Boy Cat Names for Grumpy Old Men, Rock Stars and a Kitten With Four Ears

When we first got our brother and sister rescue cats, we had a VERY hard time deciding on names. For some reason I was instantly drawn to the name Louis for the boy, but we kept changing our minds. We wanted names that worked together (since they were born in the same litter) but also stood on their own. So for him we fluctuated between Louis and Simon (it was a long story…don’t ask) and for our baby girl we fluctuated between Ella and Nina. (We had a thing for singers!) It wasn’t until my husband Cory and I were watching the movie Thelma & Louise that it dawned on us…Thelma and Louis! After all, they were found in a car, much like that iconic road trip duo. Ours had a happy ending though, LOL!

Louis just seemed to fit our little guy. He is sweet, confident, and he immediately came up to me when we first met him at the foster’s house. He saunters into rooms like a lumberjack with absolutely nothing to fear. When he wants to greet you he either flops onto his back on the floor or rubs his whiskers on your hand. He’s a lovebug!

Even though he seemed like a Louis to me, it didn’t stop me from going through hundreds of other name lists, some on baby sites and others on Reddit threads. I started the journey all over again for this article, reading over 1,800 comments from people trying to figure out what to name a boy cat to help you name yours!

The most common themes I saw were old man names, plain regular guy names, literary names, and boys that started out with a girl’s name. I made a list of all of them, plus my own favorites, and sorted them into boxes, below!

The names that came up the most

Sylvester was by far the most popular, suggested in nine different threads, with Oliver, George and Milo each getting eight. Sylvester came up for all kinds of cats: a gray tabby, a little tabby kitten, an all-black boy. One person noted that a kitten had soulful, sad eyes, like Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, hence Rocky. Lots of people felt their kitten just looked like a Milo.

Oliver came with Ollie, and one person posted a photo of their own Oliver with the caption, “Ollie Ollie oxen free.” Funny enough, Ollie is one of the names our two cats went by at the rescue! Five to seven threads each featured Walter, Chester, Jasper, Percy, Theodore and Frank.

Old man names

In one thread, where a commenter was specifically looking for a “cool old man name” for a big boy, the suggestions ranged from Walter (the favorite, by far, since apparently the cat is obviously a Walter) to Herbert (Herb or Herbie), Franklin (Frank), Mortimer (Morty), Percival (Percy), Bernard (Bernie), Archibald (Archie), Arthur, Stanley, Harold, Chester and Ernest. One comment mentioned that the cat in question reminded them of Walter Matthau in Grumpy Old Men.

In another thread, suggestions included Orville, Eugene or Harold (to sound like a distinguished old fellow), and even Gramps for a cat who looked a little grumpy. Someone commented that their uncles were named Wilbur, Wilfred, Walter, etc. And one of the Walter fans has a story to prove their point.

I had a cat named Walter and I always got compliments on his name.

— via Reddit.com

Regular guy names

One person asked for a dull cat name. Suggestions included Darryl, Scott, Ray, Lester, Marvin, Dale, Carl, Norman, Gary, Greg, Keith, Jeff, Pete, Steve, and Dave (which more than one person suggested). Colin Robinson (the energy vampire from What We Do in the Shadows) was suggested twice, and I liked that one, as being unremarkable is literally his character!

People shared their own cats, too. One commenter’s cats are Zach, Lynyrd (Leonard) and Harry. Another had a Frank “for many years,” plus a Ted and a George. Another named their cat after a character in Trailer Park Boys, Steve French, and their dad asked why the name sounded so familiar. And there was a Dave sighting to report.

Had a big ol’ cat named Dave come in today. It was great.

— via Reddit.com

Literary names (and a kitten with four ears)

A skinny, cold kitten found shivering in a park got a whole list of suggestions from the classics: Atticus, Mr. Darcy, Bingley, Catsby (for Gatsby), Hemingway, Poe, Oscar Wilde, Longfellow, Gulliver, Dorian Grey, Oliver Twist and Holden Caulfield.

For an orange boy, the Harry Potter suggestion was Ron Weasley (he’s the ginger one), and then other people added in the other Weasley boys (Percy, Fred, George and Arthur), Neville and Butterbeer.

My fave was the kitten with four ears. Suggestions included Quattro and Cuatro, Radar and Sonar, Mimi (Japanese for ear), Perot (after Ross Perot, who said he was all ears) and Earl. Back in the literary thread, one person had a whole plan for Bingley.

If I had a cat named Bingley, I would constantly [delight in] calling “Mr. BINGley!” like Carey Mulligan in the 2005 movie. So satisfying.

— via Reddit.com

When your girl turns out to be a boy

Sexing kittens isn’t easy, so it happens more often than you’d think that somebody mistakes a boy for a girl. One person had their cat for months before realizing he was a boy, and asked if they should keep calling him Katie. People suggested either keeping the name, or going with Katie Boy, or Kater. There are plenty of other examples too, like a boy named Stella who was never renamed, a sweet boy named Cassie, a cat named Nora who turned out to be a boy after five years, and a cat named Twinkle who became Twinky after a trip to the vet.

Then there are cases like this one, in which someone posted pics of their male tortie. Since almost all torties are girls (our girl cat names post explains why), this is like finding a shiny Pokémon in real life. But my personal favorite is this story about a beautiful stray that one family assumed was a girl.

We found a beautiful cat that had been outside for a while. Because it was so beautiful, we assumed it was a girl and named her Fifi Trixibelle. We took her to get scanned and she’s a boy named Doodlebug. We still call him Fifi.

— via Reddit.com

The Name Bank

There are already boxes of old man names, regular guy names and literary heroes sprinkled throughout this article. The rest are below: big boy names, food names, rock stars and crooners, gods and legends, names with a title (think Captain and Sir), and famous boy cats, real or otherwise. I’ve included some brief explanations as to where some of the names are from, and I’ve tried to make it so that no name appears twice.

Big boy names first.

Food names.

Rock stars and crooners.

Gods and legends.

Names with a title.

And famous boy cats, real and fictional.

Let him pick

If you can’t decide between a couple of names, try them out loud for a few days to see which name your cat responds to the most. One commenter loves yelling Simon, their cat’s name. Another thought the coolest cat name they’d ever heard was Eddie Shedder (Edward, when he’s in trouble). Cats can learn their names quicker than you expect, too (see the study below!).

One person shared a picture of their fluffy boy whose name is Grogu, but they weren’t fond of it. Ideas ranged from Gregor to Alexander to Sir Walter to Remy to Chewy to Beef Roll. Someone else advised just asking him, since he seemed to have an opinion. The owner’s answer:

lol he did. We went with Kuma cuz he decided to answer to it.

— via Reddit.com

So, tell us! What’s your boy’s name? Let us know in the comments, we’d love to hear it.