What should we name our cat?

December 2, 2005 4:54 AM

NameMyCatFilter: So we are fostering a kitten that was rescued from a house in Mississippi destroyed by Katrina -- a situation that will likely become permanent, and now we are thinking about a name for the little guy. Constraints inside.

We'd like it to reference his background in some way, so something that suggests either the hurricane or Mississippi would be good (Storm and Biloxi have been suggested). Also, our other cats both have Irish-sounding names, so something that has an Irish feel would be an extra bonus. He's a tremendously cute, long-haired, orange polydactyl (extra toes) male who has a bit of a Maine Coon Cat look to him. Thanks!

posted by Rock Steady to Pets & Animals (55 answers total)

Too bad he's a boy cat. I wouldv'e named him Gale otherwise.

How about Chinook?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:02 AM on December 2, 2005

can't name an animal without pictures.
posted by NinjaPirate at 5:05 AM on December 2, 2005

My wife wants a cat. I said fine, as long as we can name it "Chinese food".

We currently have no cat.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:05 AM on December 2, 2005

(heh. "Mississippi Goddamn" is playing on my iTunes right now... both apropos and inappropriate at the same time.)

Does he cry? "Storm" made me think "Banshee", from old Marvel X-Men comics (yeah, a male banshee, go figure).
posted by GhostintheMachine at 5:08 AM on December 2, 2005

Clover

or Nutmeg.
posted by Frasermoo at 5:11 AM on December 2, 2005

Paddy O'Monsoon.
posted by Gator at 5:11 AM on December 2, 2005

However, here's a list of names of winds (although it doesn't include Keanu, so I don't know how comprehensive it is).

You could also call him Set, after the Egyptian god of storms, although I think he was also the god of evil, so maybe not.
posted by NinjaPirate at 5:12 AM on December 2, 2005

Kat.
posted by brautigan at 5:14 AM on December 2, 2005

Or for the Irish brogue, Catriona (Pronounced Ca-troyna)
posted by brautigan at 5:16 AM on December 2, 2005

From Irish mythology (and thus having nothing to do with Mississippi):
Amergin famously calmed a storm.
Manannan (Mac Lir) was pretty stormy. (modern fans)

Wildly inappropriate:
Fema.


On preview:
Set was definitely not a nice guy.
posted by fidelity at 5:27 AM on December 2, 2005

Give him a real name. Set, Kat, Paddy, Bob, all fine. Not an adjective or improper noun. What kind of dignity would you have if you were named Fluffy?
posted by The Michael The at 5:29 AM on December 2, 2005

And I really like Seamus.
posted by The Michael The at 5:29 AM on December 2, 2005

CATegory Five.
posted by Dr. Wu at 5:30 AM on December 2, 2005

According to this, the Gaelic word for "hurricane" is "hairicín," which according to this would be pronounced "hee-uh-ree-keen." Hairicín the Many-Toed!
posted by Gator at 5:31 AM on December 2, 2005

Oops, that's not right. It would actually be har-ee-keen. My bad, sorry.
posted by Gator at 5:33 AM on December 2, 2005

Tsunami?
Monsoon?
Tempest? (Too bad he's male, I like that one.)
posted by mike9322 at 5:35 AM on December 2, 2005

o'dog
posted by andrew cooke at 5:37 AM on December 2, 2005

Thought of some more:

Squall?
Triton?
Nechtan? (Irish water god)
Zephyr?
posted by mike9322 at 5:44 AM on December 2, 2005

Flash (flood)

Though I like Cat 5 the best.
posted by bonehead at 5:50 AM on December 2, 2005

Lucky.
posted by Fat Guy at 5:55 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]

Antoine, Emeril, Brigsten*, Tasso, Gautreau, Dookychase*, Arnaud, Brennan*, Broussard, Galatoire, Casamento, Sazerac, Patout**, Du Monde, Pascale. All these names come from New Orleans restaurants or food items.

_{* sounds irish
** unbearably cute}
posted by cior at 6:02 AM on December 2, 2005

The state dog of Lousiana is the Catahoula. That might be a fun name for a cat.
posted by miss tea at 6:51 AM on December 2, 2005

My daughter (anime fan) wants to get a new cat and dog just to name them...

Cat would be called Dioge (d-o-g)
Dog is Seeate (c-a-t)

Yeah, dosen't help your quest, but I thought it was cute.
posted by keep it tight at 7:00 AM on December 2, 2005

Windy
Swimmer
Noah
posted by penguin pie at 7:02 AM on December 2, 2005

Bourbon Blues
Colonel Tom
Dixie
(All from New Orleans is Sinking)

Theas is (maybe? languagehat?) South in Gaelic.
posted by fionab at 7:04 AM on December 2, 2005

The only cat names that matter are Mbobo or Boki. That is all.
posted by WinnipegDragon at 7:07 AM on December 2, 2005

another vote for cat 5.
posted by lester at 7:19 AM on December 2, 2005

Beignet.
posted by grabbingsand at 7:31 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]

(And I know ... beignets are a NOLA thing, but come on ... it would be an awesome cat name.)
posted by grabbingsand at 7:31 AM on December 2, 2005

Puddle
posted by biffa at 7:33 AM on December 2, 2005

Levee!
posted by LarryC at 7:33 AM on December 2, 2005

"Cat 5" as the full name, but simply "5" for short.

Or "Kanye".

/ George Bush does not care about orange kitties.
posted by LordSludge at 7:41 AM on December 2, 2005

* Cat 5
* Cataract (meaning a great downpour, a deluge, a flood)
* Typhoon
* Shirk
posted by mumeishi at 7:51 AM on December 2, 2005

MS celebrity names:

Clower
Faulkner
Elvis
B. B.

MS place names:

Toomsuba
Pascagoula
Ittabena
Yazoo
Chunky
Jackson
posted by Pollomacho at 8:00 AM on December 2, 2005

Flotsam
posted by klarck at 8:04 AM on December 2, 2005

Theas is (maybe? languagehat?) South in Gaelic.

I got this one. Theas is an adjective, and glosses to south in the sense of "in the south," versus aneas "from the south."

If you want the noun "South," you want deisceart.
posted by The Michael The at 8:15 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]

Not Irish, but how about Noah . . . because he survived the flood.

/rimshot
posted by MasonDixon at 8:25 AM on December 2, 2005

Elvis was born in Mississippi and, according to a close friend who is Irish, the Irish are quite wild about him. His middle name was Aaron, if you don't want to be so obvious about it. He also had a twin brother who didn't make it named Jesse Garon.

Or you could name him after a Faulkner character, like Quentin (would be especially fitting if he turns out to be neurotic).

I have a polydactyl kitten too. His paws are just so enormous, like little baseball mitts, so we named him Cal. (Not to mention I am very fond of Calvin Trillin too.)
posted by Sully6 at 8:40 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]

Guinness
posted by Frasermoo at 8:41 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]

Ooooh, how about a name derived from Yoknapatawpha?

(Or name him that officially and torture your vets when you book an appointment.)
posted by Sully6 at 8:45 AM on December 2, 2005

Brownie
heckuva
posted by TimeFactor at 9:03 AM on December 2, 2005

Welty--for Eudora.
posted by brujita at 9:35 AM on December 2, 2005

Or something from her stories; Shiftlet and Rondo are the only ones I can think of right now.
posted by brujita at 9:37 AM on December 2, 2005

"Brennan* (*sounds Irish)"

Is Irish. Is my name. Is not a cat's name. Is not a first name. (Grumpy: need lunch.)

Cat 5 is great. Cat 6 might work too given the aberrant nature of the little blighter's tootsies. Can we see a pic? Can we know what you decided?
posted by firstdrop at 1:30 PM on December 2, 2005

How about Louis? Not only does this reference St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, but legend has it that Maine Coons are descended from the cats that Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette sent ahead to the states before trying (and failing) to leave the country.
posted by ilsa at 2:00 PM on December 2, 2005

Rainkat.
posted by Pigpen at 2:13 PM on December 2, 2005

seaweed
posted by hermitosis at 2:28 PM on December 2, 2005

The way I see it, you could go two ways:
- faux-erudite: Zeph — ya gotcher Biblical (Zephaniah), nickname (Jozef), geek (Zephraim Cochrane), and finally, meteorological (zephyr) allusions; or
- faux-Latino: Poncho
posted by rob511 at 3:11 PM on December 2, 2005

Alcee (pronounced AL-say) from The Awakening, and a short story called "The Storm", written by Kate Chopin, and set in Louisiana.
posted by Lycaste at 5:07 PM on December 2, 2005

Katrino.
posted by IndigoRain at 6:10 PM on December 2, 2005

Delta?
Gumbo?
Baton Rouge? (Orange being the redheads of the cat world!)

Too bad it's not a female , or you could go with Mrs.Sippy

But dammit, Cat 5 is brilliant.
posted by platinum at 9:40 PM on December 2, 2005

Professor Longhair (after the New Orleans bluesman). Er... maybe a Mississippi name instead: Hound Dog Taylor? Muddy Waters?
(Though Fema and Cat 5 are great.)
posted by booth at 7:07 AM on December 3, 2005

Gusty?
posted by sophie at 5:47 PM on December 3, 2005

I would suggest that your young cat will let you know what it's name is soon enough. Remember, we don't choose cats, cats choose us :)
posted by Arqa at 11:03 AM on December 8, 2005

So, what was it??
posted by fionab at 7:54 PM on December 14, 2005