The Best Black Cat Names, According to People Who Actually Have Black Cats

If you just brought home a black cat (or have your eye on one at the shelter…did you know that they’re the least adopted cats? 😞) one of the best way to find inspiration is to find out what other people have named theirs! Not that you want to be a copycat, but more times than not it inspires you to think about your own version of that name (or realize how much you don’t like a name).

So I went digging through the black cat corners of Reddit, reading over 44 threads and over 1,200 comments of people introducing their cats, and sorted the whole pile. Full disclosure before we start: we don’t have a black cat. Louis is black and white, but if we’re being accurate, he’s mostly white. But hey, we know a good name when we see it!

One vocabulary note first, because you’ll likely see it the second you go looking for black cat anything online. The internet’s word for a black cat is a void, as in a cat so black it reads as a cat-shaped hole in the universe. Some of the best names below sort of lean into it.

In addition to Reddit, one of the best ways to find a name that sticks with your cat is to think about your favorite movies, musicians, books, and pop culture references. And of course you can always think of clever puns! Further down the article we list the best punny names and those related to music, movies, etc. in case you need some inspiration. You can also read about how we named our cats Thelma and Louis.

The black cat names everyone picks

Just like you’ll see with babies, the same names tend to come up over and over, in thread after thread. I took note of the same ones that I kept seeing, and in rough order of popularity, they were: Shadow, Luna, Midnight, Salem, Pepper, Boo, Binx, Pumpkin, Onyx, and Raven.

Of course they all have their own references: Salem is the sarcastic black cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Binx is the boy-turned-cat from Hocus Pocus. Luna is the black cat in Sailor Moon, and it’s also just one of the most popular pet names in the world right now for basically anything with fur. The other ones are just more obvious when it comes to color (IE: Shadow and Midnight and Pepper). And, well BOO is when your black cat startles you in the middle of the night when you get up to use the bathroom.

Now, just because a name is popular doesn’t mean they’re bad. But if you’re like me you dont’ want to name your cat what MOST people are naming theirs. So, it’s good to know what those popular names are, decide if you like them or not, and move on. Funnily enough, several of the threads I came across were people specifically asking for names that AREN’T on that list, usually phrased as “we don’t want anything basic, no Salem, no Luna.”

So, if your goal is for your cat’s name to be only one they call out at the vet’s, keep reading.

Names that lean into the “void”

The the whole “void” thing has produced a whole category of names as well. Nyx, the Greek goddess of night, kept showing up in my research and might be the best of the bunch. It’s three letters, easy to call, and you probably won’t meet another one at the vet. Eclipse, Nova, Hex, and Umbra, the word for the darkest part of a shadow, are all in the same family. Vader got several mentions, and so did Bagheera, the panther from The Jungle Book, which fits because a black cat lounging on a windowsill is basically a panther.

When you don’t want a name everyone else has

You can also go in an entirely different direction when it comes to naming a black cat. Instead of giving it a spooky name, give it the least spooky name you can find.

Food names are probably the cutest and best place to start. Just think of all the dark foods! Bean is one great option, along with Olive and Licorice, and coffee names like Mocha and Latte. You can also be ironic, naming a black cat Snowball, Ghost, or Marshmallow. That’s always cute!

And then you can be like the people who skip cat names altogether and reach for a name that belongs on a middle-aged man instead.

I just feel like all cats should be named Walter

— via Reddit.com

I can’t say we disagree. A black cat named Walter, or Gary, or Susan, is funnier than any pun name, and it stays funny, well, forever. Wednesday, Morticia, and Gomez sort of split the difference if you want a popular-culture name that screams spooky. And speaking of pop culture…

The pop culture pantheon

In addition to the classic Addams’ Family references, there are a few more under the radar pop culture options. Jiji is the black cat in the anime feature Kiki’s Delivery Service, and it was one of the most repeated suggestions in threads where people asked for something less common. Toothless (from How to Train Your Dragon) is technically a dragon, but anyone who’s watched him move knows he’s a giant black cat with wings. Loki and Lucifer cover the mischief end of the spectrum, and yes, Lucifer is also the cat in Cinderella. Sirius (named after Sirius Black in Harry Potter) is a lesser known option, even if the character it comes from turns into a black dog rather than a cat. We don’t think your cat will notice.

If you want to go international, the old default name for a black cat in Japan is Kuro, which simply means black.

The black cat name bank

If nothing above has stuck yet, the name bank below has 105 more, sorted by category, from pop culture heavy hitters to puns you’ll either love or refuse to say out loud at the vet’s office.

Or, just wait and let the cat pick

The single most repeated piece of advice across all of those threads had nothing to do with name ideas at all. It was some version of “don’t name the cat yet.”

Wait and see what his personality is like. He’ll show you in a couple days when he comes out of his shell. He’ll pick his own name.

— via Reddit.com

We lived this one ourselves. We had the hardest time naming Thelma and Louis, and a look back at our vet records shows the name journey we were on. When we first got them from the rescue their names were Otis and Ollie, which weren’t the boy and girl names I was drawn to. Finally we sat down one night and Thelma & Louise was on, and it hit us. Thelma really seemed like a Thelma, and we had already been drawn to the name Louis. Plus the cats were found in a car when they were rescued, so it all just fit together for us!

The stories that came out of people doing exactly that were the best part of the whole research project.

when I adopted one of my cats I had brainstormed a bunch of names and made lists and stuff. then we got him home and within the hour I was like “This guy purrs like a truck. I’m gonna call him Mack”. But most of the time I call him macaroni.

— via Reddit.com

That last line is actually really important to remember. If you love a good nickname, whatever you choose might just end up a formality for the vet’s records. And then, never forget that they might not even pay any attention to it anyway.

My cats only respond to their name when they want to. 😌

— via Reddit.com

So pick the name that makes you happy to say out loud, since you’re the one who’ll be saying it. And if part of you is still hung up on the old superstition, the luck folklore around black cats is a lot friendlier than you’d think. In most of the world, a black cat crossing your path is the good sign.

And if you’re on the fence about adopting a black cat, want to go seek one out, or want to love even more on the one you have at home, Black Cat Appreciation Day is August 17.