Pet names
42 Classic Cat Names, With Meanings
Timeless, never-dated cat names — Felix, Oliver, Cleo, Leo, Max and more, with meanings where they're real.
A classic cat name is one that would have fit a cat fifty years ago and will fit one in fifty more. Felix — Latin for lucky — is the definitive example; alongside it sit Oliver, Leo, Max and Milo, and on the girls' side Cleo, Lucy, Molly and Bella. None of them will ever feel like a fad.
The list runs A to Z with a real meaning wherever the name has one — Oscar is Irish for deer-lover, Jasper is Persian for treasurer, George is Greek for farmer, Cosmo is Greek for order or the universe. If you want a name that won't date, this is the list to start on.
All 42 classic cat names, A–Z
Latin · white
Hebrew · grace
Italian · beautiful
Italian · white
French · white
Scottish · pretty, cheerful
Persian · treasurer
English · free man
Latin · fortress
Greek · glory
Greek · order, universe
Greek · gift of God
English · wealthy guardian
Latin · happy, lucky
Greek · farmer
Germanic · home ruler
English · God is gracious
Persian · treasurer
Hebrew · God beholds
Latin · lion
German · famous warrior
Latin · light
Greek · pearl
Latin · greatest
Germanic
Hebrew · star of the sea
Greek · shining light
Italian · black
French · black
Latin · olive tree
Irish · deer lover
English · the pearl
French
Word name
Hebrew · God has heard
English
Hebrew · he has heard
Latin · star
Greek · gift of God
Hebrew · God is good
English
Latin · evening
Every name here is one people genuinely use for a pet, and each is drawn from the same hand-checked list behind our full names finder. Where a name has a real, settled meaning we give it; word-names like Biscuit or Shadow are marked as word-names rather than dressed up with an invented origin. The count in the title is the real number on the page, and we add to it over time.
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