond slices from Prato that are baked twice and dunked in Vin Santo after dinner.
Gelato fits an unhurried cat who accepts affection on its own terms and wanders off when it has had enough. The word is Italian for frozen, and gelato is churned slowly with minimal air, so it feels denser and silkier than most frozen desserts. Served less cold than most ices, it is cool at first and soft at the finish.
Pressed out is the literal sense of espresso, Italy's short, dense shot of coffee brewed under pressure. It makes an intense name for a cat that is wide awake, does everything in short bursts and then goes perfectly still.
In Italian, latte simply means milk, and the name matches a mild cat who dozes near the coffee machine and asks for nothing much. A caffè latte is espresso topped up with steamed milk, which is why ordering just a latte in Italy brings a plain glass of milk.
Cappuccino is named for the Capuchin friars, whose brown habits matched the colour of espresso softened with steamed milk and foam. It has a frothy, wide-awake ring, and the brown cat behind it is lively from the first minute of the morning.
Pesto suits a bold cat who pounces on toes beneath the duvet and wrestles any hand that reaches for its belly. The sauce is named from the Genoese verb for pounding, since basil, garlic, pine nuts and cheese are crushed in a marble mortar, and the word lands just as punchy.
Risotto comes from riso, Italian for rice, and the dish is made by adding hot broth a ladle at a time while stirring until the grains turn creamy. It needs constant attention, and the name inherits that demanding, slightly theatrical character. Here it belongs to a cat who expects someone in the room at all times and lets the house know when nobody is.
Panini is the plural of panino, Italian for a filled bread roll, though English speakers use it for a single pressed, grilled sandwich. The name has a neat, compact sound and fits a cat that squeezes into any narrow space, from the bookshelf to the gap under the bed, and comes out pressed flat.
Focaccia is rooted in the Latin panis focacius, bread baked on the hearth, the focus of a Roman home. The word has kept that warmth: it names a flat, oil-rich bread sold by the slice in Italian bakeries, homely, never grand. Called across the house, it suits a hearth-loving cat stretched out beside the radiator.
Mozzarella is a fresh stretched-curd cheese, its curd worked in hot water until it pulls like warm dough. As a name it promises a soft cat who goes pliable in any warm lap and settles in for the evening.
Ricotta is Italian for recooked, because the cheese is made by heating the whey left over from another cheese a second time. That origin gives the name a modest, thrifty warmth, nothing wasted and nothing grand. On a cat it becomes a second-chance name, ideal for a rescue who came home soft-natured and better than anyone expected.
Burrata is a fresh cheese from Apulia, a pouch of mozzarella filled with stracciatella, a rich centre of torn curd, and its name is built on burro, Italian for butter. The name is soft and generous, and the cat it describes keeps a composed outer shell with guests and turns into a melting puddle on a familiar lap.
Lasagna is forever tied to Garfield, the comic-strip cat who would trade anything for a pan of it, so the name draws an instant laugh on a cat that loves its comforts. Its long, open vowels sound easy and contented, which matches the joke. It has a cosy, unhurried feel, comic without trying too hard.
Group 04 · 15 names
French food names
Pastries and cheeses for a cat with expensive taste.
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.
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.
Macaron belongs to a particular cat who sits as straight as a duchess, nibbles daintily and sulks when the routine slips. The almond-meringue sandwich shares its root with macaroni, from Italian maccheroni, and in Paris it became the pastel emblem of refined patisserie.
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.
A baguette is the long French loaf, and as a cat name it goes to the one that stretches to an absurd length across the bed every night. The word is French for a wand or stick, from Italian bacchetta, and it sounds breezy and relaxed. The two syllables end on a light, lifting note, easy to call down a hallway.
Crepe is French for the thin pancake rolled around sugar or jam, a word descended from Latin crispa, curled. Nimble and light on its feet, this is a cat that flips onto its back mid-chase and springs upright again in one move. Crepe paper and crepe fabric share the word, both crinkled like the lacy edge of the pancake.
Soufflé is French for puffed, from souffler, to blow, and it names an impatient cat that wants attention the minute it asks. The baked dish of whipped egg whites has to reach the table before it sinks. Cooks treat it as the classic test of timing, and that is where the name gets its air of high stakes.
Praline is the French name for nuts cooked in caramelised sugar, a confection with a crisp shell and a nutty heart. The word comes from the French marshal du Plessis-Praslin, so the sweet carries a polished, titled air over its crunch. The cat to match is gentle on the lap all evening and slightly unhinged at midnight.
Made from honey or sugar, whipped egg whites and almonds, nougat is the chewy confection Montélimar in southern France is famous for. It describes an easygoing cat who curls up on a lap and stays put for the evening. French even says c'est du nougat for anything easy, a fitting motto for a cat this undemanding.
Ganache is the glossy mix of chocolate and warm cream inside truffles, and any cat called Ganache tends to be the smooth, unhurried kind that melts into any lap on offer. French also used the word for a jaw and, as slang, a fool, so the name leaves some room for clowning.
Egg whites whipped with sugar until they hold glossy peaks, meringue makes a fine name for a white cat with a light, springy step. Spoken, it opens softly and closes crisply, as airy in sound as the white peaks it names. A meringue is also delicate, and the name hints at a gentle nature that prefers a careful hand.
Brie is a soft French cheese from the Brie region east of Paris, and it is also a girl's given name, which lets it work as a person's name and a pantry word at once. The sound is light and mild, and the cat it describes is just as mellow, ready to take any lap offered and in no hurry to leave it.
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.
Parfait is French for perfect, the name of a chilled layered dessert in France and of tall glasses stacked with fruit and yogurt in America. Any word promising flawlessness comes across confident and somewhat demanding, and the cat carrying it is meticulous, grooming every layer of fur into order.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Miso, the Japanese paste of soybeans fermented with salt and koji, names the cosy cat that comes looking for company on cold evenings and lingers until the house feels warm. Households once made their own, and Japanese still calls self-praise temae miso, boasting about your own homemade batch.
Dried into thin, paper-like sheets, nori is the Japanese seaweed wrapped around sushi and onigiri. It makes a neat name for a cat who curls tightly around your arm at night, snug as the sheet around a roll. Japanese cooks also shred it over noodles and soups, so the name has a crisp, savoury, everyday charm.
Ramen is for a hearty eater, the cat that hears a cupboard open two rooms away and is sitting by its bowl before the door swings shut. The word borrows Chinese lamian, pulled noodles, though the soup itself grew from Cantonese noodle dishes served in Yokohama's Chinatown.
A cat that leans its whole weight against you and refuses to budge suits Udon, the thick, chewy wheat noodle of Japanese cooking. Served chilled in summer and hot in winter, it is everyday comfort food in Japan, filling and dependable. The word itself is soft and comforting, plain and free of pretension.
Soba is Japanese for buckwheat and its thin noodles, and soba, written differently, also means beside, pointing to a devoted cat who settles at your side wherever you sit. Served hot in broth or chilled on a bamboo tray, the noodles close the old year on New Year's Eve as toshikoshi soba, year-crossing soba.
Borrowed via Japanese from the Chinese doufu, tofu is curd set from soy milk and usually pressed into blocks. On a cat it reads as mild and easygoing, suited to one that soaks up the mood of any room. Japanese cooks call the soft kind kinugoshi, silk-filtered, and the firm kind momen, cotton, homely words that suit its gentle character.
A feisty cat whose temper flares in a second and is gone a minute later has a natural match in Wasabi. The real paste is grated from the rhizome of Eutrema japonicum, and its heat hits hard, then clears within moments. On a collar it keeps its kick, cheeky and bright without any real menace.
In Japanese, edamame means stem beans: young soybeans once sold still on the branch, now boiled in the pod and salted as a bar snack. The cat it calls to mind is quick and springy, shooting out from under the bed the way a bean slips from its pod. Called down the hall, it rings out bright and bouncy rather than foody.
Gyoza is the Japanese take on the Chinese jiaozi, and it settles nicely on a cat who curls into a tidy bundle for every nap. The dumplings are sealed with a row of pinched pleats along one edge, the same tidy outline a sleeping curl copies. In Japan they are everyday comfort food, so the name rings homely and unfussy.
Taiyaki is a Japanese cake baked in a fish-shaped mould around sweet red bean paste, the fish being the tai, a sea bream that stands for festive good luck. On a cat the fish shape reads as a fond wink, best for a cat with a hopeful eye on the kitchen counter. Street stalls sell it warm, giving the word a winter comfort.
Onigiri is a name for a cat that is easy to scoop up and carry, after the Japanese rice ball pressed by hand into a triangle and often wrapped in a strip of nori. The word comes from nigiru, to grip or squeeze, and it remains a wholesome lunchbox word with a plain charm.
Yuzu is a sour, fiercely fragrant citrus prized in Japanese cooking, and on a cat the name signals a zesty character with opinions about everything and the voice to share them. Cooks prize its rind and juice for ponzu and desserts, so the word arrives with a bright, clean sharpness.
Tempura reached Japan with Portuguese missionaries in Nagasaki late in the 16th century, and the cat who carries it is a light-footed newcomer who settles in as if it had always lived there. The word probably comes from Latin tempora, the fasting days when meat was avoided, or from Portuguese tempero, seasoning, so a crisp kitchen word hides a long sea voyage.
Group 06 · 18 names
Food names from around the world
From tacos to baklava, a world tour for the cat who tries everything on your plate.
Taco is Mexican Spanish for a folded tortilla, though the older literal sense is a plug or wad, and the cat it calls up bends itself double and wedges into any gap it finds. The name is cheerful and casual, a word for homes that never stand on ceremony.
Burrito is the diminutive of burro, Spanish for donkey, and also the Mexican dish of a flour tortilla folded around a filling. Called out at home, the word is snug and good-humoured, a fit for the cat that settles into any fold of blanket and refuses to leave.
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.
Empanada is built on the Spanish empanar, to wrap in bread, and the folded pastry hides its filling so well that the name fits a secretive cat who tucks itself inside laundry baskets, pockets and half-closed drawers. In Argentina the crimped edge, the repulgue, often works as a code, with different patterns signalling different fillings.
Queso is simply Spanish for cheese, and north of the border it has come to mean the warm melted cheese dip of Tex-Mex cooking. The name is easygoing and a bit goofy, a good call for a soft-hearted cat who melts onto the nearest lap whenever the house gets warm.
Boba, the American name for bubble tea and its chewy tapioca pearls, was borrowed from Chinese slang, and the drink itself began in Taiwanese tea rooms. It belongs to bouncy kittens that bat bottle caps under the sofa and then dive in after them.
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.
Wonton, the Chinese dumpling of thin dough folded around a savoury filling and cooked in broth, names a cat who naps folded up like a neat parcel. Its Cantonese name reads as cloud swallow, a picture of the dumplings floating in soup like clouds, and the word holds that light, dreamy quality.
Kimchi, Korea's salted and fermented cabbage or radish seasoned with chilli, garlic and spring onion, names a fiery cat whose strong personality grows on each visitor. Each late autumn Korean communities gather for kimjang, making it in bulk so every household is stocked for winter. That shared ritual adds a generous warmth beneath the heat.
Baklava is the layered pastry of paper-thin filo, chopped nuts and syrup or honey, probably perfected in the imperial kitchens of Topkapi Palace and still often cut into diamonds for celebrations. Its rich, festive sound matches a cat of many layers, regal one minute and clinging with affection the next.
Falafel, the fried balls of ground chickpeas or fava beans sold from street stalls across the Middle East, makes a lively name for a cat that rolls itself into a ball and springs out of it at full speed. The word is easy and cheerful to call, two light syllables ahead of a soft landing.
Hummus means chickpeas in Arabic, and the smooth dip of chickpeas, sesame paste, lemon and garlic is named after its main ingredient. The cat that carries it is usually mellow and easygoing, taking every change of plan in stride. On British shelves it is often spelled houmous, and it sounds just as soft in either spelling.
Across India, chai simply means tea, most often brewed strong with milk, sugar and spices such as cardamom and cloves. The name has a spiced warmth, and the cat to match is friendly with every visitor but keeps some fire underneath. Its single syllable is easy to call and as comforting as a cup at day's end.
Pierogi are Polish filled dumplings, half-moons of dough pinched shut around potato and cheese, boiled and often finished in butter. On a cat it means contentment, folded into a crescent at the foot of the bed all afternoon. In Polish the word is already plural, so one cat called Pierogi is, grammatically, a crowd.
Babka is a sweet braided yeast cake from the Jewish bakeries of Eastern Europe, swirled with chocolate or cinnamon. The cat to match is a matriarch who herds the household to bed and inspects every visitor at the door. In several Slavic languages babka also means grandmother, which is where that matriarch feel comes from.
Pavlova is the meringue dessert with a crisp shell and a soft middle, named for the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova around her 1920s tours of Australia and New Zealand. The cat behind it is poised and light on its feet, with a dancer's posture even when half asleep. Both countries still claim the recipe, so the name brings a friendly rivalry attached.
Strudel is German for whirlpool or eddy, a name the Austrian pastry earned from the spiral that forms when thin dough is rolled around its filling. Cut across, every slice shows that swirl. The word has a warm, Viennese feel, and the cat in question spins into a whirl of zoomies the moment everyone settles down.
Couscous is the North African dish of steamed semolina granules, and a cat called Couscous is sociable, always wherever the family gathers. The word is Berber in origin, reaching English by way of Arabic and French, and its doubled sound carries well across a house.
Pawmesan puts a paw where Parmesan starts, and the original names the hard aged cheese of Parma and Reggio Emilia, known in Italy as Parmigiano Reggiano. Like the cheese, the name has a sharp edge, right for a cat with quick reflexes and a dry sense of humour.
Trading the bur for a purr, Purrito borrows burrito, a diminutive of burro, Spanish for donkey, perhaps after the pack a donkey carries. The result is cosy and funny, suiting a cat who demands to be swaddled in a blanket so that only the head shows. Online, purrito names that wrapped-up pose, with whole forums of swaddled cats.
Meowzarella swaps the start of mozzarella for a meow, and the cheese itself is named for the southern Italian mozzare, to cut off, after the way it is cut and shaped by hand. The pun is soft and silly, and it lands on a cat that stretches out over any warm surface for hours.
Fettuccine, the flat Italian pasta, is named after fettuccia, a ribbon, and Purrfettuccini lets a purr replace the start so the name nearly says perfect. A playful cat, forever chasing ribbons, shoelaces and dressing-gown cords all over the flat, answers to it best.
Catravioli tucks cat into the front of ravioli, the filled pasta parcels sealed at the edges. Ravioli is already a plural in Italian, one piece being a raviolo, so a single cat ends up named like a crowd. That busy plural ring belongs with a cat who seems to be in three places at once.
A rattle of the biscuit tin sets this cat spinning through the kitchen, a storm of crumbs and claws circling the counter. Biscuit lends the name a homely, buttery front, and the -nado ending, cut from tornado, supplies the spin. Few weather words sound this cosy.
Snackzilla is a cat in full monster mode, unstoppable once a packet opens anywhere in the house and knocking aside anything between it and the counter. Godzilla lends the ending, and the only city under attack is the pantry shelf.
Nug, the clipped form of nugget, can mean a lump of gold or a breaded bite, and adding lord makes either one sound like inherited wealth. The bearer is a proprietorial cat who keeps a hoard of bottle caps and hair ties under the bed and inspects it every night.
Spudlord gives the humble spud, everyday slang for a potato, the rank of an overlord, so the cat it pictures is a couch potato of noble standing who governs the household from one cushion and rarely moves. The comedy lies in the gap between a lofty title and a cheap, homely vegetable. Lord does the heavy lifting, since a spud on its own would never expect to be obeyed.
Picklezilla is a deli-counter monster movie squeezed into three syllables, briny, sour and stomping. The cat that earns it is a sour-faced chaos merchant, the one who protests every closed door with an outraged howl that goes on and on.
Muffin, the domed breakfast cake, gets a meow pressed into its middle here, and the cosy result calls for a cat that greets every morning with loud demands. Muffin is also an old English term of endearment, so the pun sounds fond rather than silly.
Hisspresso is a wired, wide-eyed cat with the energy of a double shot, named for espresso and the hiss of the steam wand that froths the milk. Espresso is the strong Italian coffee made by forcing hot water through finely ground beans, and swapping its opening for a hiss lets the machine's noise be heard in the name.
Purrtato is potato with a purr in it, and the name conjures a chunky, contented couch cat that spends most of the day in one comfortable place. Couch potato, the English idiom for someone who barely leaves the sofa, is the image underneath.
Waffleking puts a crown on the waffle, the batter cake pressed into a grid between two hot plates. As one word it reads as a title won in a contest, the sort handed to whoever eats most at a county fair. The cat in question is regal about breakfast, sitting upright beside the waffle iron as though the kitchen were his court.
Croissantinator belongs to an unstoppable cat who charges at whatever rustles and returns after every rebuff. Borrowed from the Terminator films, the -inator ending upgrades a flaky French pastry into a relentless machine.
All food cat names, A to Z
Open the full list, A to Z. Tap any name to read what it means and issue its passport.
Short, soft food names are the classics: Mochi, Peanut, Biscuit and Noodle are easy to say in a happy voice. For something less common, try a dish from another country, like Gnocchi, Dango or Pierogi.
Are food names popular for cats?
Very. In a 2025 ranking of cat names in Japan by the pet insurer ipet, four of the top six names were food or drink: Mugi (wheat or barley), Latte, Kinako (roasted soybean flour) and Mocha.
Which foods should a cat never eat?
A food name is fine, the food may not be. The ASPCA lists chocolate, coffee and caffeine, onions and garlic, grapes and raisins and alcohol among the people foods to keep away from pets. So Espresso and Truffle stay names only.
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.
How many food cat names are there?
The Mad Cat Cartel name book has 861 food names. This page shows 128 of our favorites. Open the A to Z list to browse them.
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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
Paulie Gatto
Don Whiskerone
R. Romano
