If you had to name a cat...

[barnwife]

We have unexpectedly added a cat to our family. He is a dark gray shorthair. His tail is striped, but it's easy to miss. He is very social, and loves everyone. About the only thing he doesn't seem to like so far is our toddler screeching at him. Which, TBH, I don't love either. He is 4 years old.

But, we are having trouble agreeing on a name. He was a stray when he arrived at the shelter, and he wasn't there long. So we don't feel the need to stick with their name.

So what would you choose?

Also, if he appeared to be just chilling next to one of the litter boxes a lot, would you move the box? Add a bed there? I can't figure out why that seems to be a good napping location for him.

[Brittany1116]

Litter boxes are comforting in transition. That will stop.

I voted Samson. Our grey males are Harvey and Oscar.

[Pippen]

If he's found a confortable place, I'd just let him chill.

I'd have the person who was going to do the most caretaking choose from the list of names. 

 

[Drama Llama]

I like old man names for cats so I am going to add Silas to the list.  

[Scarlett]

I vote Moses. I have wanted a cat named Moses for years.  
 

Of the three listed I like Samson best.,

[Elizabeth86]

I like Smokey, but my Smokey was a girl so that won't work. I'd say Samson from your list.

[MEmama]

We've had our kitties for 4 and 3 years now, I think. They still don’t have names. I envy people who come up with awesome names for their cats, somehow we’ve never found any that feel right.

Good luck!

[Amethyst]

Shadow if it’s black. 
Smokey if it’s brown. 
Samson if it’s big. 
(If the three names, I actually prefer Samson)

ETA: oops, just read your post. It’s neither black nor brown, so I’m gonna go with Samson. 

Edited July 5, 2022 by Amethyst

[happi duck]

Vote Smokey! *waddles by with a sign on a stick*

Our cat names always end up with a middle name and some silliness attached.  Smokey immediately ticked those boxes.  Holy Smokey!  St. Smokey.  Smokey Joe.  Smokey Cat says "only you can prevent empty food bowls".

[Catwoman]

5 minutes ago, happi duck said:

Vote Smokey! *waddles by with a sign on a stick*

Our cat names always end up with a middle name and some silliness attached.  Smokey immediately ticked those boxes.  Holy Smokey!  St. Smokey.  Smokey Joe.  Smokey Cat says "only you can prevent empty food bowls".

Another vote for Smokey -- and we do the middle names, too! 😃 Or sometimes we just get overly dramatic, like we did with Sir Cedric the Chickenhearted, who grew up to be quite gigantic and to fear absolutely nothing, so we just called him Mr Cat after that. (He's the one in my avatar.)

[Moonhawk]

I love Samson but seems like a name for a long haired cat. Went with Shadow.

[theelfqueen]

Smokey but with the requirement that it be Smokey Cat like Smokey Bear. 

[barnwife]

21 minutes ago, theelfqueen said:

Smokey but with the requirement that it be Smokey Cat like Smokey Bear. 

On one hand, I like Smokey (and it's what the shelter called him). OTOH, it seems a little "I couldn't come up with another name" type name for a very dark gray cat. It clearly gets the vote of 2 of our kids. 

But...but my dad sometimes played Smokey Bear for his job(and you're right, it's Smokey Bear, not Smokey the Bear) as part of his job. And remembering my dad doing that makes me smile (RIP Dad). Also, DH is a volunteer firefighter. So yes, it would often be "Smokey Cat."

Yet, I also want Samson. I really wanted to name a son Samuel, but that's a no go for DH. So if I'm ever going to get to use Sam, this is it. One kid wants Samson. Another wants Shadow. And who knows what the toddler wants.

So here we are, asking random internet people their opinions. After all, if this isn't a good use of people's time on the internet, what is?

 

[KrissiK]

I voted Shadow, just because I like that name for a cat. Like cats, shadows are kind of mysterious, they come and go. We got a new cat recently. She just arrived and stayed. We think her people moved because she has a collar and she's very friendly. She has two names - my youngest named her Pixie Stick and DH named her Beatrice.

[Dmmetler]

Our dark grey cat is Anery, for Anerystic (meaning "lacking red pigment"-it's a term used in reptile/amphibian morphs). We joke that she's our shadow cat or ghost cat because she is often invisible (she's an anxious little thing). 

 

 

 

 

[happi duck]

Maybe some shelters just plop standard names on the tags but the couple shelters where I've known employees well really loved picking names.  Smokey Cat has so many nice connections.

PS I know I sound super invested but I'll probably survive if you go with one of the lesser choices 😜

[Teachaheart]

What about Smokey Sam?

[Spy Car]

Samson is hard to say (for me anyway). A "p" desperately wants to slip in there.

And a short-haired "Samson???"

Have you read the story? Betrayed and then blinded and with a bad ending? I dunno man.

Smokey is fun to say. A name that picks up every nuance, from high-pitched innocence to growly salaciousness.

My vote is for Smokey!

Bill

 

[happi duck]

Team Smokey is picking up steam.  Rock the vote!

[TechWife]

Well, my next two cats will be Button and Snap. The two following will be Flip and Tumble. So, really, I’m I help at all. Enjoy your new kitty! 

[Kanin]

2 hours ago, MEmama said:

We've had our kitties for 4 and 3 years now, I think. They still don’t have names. I envy people who come up with awesome names for their cats, somehow we’ve never found any that feel right.

Good luck!

Whoa whoa whoa.... Separate naming thread needed! 😺

[Terabith]

2 hours ago, MEmama said:

We've had our kitties for 4 and 3 years now, I think. They still don’t have names. I envy people who come up with awesome names for their cats, somehow we’ve never found any that feel right.

Good luck!

I think Catsheput would be a great name for a cat.  

[gardenmom5]

I like Smokey.   Makes me think of a smokey gray Russian Blue.

 

we do longer names too.  

The cat is Arcturus Bootes - with a very long list of titles.  and yes, he gets called kitty a lot.  He's also pretty bossy.

Dd's 1st dog is Cedar - until 2ds made it Cedar Augustus.  (which is appropriate as 1dd's a classics major.)

[stephanier.1765]

Is the litter box on a hard floor? Is most of the house carpeted? One of our cats likes to lay near her box, I think, because it's on a hard floor. A hard floor is nice and cool for someone covered in fur. 

I voted Samson, We had a Simon (another option) who was the best cat EVER.

[iamonlyone]

I voted Shadow, but I do like nicknames for the other two: Sam or Mo/Mokey.

[Storygirl]

I vote Samson, because I had a gray cat named Samson. We always called him Sammy, though.

[Selkie]

I have a horse named Smokey and call him lots of silly things like Smokey Mocha Artichoka and Smokey Pokey.🙂

I have a soft spot for Samson, too, because we had a much beloved big yellow lab named that.

[Selkie]

4 hours ago, MEmama said:

We've had our kitties for 4 and 3 years now, I think. They still don’t have names. I envy people who come up with awesome names for their cats, somehow we’ve never found any that feel right.

Good luck!

Wow, I would have a hard time conversing with my animals without names. Do you call them anything? And do they have a name on their vet records, or are they Kitty 1 and Kitty 2? (Sorry for being so nosy - I'm just curious because I've never known anyone who didn't name their cats!) 

[barnwife]

1 hour ago, stephanier.1765 said:

Is the litter box on a hard floor? Is most of the house carpeted? One of our cats likes to lay near her box, I think, because it's on a hard floor. A hard floor is nice and cool for someone covered in fur. 

I voted Samson, We had a Simon (another option) who was the best cat EVER.

Our whole house is tile, so he could lay anywhere and get that same effect. I think I am going to just leave the litter box, since he doesn't seem bothered by being right next to it.

I refuse to add Simon as an option. Not because it's not good name; rather, it's just the opposite. It's a great name! However, the person named Simon in this house would object. 

I am sorry to tell you that your Simon, while wonderful I am sure, could not have been the best cat ever. I am sure that our recently passed Bella, and this unnamed cat would tie for the Best Cat Ever title. 

[Dmmetler]

20 minutes ago, Selkie said:

Wow, I would have a hard time conversing with my animals without names. Do you call them anything? And do they have a name on their vet records, or are they Kitty 1 and Kitty 2? (Sorry for being so nosy - I'm just curious because I've never known anyone who didn't name their cats!) 

Well, Anery and Mamba were on the vet's records as "baby cat" and "mama cat" for about 2 yewrs before a tech commented that "ohl we should change that", because their first vet visit was after we'd finally caught them, and hadn't named them yet. 

[AbcdeDooDah]

I like Smudge for a dark grey cat.🐈‍⬛

[Farrar]

4 hours ago, Scarlett said:

I vote Moses. I have wanted a cat named Moses for years.  
 

Of the three listed I like Samson best.,

My mother had a cat named Moses. He was originally named Mephistopheles because he was an evil demon cat. And then the shelter tried to be like, no, this cat is holy. He is Biblical. So they redubbed him Moses. For the entire time my mother housed him ("owned" is too generous for that thing), he lived only in her room and refused to leave. He hissed at anyone who was not my mother. If you went in there without her, he would dart from below the bed hissing and try to bite you.

[KungFuPanda]

I’m stuck wondering why @Amethyst has brown smoke and not gray like the rest of us. 
I once named a cat Rover so I’m not qualified to vote. I’m just busting in with random, unhelpful commentary. 😬

[SHP]

I Would go with His Royal Highness and skip the phase where everyone pretends that humans own the cat.

 

[HS Mom in NC]

I like shadow and I'm prone to excess when naming pets, so I would go with something that emphasizes synonyms like

Sir Shadow Penumbra of Gloaming
Murky Gloom of Meowington
Shady Haze Fuzzington
Phantom Menace


Or maybe more character inspired like Gandalf the Grey (The Lord of the Rings), Sergeant Tibbs (grey cat from 101 Dalmations), Greystoke (Tarzan).

 

[KungFuPanda]

10 minutes ago, SHP said:

I Would go with His Royal Highness and skip the phase where everyone pretends that humans own the cat.

 

Or skip the name entirely because it never gets used and go straight to the nickname. Mr. Baby it is. 

[Alicia64]

I don't mean to be annoying, but I collect names so that I'll have something I like when the time comes to getting a new fur-kid.

These are my boy names:

Pilot

Scrumptious!

Precious

Maple -- like syrup.

Darling

Truffle

Tripp

I plan to give my next fur ball a double name like, Darling Tripp. (I have to admit my girl names are cuter.) I just think it's fun when you go to the vet to have a very different name from the average. That said, our current kitty is Max. 🙃

One of my kids wanted Dragon and I sooo wish we had gone with that!.

I know, this whole thing makes me weird.

 

[Amethyst]

29 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

I’m stuck wondering why @Amethyst has brown smoke and not gray like the rest of us. 
I once named a cat Rover so I’m not qualified to vote. I’m just busting in with random, unhelpful commentary. 😬

Hunh. Yeah, I guess you’re right that smoke is gray. But I guess Smokey the Bear is brown (isn’t he?). I think that’s what I was thinking. 

[barnwife]

25 minutes ago, Amethyst said:

Hunh. Yeah, I guess you’re right that smoke is gray. But I guess Smokey the Bear is brown (isn’t he?). I think that’s what I was thinking. 

Well, you are sort of right. Smokey Bear is, in fact, brown. However, as my dad often said, he doesn't have a middle name, and if he were to have one, "the" would be terrible. 

That's my PSA for the day. 

Also, it's okay to be a rebel. A brown Smokey Cat? Why not? But now I am guessing you do other rebellious things, like refuse to return shopping carts or change the dinner menu at the last minute. But embrace your inner rebel, I say!

[Jean in Newcastle]

6 minutes ago, barnwife said:

Well, you are sort of right. Smokey Bear is, in fact, brown. However, as my dad often said, he doesn't have a middle name, and if he were to have one, "the" would be terrible. 

That's my PSA for the day. 

Also, it's okay to be a rebel. A brown Smokey Cat? Why not? But now I am guessing you do other rebellious things, like refuse to return shopping carts or change the dinner menu at the last minute. But embrace your inner rebel, I say!

I had a white cat named Paprika. How’s that for being a rebel?  

[Elizabeth86]

5 hours ago, barnwife said:

On one hand, I like Smokey (and it's what the shelter called him). OTOH, it seems a little "I couldn't come up with another name" type name for a very dark gray cat. It clearly gets the vote of 2 of our kids. 

But...but my dad sometimes played Smokey Bear for his job(and you're right, it's Smokey Bear, not Smokey the Bear) as part of his job. And remembering my dad doing that makes me smile (RIP Dad). Also, DH is a volunteer firefighter. So yes, it would often be "Smokey Cat."

Yet, I also want Samson. I really wanted to name a son Samuel, but that's a no go for DH. So if I'm ever going to get to use Sam, this is it. One kid wants Samson. Another wants Shadow. And who knows what the toddler wants.

So here we are, asking random internet people their opinions. After all, if this isn't a good use of people's time on the internet, what is?

 

When we decide pet names we put the names in a hat and draw one!

[Elizabeth86]

43 minutes ago, Alicia64 said:

I don't mean to be annoying, but I collect names so that I'll have something I like when the time comes to getting a new fur-kid.

These are my boy names:

Pilot

Scrumptious!

Precious

Maple -- like syrup.

Darling

Truffle

Tripp

I plan to give my next fur ball a double name like, Darling Tripp. (I have to admit my girl names are cuter.) I just think it's fun when you go to the vet to have a very different name from the average. That said, our current kitty is Max. 🙃

One of my kids wanted Dragon and I sooo wish we had gone with that!.

I know, this whole thing makes me weird.

 

We have a dog named Maple, but she's a girl.

[happi duck]

My childhood cat was named Dawg

[happi duck]

So when do the polls close?

Have I won yet?  Oops, I mean has Smokey won yet? 😜

[Resilient]

Ours was a stray. We were doing Latin at the time and I suggested Piteous Kittyous the Roamin’ Cat.  But that’s not what she got called.  

[barnwife]

4 minutes ago, happi duck said:

So when do the polls close?

Have I won yet?  Oops, I mean has Smokey won yet? 😜

Technically, the polls have half-closed. I decided to allow the kid who was mostly in charge of our last cat to choose one name for kitty. Therefore, kitty's first name is...drum roll....Smokey!

The 2 children who didn't want Smokey are hashing out a middle name. 

[Shoeless]

I usually live with the cat for awhile before naming. If you listen carefully, they will tell you their name 😉

[Amethyst]

51 minutes ago, barnwife said:

 

Also, it's okay to be a rebel. A brown Smokey Cat? Why not? But now I am guessing you do other rebellious things, like refuse to return shopping carts or change the dinner menu at the last minute. But embrace your inner rebel, I say!

Well…I have been known to leave my car window rolled down while stopped at a traffic light and music is playing loudly!

[happi duck]

33 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

I usually live with the cat for awhile before naming. If you listen carefully, they will tell you their name 😉

Same!!

[happi duck]

35 minutes ago, barnwife said:

Technically, the polls have half-closed. I decided to allow the kid who was mostly in charge of our last cat to choose one name for kitty. Therefore, kitty's first name is...drum roll....Smokey!

The 2 children who didn't want Smokey are hashing out a middle name. 

Smoke-ey!  Smoke-ey!  *waddles around wildly while chanting*