Cat Names From Movies, Taken From the Cats Who Earned Them
The best cat names from movies are borrowed from cats who actually appeared on screen, not from human characters who happened to be in something you liked. There is a difference, and it shows up in how the name wears. Jonesy, Pyewacket, and Crookshanks all sound like cats because they were built for cats.
This page collects ninety-five names. The first and largest group is real feline characters, each with the film they came from and a single line of context. After that there are big-screen big cats, names from behind the camera, old movie-palace names, and human characters whose names happen to suit a cat. If you searched for cat names from films rather than movies, you are in the right place; it is the same list.
For a broader pool with meanings attached, the top 100 unique male cat names page runs to a hundred numbered picks.
How to Choose Cat Names From Movies That Actually Work
Cat names from movies work best when the name would still be good with the film stripped away. That is the filter. If you would not pick it as a name on its own, the reference will wear thin by month three.
Three practical points before the list:
- Cats hear high frequencies far better than we do. Names with s, sh, k, ts, and long ee sounds cut through to them best. Pyewacket, Jiji, and Sassy all have this. Bagheera does not, which is why it becomes Baggy.
- Whatever you shorten it to is the real name. Bartholomew becomes Bart. Mr. Bigglesworth becomes Biggie. Make sure you like the short one first.
- Avoid anything close to the noises you make at him. Names that sound like "psst," "no," or "get down" teach a cat that his name and a scolding are the same event, and he will stop reacting to both.
The free generator at petnamebuilder.com lets you filter by species, style, origin, letter, and length if you want to browse well past this page.
Real Cats From Real Films
These are cat characters, listed with the film and one line of context. Nothing here is a plot summary and nothing is quoted.
| Name | Film | Who the cat is |
|---|---|---|
| Jonesy | Alien (1979) | The ginger ship's cat |
| Pyewacket | Bell, Book and Candle (1958) | A Siamese familiar, and a superb name |
| Cat | Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) | A cat with no name but Cat |
| Orangey | — | The actual cat actor who played both Cat and Rhubarb |
| Rhubarb | Rhubarb (1951) | A cat who inherits a baseball team |
| Tonto | Harry and Tonto (1974) | A road-trip cat |
| Thomasina | The Three Lives of Thomasina (1963) | A ginger cat who narrates her own story |
| D.C. | That Darn Cat! (1965) | A Siamese, short for Darn Cat |
| Tao | The Incredible Journey (1963) | The Siamese who travels with two dogs |
| Sassy | Homeward Bound (1993) | The Himalayan with the sharpest opinions |
| Milo | The Adventures of Milo and Otis (1986) | An orange tabby kitten |
| Snowbell | Stuart Little (1999) | A white Persian, permanently exasperated |
| Mittens | Bolt (2008) | A black-and-white street cat |
| Ulysses | Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) | A ginger cat who keeps getting loose |
| Goose | Captain Marvel (2019) | An orange tabby who is not quite a cat |
| Crookshanks | The Harry Potter films | A flat-faced ginger with a good nose for liars |
| Mrs. Norris | The Harry Potter films | The caretaker's dust-colored patrol cat |
| Church | Pet Sematary (1989) | Short for Churchill |
| Buttercup | The Hunger Games films | A scruffy yellow cat, deeply unimpressed |
| Jake | The Cat from Outer Space (1978) | An alien cat with a collar |
| Cosmic Creepers | Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) | A witch's black cat |
| Mr. Bigglesworth | Austin Powers (1997) | A hairless cat with a lap to sit on |
| Bob | A Street Cat Named Bob (2016) | Based on a real ginger street cat |
| Garfield | Garfield (2004) | The lasagna one |
| Nermal | Garfield (2004) | Aggressively cute, by design |
| Arlene | Garfield (2004) | Pink, patient, unbothered |
| Duchess | The Aristocats (1970) | An elegant white mother cat |
| O'Malley | The Aristocats (1970) | The alley cat, full name Thomas O'Malley |
| Marie | The Aristocats (1970) | The white kitten with the bow |
| Toulouse | The Aristocats (1970) | The orange kitten who paints |
| Berlioz | The Aristocats (1970) | The gray kitten at the piano |
| Scat Cat | The Aristocats (1970) | The bandleader |
| Figaro | Pinocchio (1940) | A small black-and-white tuxedo |
| Lucifer | Cinderella (1950) | The household cat, entirely villainous |
| Si and Am | Lady and the Tramp (1955) | A pair of Siamese |
| Cheshire | Alice in Wonderland (1951) | The grinning one |
| Dinah | Alice in Wonderland (1951) | Alice's own kitten |
| Tibbs | 101 Dalmatians (1961) | Sergeant Tibbs, a small brave tabby |
| Oliver | Oliver & Company (1988) | An orange kitten alone in a city |
| Jiji | Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) | A small black cat with a lot to say |
| Muta | The Cat Returns (2002) | An enormous cream-colored cat |
| Baron | The Cat Returns (2002) | A cat figurine in a very good suit |
| Catbus | My Neighbor Totoro (1988) | Exactly what the name says |
| Luna | Sailor Moon | A black cat with a crescent marking |
| Artemis | Sailor Moon | A white cat, the counterpart to Luna |
| Felix | The Felix the Cat shorts | The original animated cat |
| Tom | The Tom and Jerry shorts | Gray, blue-eyed, permanently outwitted |
| Sylvester | The classic theatrical shorts | A tuxedo cat with a lisp |
| Puss | Puss in Boots (2011) | An orange tabby with a hat |
| Duman | Kedi (2016) | A real Istanbul street cat; Turkish for smoke |
| Sari | Kedi (2016) | A real street cat; Turkish for yellow |
| Gamsiz | Kedi (2016) | A real street cat; Turkish for carefree |
Pyewacket is the standout of this entire page. Two syllables, a hard K in the middle, ends bright, and almost nobody is using it.
Names From the Stage Cats Film
The 2019 film adaptation of the stage musical about cats gave a lot of unusual names a second life. They come from a 1939 book of light verse and they are all genuinely good cat names on their own merits.
Bustopher, Grizabella, Macavity, Mistoffelees, Skimbleshanks, Jellylorum, Rum Tum Tugger, Demeter, Alonzo, Victoria, Munkustrap, Jennyanydots.
Macavity and Mistoffelees survive shortening best. Cavity is unfortunate, so Macavity tends to become Mac, and Mistoffelees becomes Misty or Toff.
Big Cats From the Big Screen
If your cat is large, loud, or convinced he is the largest animal in the building, the lion and tiger names carry the idea better.
| Name | Film | The animal |
|---|---|---|
| Simba | The Lion King (1994) | A lion; Swahili for lion |
| Nala | The Lion King (1994) | A lioness |
| Mufasa | The Lion King (1994) | The father |
| Sarabi | The Lion King (1994) | The mother |
| Scar | The Lion King (1994) | The brother |
| Kovu | The Lion King II | A young lion |
| Kiara | The Lion King II | A young lioness |
| Zira | The Lion King II | A lioness with a grudge |
| Aslan | The Chronicles of Narnia films | A lion |
| Elsa | Born Free (1966) | A lioness raised and released, based on a real animal |
| Bagheera | The Jungle Book (1967) | A black panther |
| Shere Khan | The Jungle Book (1967) | A tiger |
| Rajah | Aladdin (1992) | A tiger |
| Richard Parker | Life of Pi (2012) | A Bengal tiger with a paperwork mix-up for a name |
| Tigger | The Winnie the Pooh films | A tiger, more or less |
Richard Parker is the funniest name on this page to use on a domestic cat, and it works best when used in full.
Names From Behind the Camera
If you would rather nod at cinema than at a specific character, directors and golden-age stars give you names that sound expensive and age well.
Directors: Kubrick, Kurosawa, Fellini, Hitch, Truffaut, Varda, Ozu, Coppola, Miya, Bergman, Wilder, Almodóvar.
Stars of the studio era: Garbo, Bogie, Dietrich, Hepburn, Astaire, Keaton, Lugosi, Karloff, Bacall, Loren, Harlow, Novak.
Garbo is the best of these on an aloof cat. Bogie is the best on a scruffy one.
Old Movie-Palace Names
The grand cinemas of the 1920s and 1930s were all named the same handful of things, and those names have aged into perfect cat names: short, ornate, and slightly theatrical.
Bijou, Roxy, Rialto, Odeon, Orpheum, Majestic, Lido, Tivoli, Astor, Marquee, Cameo, Matinee.
Bijou is French for jewel and was one of the most common cinema names in the country. On a small elegant cat it is close to perfect.
Human Characters Whose Names Suit a Cat
Some screen names simply sound feline, whether or not the character had four legs.
Ripley, Clementine, Amélie, Vito, Trinity, Neo, Marion, Wednesday, Morticia, Gomez, Django, Leia, Atticus, Gatsby, Loki, Scout, Ferris, Rocky.
Wednesday and Morticia work particularly well on black cats. Ripley works on a cat who survives things.
How to Test a Film Name Before You Commit
Say the name out loud in three registers before you decide. Cat names get used in very specific tones, and a name that fails one of them will not stick.
- The food voice. Bright, high, singsong. This is the tone that gets a cat's attention more reliably than anything else. If the name feels awkward here, it is the wrong name.
- The vet-waiting-room voice. Flat, public, in front of strangers. Mr. Bigglesworth is funny at home and a small ordeal at the front desk.
- The back-door-at-midnight voice. Loud, carrying, slightly worried. Long vowel names smear at volume. Names with a hard consonant near the front carry much better.
Then check it against your own household noises. Kit sits on top of "sit." Bo sits on top of "no." A cat who cannot tell his name from a correction stops answering to either one.
Will It Still Be Funny in Five Years?
Reference names have a half-life. A name tied to something you watched last month can date badly. Two things protect against it:
- Pick from films at least twenty years old. They have already proven they last.
- Pick a name that works with no explanation. If a stranger hears Pyewacket and thinks it is charming without knowing the film, the name is doing its own work.
More Name Lists
- Names That Mean Cat — the word for cat in thirty-odd real languages.
- Cat Names That Start With C — if the letter is what matters.
- Top 100 Unique Male Cat Names — a numbered hundred with meanings.
- Strong Dog Names for Male Puppies — if there is a dog arriving too.
- 500 Girl Dog Names Unique Enough to Stand Out — twenty themed groups.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most famous movie cat name?
Jonesy from Alien and Cat from Breakfast at Tiffany's are the two most widely recognized, for very different reasons. Jonesy is the one people name real cats after most often, because it sounds like a cat, shortens to Jones, and carries a hard consonant that a cat can actually detect.
Are cat names from films different from cat names from movies?
No. They are two words for the same thing and the same search. This page covers both, and the list would be identical either way.
Should I pick a name that matches my cat's color?
It helps narrow things down fast. Black cats suit Lucifer, Jiji, Luna, Salem, Morticia, and Bagheera. Orange cats suit Jonesy, Garfield, Ulysses, Milo, Goose, and Puss. White cats suit Snowbell, Duchess, Marie, and Artemis. Gray cats suit Tom, Berlioz, and Duman.
Do cats actually learn their names?
Yes. Studies of domestic cats have found they can distinguish their own name from other similar-sounding words, including when a stranger says it. Whether he comes is a separate question and not a training failure.
Is a long film name like Mr. Bigglesworth a bad idea?
Only if you dislike the short version. Every long name collapses to a short one within about two weeks, so pick a long name whose nickname you would have chosen anyway. Mr. Bigglesworth becomes Biggie, Mistoffelees becomes Toff, and Richard Parker becomes Richard.
Can I rename an adult cat I just adopted?
Yes, and it is straightforward. Pair the new name with meals for two weeks, said once in a bright tone right before food appears. If the shelter name sounds similar, use both together for a few days and then drop the old one. Most cats respond to tone and timing more than to the word itself.
