Thinking about Cat Names
for Your New Cat or Kitten?

"Cat names are just as personal and individual as human names. But with so many to choose from, how do you decide?"

The purpose of this article is to help you decide upon the best name for your new cat or kitten. What factors should you consider when looking for a name? How do you choose your cat's name from all the possibilities out there?

Numerous lists of kitty names and their meanings and origins can be found all over the internet and in cat names books. You can also look through baby books to see what ideas you can find there. And you can make up names. The possibilities for your new cat or kitten's name are endless!The real problem is that there are too many choices!

Cat Names and Children Names

Oftentimes, someone will have a name that they have always loved. They knew that their firstborn child would be christened with this glorious handle. Only to find that the other parent (or grandparent or in-law, or whomever) wasn't as enamored with the choice.

Enter: a new kitten. At last! An opportunity to bestow that glorious name on another living being.

For this reason, we find many, many cats (and dogs and other pets) with perfectly human monikers. Some of the more popular people/cat names are names such as Max, Lily, Sam, and my favorite, Olivia!

A Cat's Name Is For Life

Remember that whatever name you choose, it will be your cat's name for life.

Just as you are making a life-long commitment to your new cat or kitten to take care of her to the best of your ability, you are also making a life-long commitment to the name. It isn't fair or useful to try to change your cat's name two years later when you stumble across another name that you just must use for someone.

And, even if you find that several months later, the name you've chosen just doesn't fit your cat, remember, to your cat it's just a neutral sound. It has no particular connotation or meaning, good or bad.

So it's best for your cat if you do not change her name mid-stream. This is another reason that it's best to keep the name your cat already has if you are adopting her from previous parents.

My New Cat Already Has a Name

"But I don't like it!" If you're bringing home an adult cat who already has a name and who knows his name, it really is best to just keep it. Cat names are highly personal and we often prefer to choose our cat names. However, keeping your cat's given name has several advantages:

• Convenience: You don't have to go through the torture of choosing a new name!
  
  
• Safety: Especially for outdoor cats, if your cat already knows her name, this will help in bringing her inside faster if you need to. It also helps for your cat to know her name in case she gets lost in her new surroundings.
  
  
• Easier Transition: If your feline friend is newly coming into your home, then having the familiarity of her already chosen name can help to ease the stress she will be experiencing as she adjusts to her new home.

Cat Names Based on Your Cat's Personality

A good factor in choosing your cat's name can be to christen her based on her personality or some behavioral traits. Or even some physical traits. (Hence, so many long-haired cats called Fluffy!)

The one thing to be careful of here is that you do not wait too long to name your new cat or kitten. Many parents of human children prefer to wait several weeks to see their new baby's personality before naming the baby. This is fine for humans, but cats need to be named much more quickly.

Using your cat's name as soon as possible helps ease the transition for your new cat. It makes training your new cat a lot easier and it helps your new cat to feel more comfortable in her new surroundings.

Choosing "Stuffy" Cat Names—The Embarrassment Factor

Although we often attribute human characteristics to our cats (and rightly so!), the concept of embarrassment just does not apply to a cat about his name. So don't worry what the cat will think of her new name!

However, you need to be sure that you and other caregivers are not embarrassed about the name chosen, especially if you have an outdoor cat. Be sure that you are comfortable calling your cat's name out loud.

If you must choose something that is long, embarrassing, or otherwise does not seem quite right for everyday use, then give your cat two names: One for you to do with as you please, and one to use when talking to and calling your cat.

Teaching Your New Cat Her Name

Cat names are easy enough for your cat to learn. The strategy is to get your cat to link pleasurable things with her name. For example, you can try these steps:

• Spend quality time with your cat petting her while you gently, soothingly repeat her name over and over.
  
  
• When you call your cat by her name, and she comes, give her a healthy treat. You can do this the first few times when she comes. Then only sporadically give her a treat. After a while you can taper off the treats and she will still come to you (probably—read the next section on training cats to come).
  
  
• Use your cat's name when calling her to dinner.

Training Your Cat to Come

Well, for those of us who know cats, this may seem like a rather silly concept: Training your cat to come!

The vast majority of cats come when they please. However, it is possible to train the majority of cats to come when they are called (or shortly thereafter—they like to make it seem likes it's their idea!). Just follow the steps listed under Teaching Your Cat Her Name and you should have as much success as any cat "owner" can have.

Related Topics:

• Cats and Dogs - Introducing new cats and dogs to each other.
• New Cat at Home - How to ease the transition when you bring home a new cat or kitten.
• Multi-Cat Household - Introducing a new cat to a resident cat; how to help cats adjust to each other.

Search My Healthy Cat for more info or the Internet for great cat names.

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