500+ Amazing Cat Names By Color & Pattern For Every Feline

Looking for a cat name that matches your cat's coat? This list has more than 500 names sorted by color and pattern: black, white, gray, brown, calico, tabby, Siamese (pointed) and Bengal (spotted or marbled). Each section has ideas for female and male cats, cute and cool options, and names with a meaning or a story behind them. It is part of our cat names collection.

Our quick take: choose a name you will enjoy saying out loud many times a day, and try it for a few days before you settle on it. Cats do learn their names. A 2019 study in the journal Scientific Reports found that pet cats can tell their own name apart from other words, even when a stranger says it. Saying the name at mealtimes and when you hand out treats helps your cat link it with good things.

Cat names by color: quick guide

Coat color or pattern	Names	For example
Black	82	Midnight, Salem, Ebony, Onyx
White	72	Snowball, Casper, Pearl, Yuki
Gray (blue)	56	Smokey, Misty, Sterling, Earl Grey
Brown and chocolate	46	Mocha, Chestnut, Toffee, Teddy
Calico (tricolor)	64	Callie, Patches, Confetti, Tama
Tabby (striped, swirled or spotted)	68	Tigger, Stripes, Tora, Garfield
Siamese and other pointed cats	74	Mali, Phet, Koko, Indigo
Bengal (spotted or marbled)	66	Rajah, Hunter, Blaze, Glitz

Is your cat a different color? We have separate lists of orange cat names, tortoiseshell cat names and black and white cat names.

Black cat names

Black cats have a spooky reputation in parts of Europe, but in Japan, Scotland and the UK a black cat is a sign of good luck. Solid black is a common coat too: the Cat Fanciers' Association accepts it in 22 breeds, and the Bombay comes in black only. Most black cats have golden eyes, which is why green-eyed black cats get their own list below. If your cat has white paws or a white bib, see our black and white (tuxedo) cat names as well.

Female black cat names

Ebony
Raven
Luna (the black cat with the crescent moon in Sailor Moon)
Dahlia
Elvira
Morticia
Sabrina
Velvet
Mystique
Godiva
Sheba
Magpie
Silhouette
Starlight
Twilight
Eclipse

Male black cat names

Salem (the talking black cat in Sabrina the Teenage Witch)
Felix (after Felix the Cat, the classic black cartoon cat)
Bagheera (the black panther in The Jungle Book)
Zorro
Batman
Merlin
Dante
Draco
Poe
Bear
Diesel
Guinness
Darth
Blackbeard
Blackjack
Thunder
Panther
Phantom
Jet

Cute black cat names

Midnight
Shadow
Inky
Sooty
Licorice
Pepper
Coal
Charcoal
Cinder
Eight Ball
Jinx
Boo
Spooky
Pepsi
Magic

Spooky and witchy black cat names

If you like these, we have more in our Halloween cat names and Harry Potter cat names.

Voodoo
Hocus Pocus
Wizard
Warlock
Banshee
Coven
Omen
Dracula
Vampire
Lucifer
Damien
Frankenstein
Gothic
Mystery
Mystic
Spider

Names that mean black, dark or night

Layla (Arabic for “night”)
Dubh (Irish for “black” or “dark”, the same word that is in the name Dublin, “black pool”)
Noir (French for “black”)
Sombra (Spanish for “shadow”)
Onyx (a black gemstone)

Names for black cats with green eyes

Emerald
Jade
Ivy
Clover
Fern
Forest
Moss
Meadow
Willow
Envy
Minty

White cat names

Snow, clouds, flowers and sweet things are the classic sources for white cat names. One thing to know first: white cats are more likely than other cats to be born deaf. According to the Cornell Feline Health Center, 17 to 22 percent of white cats with non-blue eyes are born deaf. The figure is about 40 percent for white cats with one blue eye and 65 to 85 percent for those with two blue eyes. A deaf cat will not hear its name, so if your white cat does not seem to react to sounds, mention it to your vet. For more on blue and odd-colored eyes, see our guide to cat eye colors.

Female white cat names

Pearl
Ivory
Lily
Daisy
Jasmine
Magnolia
Camellia
Lotus
Blossom
Angel
Dove
Crystal
Lace
Opal
Snow White
Elsa
Porcelain
Chardonnay
Nova
Star

Male white cat names

Casper (the friendly ghost)
Yeti
Nimbus
Igloo
Jack Frost
Frosty
Blizzard
Polar
Everest
Alaska
Avalanche
Moby Dick
Gandalf
Alabaster
Sirius
Snoopy
Santa Claws
White Lightning

Cute and fluffy white cat names

Snowball
Snowflake
Snowy
Marshmallow
Cottonball
Cottontail
Powder Puff
Creampuff
Fluffernutter
Fluffy
Tofu
Coconut
Vanilla
Sugar
Tic Tac
Milky
Cloud
Icicle
Winter

Names that mean white or snow

Yuki (Japanese; written with one character it means “snow”, with another “happiness”)
Lumi (Finnish for “snow”)
Gwen (from the Welsh for “white, blessed”)
Bianca (the Italian member of a family of names that mean “white”)
Blanca (the Spanish form of the same name)
Blanche (the French form)
Blanco (Spanish for “white”)
Alba (“dawn” in Italian and Spanish)

Names for white cats with blue eyes

Sapphire
Azure
Bluebell
Blueberry
Sky
River
Sinatra (after “Ol' Blue Eyes”)

Gray cat names

Breeders call a solid gray coat “blue”, which is why the Russian Blue is a gray cat. The Chartreux, the Korat and the British Shorthair are other well-known gray breeds (see our guide to grey cat breeds). Smoke, storms, stone and silver are all good starting points, and gray has more famous namesakes than you might expect.

Female gray cat names

Misty
Grizabella (the faded Glamour Cat who sings “Memory” in the musical Cats)
Helena (the Grey Lady, the Ravenclaw ghost in Harry Potter)
Diana (the gray kitten in Sailor Moon)
Lady Grey (like the tea)
Jean Grey (from the X-Men)
Stardust
Moonbeam
Sylvie
Heather
Lilac
Dawn
Artemis
Graycie

Male gray cat names

Smokey
Ash
Steel
Bullet
Storm
Slate
Pewter
Sterling
Graystone
Mercury
Comet
Wolf
Koala
Dolphin
Winston
Iron Man
Earl Grey (like the tea)
Dorian (after Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray)
Whistler (after the painter of Arrangement in Grey and Black)
Nermal (the gray tabby kitten in Garfield)

Gray cat names from weather and stone

Foggy
Hazy
Dusky
Dusty
Mist
Stormy
Lightning
Nebula
Pebbles
Granite
Platinum
Silverbell
Tinsel
Aspen
Oyster
Mushroom

Names that mean gray or silver

Lloyd (from the Welsh llwyd, “grey”)
Liadan (an Irish name that may mean “gray”)
Kasumi (Japanese for “mist”)
Argent (French for “silver”)
Eisenhower (from the German Eisenhauer, “iron hewer”)
Glaucus (a sea-god of Greek myth whose name means “gleaming”)

Brown cat names

Solid brown cats are hard to find, as our guide to brown cat breeds explains. The best known is the Havana Brown, which has a warm, reddish-brown coat. Brown tabbies are far more common, so look at the tabby names below too. For a solid or mostly brown cat, coffee, chocolate and autumn woods are the obvious places to start.

Coffee, chocolate and sweet names for brown cats

Cocoa
Mocha
Espresso
Java
Latte
Cappuccino
Coffee
Chocolate
Caramel
Toffee
Fudge
Truffle
Cookie
Biscuit
Cinnamon
Ginger Snap
Maple
Peanut
Almond
Chickpea
Raisin
Bean
Snickers
Whiskey
Cognac

Brown cat names from nature

Chestnut
Hazel
Mahogany
Sable
Sienna
Tawny
Auburn
Autumn
Birch
Clay
Sand
Terra
Bracken
Mink
Rusty
Teddy

Brown and white cat names

Socks
Mittens
Dottie
Brindle
Marble Fudge

Calico cat names

Calico is a color pattern, not a breed: patches of white, black and orange. Almost every calico is female, because the pattern needs two X chromosomes. A University of Missouri study put the odds at about one male in every 3,000 calicos. Those males usually have an extra X chromosome (XXY) and are usually sterile. That is why most of the names here lean feminine. Calicos are also thought to bring good luck in many countries. In the United States they are sometimes called “money cats”, the German word for a calico is Glückskatze (“lucky cat”), and the calico has been Maryland's state cat since 2001. You can read more in our calico cat facts. If your cat has no white, see our tortoiseshell cat names.

Female calico cat names

Callie
Patches
Cleopatra
Clementine
Buttercup
Aurora
Harmony
Penny
Persimmon
Papaya
Peaches
Apricot
Amber
Ginger
Pumpkin
Butterscotch
Marmalade
Tulip
Coral
Honey
Goldie
Sunset

Patchwork and colorful calico names

Confetti
Mosaic
Motley
Matisse
Monarch
Marbles
Pixel
Chimaera
Calypso
Camo
Speckles
Paisley
Harlequin
Spice
Paprika
Mimosa

Cute calico cat names

Cookie Dough
Muffin
Twix
KitKat
Taffy
Tootsie
Tortilla
Toast
Waffles
Crumpet
Creamsicle
Pickles
Honeybee
Bambi
Moxie
Foxy
Trixie
Twinkie
Clawdia
Jennifur

Lucky and famous calico names

Tama (the calico stationmaster of Kishi Station in Japan, credited with helping to save her railway line)
Rainbow (the calico whose clone, CC or “Copy Cat”, was born with a different coat pattern)
Good Fortune (the three-colored cat in the children's book The Cat Who Went to Heaven)
Mi-ke (say “mee-keh”; from the Japanese name for a calico, which means “three-haired cat”)
Maneki (after the maneki-neko, Japan's beckoning lucky cat)
Lucky

Tabby cat names

Tabby is a coat pattern, not a breed, and it turns up in pet cats all over the world. The Cat Fanciers' Association describes four basic versions: classic (swirls, with a circle on each side), mackerel (stripes), spotted and ticked, plus patched tabbies that mix in red or cream. Every tabby has an “M” on its forehead. The word “tabby” comes from a striped silk that was once made in the Attabiya district of Baghdad. For more, see our guides to tabby cat patterns and history and tabby cat personality.

Stripe, swirl and spot names for tabby cats

Stripes
Tiger
Zigzag
Ziggy
Pinstripe
Barcode
Chevron
Herringbone
Mackerel
Swirly
Vortex
Spot
Checkers
Agouti
Ikat
Zebra
Bumblebee
Chipmunk
Bongo
Okapi
Tabitha (a ready-made pun on “tabby”)
Mau (after the Egyptian Mau, a naturally spotted tabby breed)

Famous tabby cat names

Garfield (the lasagna-loving orange tabby)
Tigger (the bouncy tiger in Winnie-the-Pooh)
Hobbes (the tiger in Calvin and Hobbes)
Cheshire (the grinning striped cat in Alice in Wonderland)
Morris (the 9Lives cat food mascot)
Larry (Chief Mouser at 10 Downing Street)
Think Think (the cat of former Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen)
Maru (the Japanese internet star)
Orangey (a cat actor in classic Hollywood films)
Waldo (for the striped shirt)

“Tiger” in other languages

Tora (Japanese)
Bagh (Hindi)
Harimau (Malay)
Kaplan (Turkish)
Tigris (Latin)

Tabby names by coat color

For a ginger tabby, see our full list of orange cat names. Brown and gray tabbies can also borrow from the brown and gray lists above.

Copper
Ember
Flame
Carrot
Cheetos
Saffron
Titian
Scarlet
Ruby
Ashen
Obsidian

Cute tabby cat names

Bowie
Buttons
Mochi
Oscar
Romeo
Simba
Loki
Linus
Goliath
Chaucer
Azrael
Birdie
Buffy
Lola
Mitzi
Margot
Diva
Cupcake
Candy
Bubbles

Siamese cat names

The Siamese comes from Thailand, formerly called Siam, where the breed was first described in a collection of cat poems from the Ayutthaya period (1350 to 1767). Siamese kittens are born cream or white and develop their darker “points” (face, ears, legs and tail) over the first few months. The Cat Fanciers' Association recognizes four point colors: seal, chocolate, blue and lilac, always with deep blue eyes. It describes the breed as vocal, affectionate and active. You will often read that only the royal family of Siam could own these cats. It is a nice story, but researchers have found no evidence of an organized royal breeding program. These names also suit other pointed cats, such as Ragdolls, Birmans and Himalayans.

Thai names for Siamese cats

Most Thai people go by a short nickname, and many of those nicknames are everyday words, which makes them easy to borrow for a cat.

Phet (“diamond”)
Mali (“jasmine”)
Thong (“gold”)
Lek (“little one”)
Nok (“bird”)
Daeng (“red”)
Maeo (the Thai word for “cat”)
Benz (a popular modern Thai nickname, after the car)

More Thai nicknames and given names

These come from our original Siamese list. The first six are common nicknames. The rest are formal given names: Sudarat and Kanokwan for girls, the others for boys.

Ploy
Nam
Mild
Beam
Nan
Noon
Sudarat
Kanokwan
Sarawut
Tanawat
Nattapong
Chatchai
Sirichai
Teerapat

Famous Siamese cat names

Si (one of the two Siamese cats in Disney's Lady and the Tramp)
Am (the other one; together they spell Siam)
Tao (the Siamese in The Incredible Journey)
Pyewacket (the witch's cat in the film Bell, Book and Candle)
DC (the cat in Disney's That Darn Cat!)
Babette (the kitten in Clare Turlay Newberry's 1937 picture book)
Koko (the mystery-solving Siamese in The Cat Who… novels)
Yum Yum (Koko's companion)

Names for Siamese cats with blue eyes

Every Siamese has blue eyes, so these fit them all.

Indigo
Violet
Cornflower
Lapis
Iris
Neptune
Ice
Blue

Regal Siamese cat names

Regina
Rex
Queen
Princess
Duke
Apollo
Athena
Zeus
Hermes
Aphrodite
Olympia
Medusa
Alexander
William
Henry
Eliza

Cute names for chatty Siamese cats

Mischief
Sassy
Pixie
Tango
Dancer
Bandit
Fig
Petal
Sparkie
Summer
Sasha
Lulu
Maisie
Phoebe
Tiffany
Encore
Heckle
Elfin
Katana
Kai

Bengal cat names

The Bengal was created by crossing domestic cats with the leopard cat, a small wild cat from the forests of Asia. Jean Mill made the first cross in 1963, and The International Cat Association (TICA) accepted the breed in 1986. Bengals are either spotted, often with two-toned rosettes, or marbled, and they come in brown, silver and the pale “snow” colors. Some carry a “glitter” trait that gives each hair an iridescent sheen. TICA describes Bengals as confident, curious and highly active, so a name with some energy fits. These names also work for any spotted or marbled tabby. If you have just brought a Bengal home, see our picks for the best cat food for Bengals.

Wild cat names for Bengals

Tigress
Tiger Lily
Leopard
Leo
Cheetah
Lynx
Ocelot
Nala
Saber
Shere Khan (the tiger in The Jungle Book)
Richard Parker (the tiger in Life of Pi)
Rajah (Jasmine's tiger in Disney's Aladdin)
Dawon (in Hindu tradition, the lion or tiger that the goddess Durga rides)
Blake (after William Blake, who wrote “The Tyger”)
Tony (the cereal-box tiger)
Daniel (after Daniel Tiger)

Cool Bengal cat names

Hunter
Prowler
Tracker
Ranger
Scout
Chase
Dash
Blaze
Bramble
Thicket
Trail
Quest
Falcon
Hawk
Valley
Maze

Glitter and gold names

Nugget
Glitz
Gleam
Glam
Shine
Spark
Cashmere

Silver and snow Bengal names

Diamond
Cinderella
Flash
Glacier
Cotton
Chalky
Nirvana
Makalu (a snow-capped Himalayan peak)
Rainier (a snow-capped peak in Washington State)
Hedwig (Harry Potter's snowy owl)
Stelmaria (Lord Asriel's snow leopard in His Dark Materials)
Byakko (the White Tiger of the West in Japanese tradition)
Siegfried (of Siegfried & Roy, the magicians famous for their white tigers)

500+ Amazing Cat Names by Color & Pattern for Every Feline Personality 1

How to choose between your favorites

Say it out loud. Call each name across the room a few times. The one that feels natural to shout at dinner time usually wins.
Look past the coat. A color name is a good start, but personality often gives you a better one. A black cat who knocks things off shelves may be more of a Bandit than a Midnight.
Check it against the names in your home. A name that sounds like another pet's name, or like a family member's, gets confusing quickly.
Give a new kitten time. Kittens' coats can change as they grow. Siamese kittens, for example, are born pale and darken later.

Bringing home a kitten? Our guide to the best kitten food brands covers what to feed in the first year.

Sources

Cornell Feline Health Center: Ask Elizabeth, White Cats and Blindness/Deafness
Cat Fanciers' Association: Patterns of Cats (tabby patterns) and the Siamese breed
The International Cat Association (TICA): Bengal
Vetstreet, Dr. Marty Becker: Can Calico Cats Be Male?
Saito et al. (2019), “Domestic cats (Felis catus) discriminate their names from other words”, Scientific Reports
Behind the Name (name meanings): Yuki, Lumi, Gwen, Bianca, Layla, Kasumi and Lloyd
Wikipedia: Black cat, Calico cat, Tabby cat, Siamese cat and Thai name

More cat name lists

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500+ Amazing Cat Names by Color & Pattern for Every Feline Personality