It must have got started sometime in the last 20 years. How did the term “cougar” get associated with women who have an eye for younger men?
I’m hypothesizing that it has something to do with cougars (the feline variety) being solitary hunters.
*Slang sense of “older woman (35-plus) who seeks younger males as sex partners”
is attested by 2004.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper *
Poking around on google, it seems that the term “cougar” applied to females of the homo sapien variety dates back to the 90s and has its origins in western Canada, though no one seems to be able to trace it for certain (at least not that I found in my brief google search). The term became significantly more popular after a 2001 book called “Cougar: A Guide for Older Women Dating Younger Men”.
I think it originated from the other feline metaphors that are applied to women. If an attractive woman who’s sweet and cuddly is a kitten, then an attractive woman who’s aggressive is a cougar.
These days they prefer to be known as Mellencamps.
Here’s an article about the origin of it:
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2007/10/17/lifefocus/19059904&sec=lifefocus
As other people have already said, there’s evidence the term started in Canada, where it’s attested as the name of a website back in 1999.
What is a man who dates younger women called?
Oh yeah, “a man”
At least cougars (the cat) are kind of sexy. It’s better than being a vulture. That’s a cougar plus 20 years. They’re too old to bring down prey themselves so they pick at the left overs.
The first time I heard the term was in 1998 in Ottawa.
I used to live on Elgin street in Ottawa back in 91-93.
At the time, it was the “strip” for the 25+ crowd who were not into the younger 18-24 crowd in the Market or over in Hull.
We called the older ladies that trolled this area alot of different names such as dragons (too much make-up),octopi (all hands), wolves( travelling in a pack), and cougars because of their fondness for fur coats, leopard print, leather as well as their predatory and/or stalking tendencies.
I didn’t coin the term, but that’s my earliest recollection and it became a commonly used term.
Ottawa is a government and tourist town so it’s possible someone passed it along when they moved there, visited, attended university, etc…
Actually cougar+20 years are Sabertooths; cougar-20 years are Pumas. (I Love em all 
)
When they reach my age they are either called “Lucky” or “Rich.”
hh
<SLAPS njtt WITH A WET TROUT>
It seems that “dirty old men” need a better marketing campaign. If we left it up to the general populace “cougars” would probably just be called “skanky old ho’s”.
Then there’s the term coined by Alec Baldwin’s character on SNL: Cougay. It’s an older gay guy who preys on younger guys.
And an older man who preys on underaged boys is a Nittany Lion. 