# My new kitten needs a name **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914 "2005-04-18T16:46:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/1 "2005-04-18T16:46:46Z")
Yesterday I adopted a little scrap of fur, ears, and claws at an adoption showing (local shelter at the Petco). He’s nine weeks’ old, a ferocious little brown tabby. He needs a name. I’ve already established a tradition of giving my cats the name “cat” in non-English languages. Koshka (the female I recently had to put to sleep ☹ ) is Russian, Neko (my big male) is Japanese. So I’m looking for more words-that-mean-cat-in-non-English-languages to pick his new name from. Languages where the word is, sounds like, or looks like “cat” are right out (so no German “Katzen” or Spanish “Gato”). I’m doing Google searches with a concentration in Native American languages. So far I’ve discovered that “Mosi” is Navajo for “cat”, but it’s not the word I want (like pr0n, I’ll know it when I see it). Suggestions? Comments? His new name doesn’t \*have \*to mean “cat”, but I rather like the idea of keeping the theme going. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/2 "2005-04-18T16:53:44Z")
The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the thread title was ‘Iggy’. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know. The first time I was in a what-to-name-a-cat conversation, someone suggested ‘Napalm’; as in ‘Napalm the Cat’. When I was little, my mom had a cat named Neko. In Greek, ‘cat’ is γάτα; but I don’t know the pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/3 "2005-04-18T17:11:37Z")
Spanish - Gato French - Chat German - Katze Italian - Gatto I kind of like Katze as a name for a cat, but I have no idea how to pronouce it. Of course, Chat the Cat is kind of charming. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/4 "2005-04-18T17:13:41Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > In Greek, ‘cat’ is γάτα; but I don’t know the pronunciation. Pronounced “gata”, more or less. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/5 "2005-04-18T17:26:51Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Pronounced “gata”, more or less. Oh, right. What would someone named **Athena** know about Greek pronunciation? Think you can fool me? Ha! You won’t catch _me_ wiv me trousers! 😃😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/6 "2005-04-18T18:04:58Z")
From a polish-engrish translation: Cat - Kotka Kitty - Kitty Tiger - Tygrys Dutch would be **Kat**. ooooh, that’s so difficult ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/7 "2005-04-18T18:10:01Z")
How about [Skoggkatt](http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/profiles/norwegian.html)? ([Norwegian forest cat](http://www.skogkatt.co.uk/cgi-bin/NFO).) It does have a “cat” sound at the end of it, but I like the sound of the word. Failing that, what about Felis, short for Felis Catus? Or [Felix](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_the_Cat), which means lucky IIRC, but has been used as a “cat” name for some time. I believe it can be accepted as a variation of Felis, but I’m nowhere near certain of this. Do felicity and felix have similar roots? ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/8 "2005-04-18T18:12:04Z")
IIRC, hebrew for ‘Cat’ is chatool (with the flegmy ‘ch’). ;j ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/9 "2005-04-18T18:26:37Z")
Why don’t you name your kitty Carlisle Hart? ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/10 "2005-04-18T18:44:53Z")
Feles is Latin for “cat”, with a secondary meaning as “theif”. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/11 "2005-04-18T18:50:30Z")
“ce-YAY-te” is one I’ve heard–comes from the English spelling of “cat” Also try naming him after a TV character. Like “Cat” from the Red Dwarf series. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/12 "2005-04-18T19:23:27Z")
Paka is cat in Swahili. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/13 "2005-04-18T19:25:55Z")
You could try “Mao”, Mandarin Hell, what’s wrong with “Tabby” HMmmmmmmmmm? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/14 "2005-04-18T19:27:22Z")
Ah yes, and most importantly: PICS!!! ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/15 "2005-04-18T20:10:57Z")
I’m not sure if I have the spelling correct, but in Hawaiian cat is "popoki’. When we brought Gwen’s kittens back from Hawaii we called them the “keki popoki” or “baby cats”. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/16 "2005-04-18T20:35:59Z")
Low German - Meitz ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/17 "2005-04-18T21:46:53Z")
Our first kitten we named Kitza (Ukrainian for kitten). My Ukrainian mother-in-law thought it was silly to name a kitten “Kitten.” When she (the cat, not my mother-in-law) was ready to create new kitties (she was a pure-bred Siamese and we wanted one litter of new baby Siamese), we asked our vet if he knew anyone with a pure-bred un-neutered male Siamese. He did, and the daddy cat’s name was ------- “Dog.” Anyway, we can’t name your kittly without PICTURES! We demand PICTURES! ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/18 "2005-04-18T22:25:29Z")
How about “Meechee”, which I’ve been told is “Kitty” in Incan. My boyfriend’s father-in-law lived in Peru in the 1930’s, and they started a family tradition by getting a cat and naming it that. From then on, every cat in my boyfriend’s family was called Meechee, distinguished as Calico Meechee, Tiger Meechee, etc. Two of his sons each have a cat named Meechee as well. But yes, by all means, pictures! Show me the kitty! ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/19 "2005-04-18T22:32:48Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > Paka is cat in Swahili. I like that one, and also Popoki. Very nice. I named two of my cats from Irish, Ruah and Sran. Having really no clue how to pronounce them, I like the way they sound in Dutch pronunciation so that’s what I stuck with. The first means red-haired, and I thought that was very appropriate (guess why). The latter means ‘snore’ and when I got the stray kitten he had all sorts of bad stuff, including sneezing disease. (The nurses at the vets put in some unpaid extra time in getting him back in shape, really kind.) Finally, I have a slightly older female cat whom I called Simarin (when I call her I usually use Simi). That was inspired by Tolkien (to whom I indirectly owe my own name), who explained somewhere that Silmarillion was a word he came up with by combining his favorite sounds. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914/20 "2005-04-18T22:43:40Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > From a polish-engrish translation: > Cat - Kotka Boy cat = kot, with a vowel sound somewhere between cut and coat I think the diminuitive would be kotek, but what self respecting tom cat wants a name that sounds like a feminine hygiene product? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-kitten-needs-a-name/299914.md?page=2)