The Litter Box Ep. 4 - Names

“What’s your name,” Coraline asked the cat. “Look, I’m Coraline. Okay?”

“Cat’s don’t have names,” it said.

“No?” said Coraline.

“No,” said the cat. “Now you people have names. That’s because you don’t know who you are. We know who we are, so we don’t need names.”

-Neil Gaiman, Coraline

            What’s in a name? Cats might not have names for themselves, but if you’re adopting a cat, it probably comes with a name – the shelter probably gave it one so they could uniquely identify it (and, of course, so they don’t have to say “we have a cat, its name is cat.”).

Cat names tend to fall into a few categories:

Pedestrian (Max, Rex, Freddie)

Punny (Cat Benatar, Jennifurr Lopaws)

Silly (Landslide, Zena)

Literary (Shakespeare, Oscar)

Food (Sushi, Honey Baked Ham)

Descriptive (Tiger, Stinky, Purr)

Extravagant (Professor Sherlock Meowington, Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesa Banana Fanna Bo Besca III) – note that this often overlaps with “silly”

            So what’s the common thread here? While you’ll occasionally get a name that fits the cat’s personality, they’re often a reflection of the human’s personality. Typically, you haven’t lived with a cat long enough by the time you’ve named it to know if you’ve given it an appropriate name or not.

            Nicknames, on the other hand, typically reflect a cat’s personality quite well – or at least, reflect a human’s assessment of their personality. These can run from the mundane (Princess, Kitten) to the… well. I’m not giving any examples, but I’m sure that most of you have called your cat some sort of profanity at some point – especially after they’ve barfed in your shoes for the third time this week.

            What’s the best nickname you’ve heard for a cat? Let us know at thelitterbox@chicagolandanimalrescue.org!