Feline Friday

"The naming of cats is a difficult matter
It isn't just one of your holiday games
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you a cat must have three different names"

Despite what was written in Ole Possum's Book of Practical Cats, most cats end up with only one name - the one the family calls them daily.

But even so, some of those names can be interesting. Here's a list of names compiled by PetPlace.com that some humans have named the stray cats that have taken over their lives, and hearts:

Abby - which was short for Abandoned Kitty.
Alley - found in an alley
Attitude - Atti-cat
Natasha
Angel
Berm - found by the side of the road
Bones - skin and bones when they found him
Buddy
Bum
Bumper
Cat Yeta - for yet-a-nother cat!
Cantmandu - for the city
CDC - for my "co-dependent cat" – he is always at my side (see Velcro)
Chance - you took a chance on each other, or you have him a second chance at life)
Clinger – they way they stick to you
Caymen – he just "came in"
Diamond - a precious find *
DC – darn cat (or as my by bean's grandmother called her's: "damned cat")
Dumped - he was Dumped and then taken in
Dreamer
Eponine - after a character, a homeless girl, in "Les Miserables"
Fleabag – found with fleas
FIONA CAT- If ya own a cat...ya may as well own 10.
Fightclub – took in a cat that had been in a fight and wounded
Found - pair of kittens were named Lost and Found! (See Lost, below)
Foster - for foster child
Gimpy – found limping
Glory
Gulliver - And yes, Gulliver did travel...
Gypsy
Happy
Hazard
Heaven - you found a little piece of Heaven
Heidi – used on cat that was scared and "hiding"
Hideaway
HodgePodge
Hobo
Houdini - He would disappear but always wanted to be found.
Hope – for a pet given home for a second chance
Hoover – the stray would eat anything
Gem - found a real gem!
Impulse
Indira
Ivy - she "grew on me"
Jackpot – cat hit the jackpot when he found this home
Jesse - It means gift and he truly named for a cat that was a gift from God
Je t'aime - This is actually French for "I love you".
Journey - Cat was on a journey that led to you...or vise versa
Karma
Kabootle
Keeper
Kitty Cat
Kit Cat
LOST - See "Found", above
Lotus
Lottie - found in a parking lot
Noname
NONA - no name for a cat that didn't have a name
Tenshu - 'little thief'...for a stray that kept eating all the outside cat food until the bowl was empty
Lechat - (pronounced le sha) French for The Cat
Lucky
Main Street - found on Main Street
Malachi - meaning a special messenger from God
Tunji- American Indian Miwok- Means "cat"
Maybe – maybe she will make it and maybe I'll keep her
Margarita - just like tequila bottles have a worm in the bottle, she had a worm in her neck when she showed up
"Mo" - as in "One Mo' Kitty"!
Miss Kittie
Mystakat - he was a mystery cat
Oops
Omi - pronounced: "oh-mee"
Paycheck – started costing his humans their paycheck!
Pest
Palomine - for "Pal of Mine"
Mr. Purrsuasive -"Purrs" or "Mr. P" for short!
Pooka - means good luck charm
Poser - who posed as a resident long enough to fall in love with
Random
Reiki - in Japanese means "spiritually guided life force energy" practiced by reiki masters who lay their hands upon the sick or injured to heal.
Pickles - was in a "pickle" when found
Podunk - found out in the middle of nowhere
Retread - found in an old tire along the road
Riffraf
Riley – now the cat is lving the Life of Riley
Romeo - for a cat that was roaming around and seems to be a real lover!
Rookie! For the new kid on the block
Reuben - Hebrew for "He has seen my misery."
Ruckus - he created a Ruckus when he was brought him home
Secret
Scram
Scampy
Stitch
Solo - she is very much a loner amongst the rest of the cats
Snafu
Stray Kitty
Sticky - cat stuck to us and sort of "chose" us
Stucker - After the kitten got stuck up a tree, then stuck in a car, then stuck in the neighbor's garage overnight. And then he stuck to his new home.
Sweetie
TC – that cat. His humans called him "that cat" for so long, they named him TC when they adopted him
Treasure – a real find
Tramp
Tuesday - Kitty found on that day of the week
Turnup – for a cat that just "turned up"
Vader - short for "Invader"
Velcro - he sticks with you
Yonchi- means Lucky in Chinese (he's a rescued formally feral cat)
WN WN - pronounced one one – waste not/want not

Some call names that my bean have used on strays and ferals she has fed and taken care of:

Wellfair
Goodwill
Nuisance
Bother
"Tommy Cat" - she use this one a lot, as well as "Tigger" for stray ginger tabby males.

Need more names? Try this list of Top 1,200 Pet Names!

Do you have an interesting story as to how you get your name? Leave a comment below and tell me about it!

* My bean say "Diamonds are a girl's best friend!" Hah. For the story of how I get my name, click HERE.