Popular cat names

The popularity of cat names differs by nation, even nations with the same language, and new names become popular over time. The ranking of most popular cat names can be assessed, in part, from pet insurance registrations, microchip registrations, and breed registries.

In the English language

Adrian Franklin, senior lecturer of the School of Sociology and Social Work at the University of Tasmania and author of Animals and Modern Cultures, told the Sunday Tasmanian in 2001: "In the 1950s and '60s dogs and cats were given 'dog' and 'cat' names. [...] Cats had names like 'Blackie' and 'Spotty', names that illustrated their physical appearance. The 1980s marked a turning point, with the 10 most popular dog names all being compatible as human names, but in the '90s this progressed even further. People are now giving animals the same names as contemporary names given to babies." He believed that as people have fewer children or no children at all, pets become more important in their lives.^[1]

In Australia, the United Kingdom^[2] and in the United States, news accounts have noted that the same popular baby names were also being given to pets. The new names for dogs more closely echoed human baby names, said Lindsey Basserabie, a company official, but the trend occurred for both pet species. "In fact, this year's list of top 10 dog and cat names could nearly be straight from the birth pages."^[3] In the United States, according to an article in The Tampa Tribune, some of the most popular cat names also appeared on the Social Security Administration's list of most common baby names: "Isabella (Bella) is No. 4 for girls, and Sophia ranks ninth on both the Social Security and pet lists."^[4]

Australia

According to "Bow Wow Meow", an Australian company that provides pet tags to pet stores and veterinarians, the 10 most popular cat names its Australian customers chose, as of 2010, are:

In 2006, a survey of 270,000 Nestle Purina PetCare customers in Australia came up with these most popular cat names:^[6]

1. Tiger
2. Puss
3. Smokey
4. Misty
5. Tigger
6. Kitty
7. Oscar
8. Missy
9. Max
10. Ginger

United Kingdom

In 2006, Direct Line, a pet insurance company, created this list of the most popular cat names chosen by its customers: The company's lists of popular cat and dog names "overlaps heavily with the same year's 100 most popular children's names in England and Wales", according to Melissa Lafsky, writing in the "Freakonomics" blog at the New York Times website:^[7]

1. Molly
2. Charlie
3. Tigger
4. Poppy
5. Oscar
6. Smudge
7. Millie
8. Daisy
9. Max
10. Jasper

Another survey conducted in 2006 came up with different results. In that poll, conducted for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 2,000 people in the United Kingdom were asked about their pets' names. The most popular names were:^[8]

1. Molly
2. Felix
3. Smudge
4. Sooty
5. Tigger
6. Charlie
7. Alfie
8. Oscar
9. Millie
10. Misty

A 1998 poll in Britain conducted for Petplan, an animal insurer, found the most popular cat names to be Charlie, Milly, Oscar, Tiger, Poppy, Sophie, Rosie, Smudge and Lucy.^[2]

United States

According 2005–2006 statistics from the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association 34 percent of United States households own at least one cat, an estimated 90 million cats in total.^[9]

The United States' largest pet insurer, Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI), releases annual rankings of its customers' most popular cat names and dog names. The 2010 list (based on information from 2009 and released in January 2010) was gathered from 475,000 policies.^[10][11] Curtis Steinhoff, senior director of corporate communications for VPI, attributed the popularity of "Bella" (No. 3 on the cat list but No. 1 for dogs) on the 2010 list as probably having "something to do with Bella being the name of the heroine in a certain vampire book/film series that's pretty popular these days."^[12] In 2012, VPI (collected from information from 2011) listed the top 5 female cat names as Bella, Lucy, Kitty, Chloe and Sophie. The top 5 male cat names were Max, Oliver, Charlie, Tiger and Smokey.^[13]

In 2009, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that according to government databases, the three most popular cat names in that city were, in order, Kitty, Tiger and Max.^[14] In 2004, the same newspaper reported differently based on information from the Cook County Department of Animal Control. The Sun-Times reported in 1987 that the same Cook County department had checked its database of 27,863 cats that had been vaccinated from 1984 through 1986 and found yet different results.

Finally, Gallup poll of 1,242 Americans was completed in 1990. The results of all of the above polls are summarized in the table below:

In other languages

Germany

In Germany, "'exotic English and other non-German names are popular with German pet owners", according to an article in the About.com website.^[25] Typical, clichéd names for cats in Germany include that language's equivalent for "kitty", Mieze or Miezekatze ("pussycat"). Muschi was also quite common and carries the same meanings as "pussy" in English, which led to its sharp decline as a popular name in the last 20 years.^[26]

According to another About.com article, one German list of popular cat names in that country gave these rankings:^[26]

1. Felix
2. Minka
3. Moritz
4. Charly
5. Tiger (tee-gher)
6. Eve
7. Susi
8. Lisa
9. Blacky
10. Muschi

In 2006, according to an article in The Guardian the three most popular cat names in Germany were Felix, Gismo and Charlie.^[27]

South Korea

In South Korea the most common name for a cat of either gender is Nabi which translates to "Butterfly" in English. This name is even used for cats in Korean cartoons such as There She Is!!. Other very popular names include:

1. No-rang-i (Goldie or Yellow-ie)
2. Ya-oong-i (Meeow-y)

Quebec (Canada)

According to a survey by the website Veterinet, the 10 most popular cat names in Quebec are:^[28]

1. Minou
2. Grisou
3. Ti-Mine
4. Félix
5. Caramel
6. Mimi
7. Pacha
8. Charlotte
9. Minette
10. Chanel

Veterinet found that nine out of the ten names are the same as 15 years ago, but in a different order. They also discovered that the 25 most popular cat names in Quebec sound French.

China

Mimi (咪咪) is the generic name for a cat in Chinese. It is onomatopoeic, coming from the cat's meow, and is also used to call cats.^[29]

India

In some parts of India, cats are trivially known as “Mau” for the reason that it is an onomatopoeic for the most familiar vocalization of cats “Meow”. The name is also used as a term of endearment and by couples as a more affectionate alternative for first name.

Cultural references to the naming of cats

Cat names were the subject of T. S. Eliot's fanciful, well-known poem The Naming of Cats, written in the 1930s and first published in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats in 1939.^[30]

The musical "CATS", very popular among cat lovers, has a lasting influence in the naming of pet cats, Here is a list of pet cat names inspired by various productions of the musical CATS from around the world: Admetus, Alonzo, Asparagus, Bailey, Bill Bailey, Bill, Billy M'Caw, Billy, Bombalurina, Bustopher Jones, Bustopher, Carbucketty, Cassandra, Coricopat, Demeter, Deuteronomy, Electra, Etcetera, Exotica, George, Ghengis, Gilbert, Griddlebone, Grizabella, Growltiger, Gumbie, Gus, Jellicle, Jellylorum, Jemima, Jennyanydots, Jones, M'Caw, Macavity, Mistoffelees, Mr. Mistoffelees, Mungojerrie, Munkustrap, Old Deuteronomy, Plato, Pouncival, Quaxo, Rum Tum Tugger, Rum Tum, Rum, Rumpleteazer, Rumpus, Rumpus Cat, Sillabub, Skimbleshanks, St. James's Street Cat, Tantomile, Tugger, Tum, Tumblebrutus, Victor, Victoria.

Cat names made popular by TV shows, movies, internet, or by having famous owners:

References

Further reading

• Nation's Largest Pet Insurer Reveals Top 10 Dog and Cat Names of 2009
• Ed. Borgna Brunner, "Most Popular Dog and Cat Names, 2005," TIME Almanac 2007 with Information Please (Boston: Pearson education, 2006), p. 141.