Because shmoopybooplesnoogywiggums is too long

April 29, 2014 4:32 AM

I have finally managed to talk my husband into getting a cat and here she is! She's about 1.5 years old, really affectionate, but not really the frisky type. She came with the name Skye but that's a bit too "stripper" for our tastes. She's been with us for a week and seems to be settling in ok and now that I've taken her to the vet's to be spayed, it's time we made her a permanent member of the family with a proper name. Previous AskMes show that you guys are really good at this and husband and I are terrible, so please hope us!
posted by like_neon to Pets & Animals (70 answers total)

Response by poster: Oh and we don't really have many requirements - husband wants to avoid anything too girly and I tend to like two-syllable things.
posted by like_neon at 4:34 AM on April 29, 2014

She's gorgeous!

I offer to you: Bailey.
posted by billiebee at 4:38 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Catrin. (Because a long long time ago, oh about 43 years ago, I knew a kitty who was about as beautiful as that one (and looked a lot alike), and a very good friend of mine. She's been gone now for most of my life, but I'll never forget her.)

But I tend to think shmoopybooplesnoogywiggums is actually just fine, and would naturally abbreviate itself in time to the boopster, or wigwig, or whatever Catrin liked best.
posted by b33j at 4:42 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Oh she is a pretty girl. I like Stella or Rosemary
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 4:43 AM on April 29, 2014

The Duchess.
posted by Etrigan at 4:44 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Looks like a Kate to me.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 4:50 AM on April 29, 2014

My boys wanted to call our new, dainty little female kitten "ninja". We settled on "Neko", a Japanese word for cat, since that's what a ninja would call a cat.
posted by beccaj at 4:53 AM on April 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

Meeko
Penny
Lulu
Basil
She's a cutie!
posted by MayNicholas at 4:58 AM on April 29, 2014

Gladys or Audrey... the look in the last photo really shows the cat's personality and neck line.
posted by Nanukthedog at 5:04 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Mimi
posted by travelwithcats at 5:07 AM on April 29, 2014

Katina.
posted by kuanes at 5:13 AM on April 29, 2014

Skye isn't stripper-y, it's an island in Scotland. But she doesn't look like a Skye, so:
Fiona
posted by smalls at 5:18 AM on April 29, 2014 [3 favorites]

Rosie.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:19 AM on April 29, 2014

Clover
Pippa
Tessie
posted by Salamander at 5:21 AM on April 29, 2014

"Na-bi," the Korean word for butterfly, is the classic Korean name for cats.
posted by needled at 5:23 AM on April 29, 2014 [4 favorites]

Riffing off the Scotland theme:

Thistle
Ness
Haggis
Heather
Lorna Doone
posted by jquinby at 5:27 AM on April 29, 2014

Best answer: She looks like a "Molly" to me.
posted by Johnny Assay at 5:29 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

She looks like the name my Gwen had when she came home from the shelter. I wish I'd kept it, tbh, but maybe you're fluffball would enjoy being called Tagi.
posted by absquatulate at 5:35 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

I secretly think renaming things is asking for bad luck, so I'd probably just twist her existing name to suit: like "Skype" or "Kai" or something Skye-ISH. But I'm weird that way.
posted by nkknkk at 5:37 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Biscuit.
posted by Shepherd at 5:38 AM on April 29, 2014 [3 favorites]

Is she a chirpy kitty? Because those bright eyes and those two perky head poses definitely say "chirpy". If yes, I suggest Causette, pronounced the same as Cosette. The French verb causer means "to chat/talk". If she was an orphaned/adopted/abandoned kitty, all the better :) It is a bit girly though...
posted by fraula at 5:38 AM on April 29, 2014

Sally is what popped into my head when I looked at her. If that's too girly, maybe Sully?

Cute cat, congrats!
posted by Fig at 5:39 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

She's an Alexandrea (Alex for short) if I ever saw one.
posted by royalsong at 5:43 AM on April 29, 2014

If she presently listens to her name (some cats do) then I wouldn't want to change it too much. She is old enough not to get used to a new name quickly. So if that is the case, maybe you can change the name a bit but keep the sound pretty much the same?
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:45 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Bug? Holly? Rosie?
posted by three_red_balloons at 5:55 AM on April 29, 2014

Thistle
Tessie

These or Tanai. First thing I thought when I saw the pictures, that cat's name starts with a T.
posted by cashman at 6:12 AM on April 29, 2014

Steve. Or Yakima.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:16 AM on April 29, 2014

When we found a cat in Canada last summer and took her home, my wife and son vetoed my suggestion of "Poutine", so I am going to go ahead and offer that in every cat naming thread from here on out because it's an awesome name for a cat and I won't rest until there is a cat somewhere named Poutine.

Plus, your cat sort of looks like our Iris (The Cat That Should Be Named Poutine), with the three colors (white, black, grey) representing the three primary ingredients in Poutine.

Poutine.
posted by bondcliff at 6:16 AM on April 29, 2014 [6 favorites]

What about Skylar?
posted by katypickle at 6:20 AM on April 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

She looks like a Pinky Pye to me (after the cat in the Eleanor Estes books).
posted by coppermoss at 6:23 AM on April 29, 2014

That's Mabel.
posted by theweasel at 6:30 AM on April 29, 2014

Her name is Gracie.
posted by MexicanYenta at 6:30 AM on April 29, 2014

Piper.
posted by jshort at 6:34 AM on April 29, 2014

Iris, so old fashioned but tragically hip.
posted by waving at 6:34 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

"Teuchter" - lowland Scots derogatory term for a highlander - such as one from Skye.

Or for something more similar then maybe "Aye" - meaning "Yes".
posted by rongorongo at 6:35 AM on April 29, 2014

I prefer names that suggest the detective protagonists of eighties children's books.

Encyclopedia.
Harriet.
McGurk.
posted by Lieber Frau at 6:37 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Based on the "affectionate" you use to describe it, the Chinese "Baobei" (probably rhymes with "Mao Bay") could fit the cat.
posted by KMB at 6:44 AM on April 29, 2014

Best answer: I also think she's a Molly, and then you get to call her Mollywobbles! Win win all around.
posted by Hermione Granger at 6:45 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

I think if she answers to the name "Skye" you should continue to call her by that name.

You can imagine how we felt when we discovered that our cat's given name was "Fluff", but we had to honour that.

The only time we've knowingly accepted a name change was with our latest cat, but he still visits his family home quite often and has people calling him by his original name there. So we're not taking that away from him.
posted by tel3path at 6:54 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Throatwarblermangrove
posted by Rob Rockets at 7:03 AM on April 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

Seconding Biscuit because a cat named Biscuit in my mind is quiet and shy and terribly cute.
posted by Kitteh at 7:07 AM on April 29, 2014

Babette.
posted by Kabanos at 7:11 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Tanya.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 7:11 AM on April 29, 2014

Without looking at any answers, I thought "Rosie."
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 7:23 AM on April 29, 2014

Mira/Mila
Mishka

She's adorable!
posted by rhythm and booze at 7:24 AM on April 29, 2014

Poppet.
posted by travellingincognito at 7:24 AM on April 29, 2014

Chairman Meow
Meowgret Thatcher.
Catillac
Purrsephones
Pounce De Leon
Caterina DeWitt
Cat Stevens
Hillary Kitten
Cleocatra
Catnip Everdeen
Cindy Clawford
Jennipurr Aniston
Meowly Cyrus
posted by swashedbuckles at 7:29 AM on April 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

I named the local stray that we feed "Bob".

Because of that, I am seconding the suggestion of Steve.
posted by Thistledown at 7:35 AM on April 29, 2014

=( My name is Skye.

Just kidding. Not really a stripper name though.

Rover
PingPong
Bandit
Hambone
Soupy
Parcel
Tibbs
posted by mermily at 7:49 AM on April 29, 2014

Skye is actually a pretty grand place - I urge you to reconsider.

She looks very intelligent!

Beatrice?
Elizabeth?
Soraya?
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 8:08 AM on April 29, 2014

Kai is nice and has the advantage of sounding like Skye.

Or Schuyler, but not Skylar or Skyler.
posted by jgirl at 8:12 AM on April 29, 2014

Best answer: She is beautiful! I sort of want her to be called Ludmila. Or Luna.

Olga
Nella
Molly
Phoebe
posted by lwb at 8:43 AM on April 29, 2014

I second Skylar. She looks like a Skylar to me.
posted by fingersandtoes at 8:49 AM on April 29, 2014

The third picture is a bit like

Fluffygollum
posted by Namlit at 8:57 AM on April 29, 2014

Popping in with one more M name -- Mina.
posted by rhythm and booze at 9:13 AM on April 29, 2014

Oh, man did you deliver on the kitty pictures. Sleepy kitty killed me with cuteness.

Skywalker? I agree with keeping her name similar at 1.5 years old. But you can call her all kinds of silly names, like Skywriter, and Skycaptain, and... Pie in the Sky.

Plus you can troll the people who say "You must really like Star Wars!" by pretending you've never heard of it. Heh.
posted by polly_dactyl at 9:26 AM on April 29, 2014

Elizabeth --> Lillibet --> Lilla

That's the gosh-darned queen of England right there....
posted by ersatzkat at 9:47 AM on April 29, 2014

That kitty is most definitely Norma Ethel
posted by lois1950 at 9:48 AM on April 29, 2014

+1 for Hillary Kitten.

However, if you still need suggestions:

Scully
Regina
George
Skynet (if you want to keep her name similar?)
Boggle
Bucket
posted by inertia at 10:11 AM on April 29, 2014

Best answer: She looks like a Molly or a Polly to me.
posted by jabes at 10:28 AM on April 29, 2014

We have adopted many animals and I tell my kids, if you love someone, you love them the way they are, including the name. I vote for Skye.
posted by brownrd at 10:40 AM on April 29, 2014

Peeper.
posted by vrakatar at 10:46 AM on April 29, 2014

I guess "Stripeh" is a bit yesterday.
posted by Namlit at 11:22 AM on April 29, 2014

Maggie
Peggy
Celerity
posted by annsunny at 11:34 AM on April 29, 2014

Lily
posted by harrietthespy at 12:14 PM on April 29, 2014

Nora
posted by Sal and Richard at 12:18 PM on April 29, 2014

Maude
Millie
Agnes
Edna
Bernadette
posted by futz at 12:27 PM on April 29, 2014

Response by poster: Thank you all so much! We tried a few different names, like actually calling some of them out at her, and she came around the corner with "Molly" so there you go! Skye was in that test as some of you made compelling points about that but well, the cat has spoken and she is now dubbed Molly.
Additional honourable mentions go to Na-bi (I'm Korean) and Neko.
AskMe comes through again!
posted by like_neon at 1:26 PM on April 29, 2014 [3 favorites]

Molly de Cat.

She's adorable.
posted by mule98J at 7:02 PM on April 29, 2014

Meow meow, Miss Molly!
posted by Hermione Granger at 11:10 AM on April 30, 2014