Stray Cats: Name Ideas for Stray or Rescued Cats

Stray Cats: Name Ideas for Stray or Rescued Cats

By: Dr. Debra Primovic

Are you looking for that perfect cat name that just fits your kitty? Naming a cat can be difficult. One way many pet owners do it is to look for a name that goes with your cat's personality, physical characteristic or maybe how you found him or her? For example, is your kitty a stray that you found?

Here are some names ideas for cats that are known to be strays or rescued kitties. Many strays are named for the street where they were found or the community where they were found. For example, I know a kitty named "Main Street" and another cat named "Belmont" because he was found wandering in "Belmont County". Another common way is by the day of the week that you found the cat – I know a cat named "Tuesday" that was found on a Tuesday.



I hope this list gives you some ideas or helps you find the perfect name for your cat!

Do you have any suggestions for additional traits or cat names? Email us your cat name ideas and we will try to add them to our cat name list!

Stray or Rescued Kitty Names

  • Abby, which was short for Abandoned Kitty.
  • Alley (found in an alley)
  • Attitude: Atti-cat
  • Natasha
  • Angel
  • Berm (found by the side of the road)
  • Bones (skin and bones when they found him)
  • Buddy
  • Bum
  • Bumper
  • Cat Yeta - for yet-a-nother cat!
  • Cantmandu (for the city)
  • CDC (for my co-dependent cat – he is always at my side)
  • Chance (you took a chance on each other, or you have him a second chance at life)
  • Clinger – they way they stick to you
  • Caymen – he just "came in"
  • Diamond (a precious find)
  • DC – (darn cat)
  • Dumped (he was Dumped and we took him in)
  • Dreamer
  • Eponine- after a character, a homeless girl, in "Les Miserables"
  • Fleabag – found with fleas
  • FIONA CAT- If ya own a cat...ya may as well own 10.
  • Fightclub – took in a cat that had been in a fight and wounded
  • Found (pair of kittens were named Lost and Found!)
  • Foster (for foster child)
  • Gem
  • Gimpy – found limping
  • Glory
  • Gulliver ...And yes, Gulliver did travel...
  • Gypsy
  • Happy
  • Hazard
  • Heaven (you found a little piece of Heaven)
  • Heidi – used on cat that was scared and "hiding"
  • Hideaway
  • HodgePodge
  • Hobo
  • Houdini. He would disappear but always wanted to be found.
  • Hope – for a pet given home for a second chance
  • Hoover – the stray would eat anything
  • Gem (found a real gem!)
  • Impulse
  • Indira
  • Ivy (she "grew on me")
  • Jackpot – cat hit the jackpot when he found this home
  • Jesse - It means gift and he truly named for a cat that was a gift from God
  • Je t'aime. This is actually French for "I love you".
  • Journey (Cat was on a journey that led to you...or vise versa)
  • Karma
  • Kabootle
  • Keeper
  • Kitty Cat
  • Kit Cat
  • LOST
  • Lotus
  • Lottie (found in a parking lot)
  • "Mo," as in One Mo' Kitty!
  • Noname
  • NONA (no name for a cat that didn't have a name)
  • Tenshu- 'little thief' – for a stray that kept eating all the outside cat food until the bowl was empty
  • Lechat (pronounced le sha) French for The Cat
  • Lucky
  • Main Street - found on Main Street
  • Malachi meaning a special messenger from God
  • Tunji- American Indian Miwok- Means "cat"
  • Maybe – maybe she will make it and maybe I'll keep her
  • Margarita ( just like tequila bottles have a worm in the bottle, she had a worm in her neck when she showed up)
  • "Mo," as in One Mo' Kitty!
  • Miss Kittie
  • Mystakat he was a mystery cat
  • Oops
  • Omi - (pronounced: "oh-mee")
  • Paycheck – started costing us our paycheck J
  • Pest
  • Palomine, for Pal of Mine
  • Mr. Purrsuasive -"Purrs" or "Mr. P" for short!
  • Pooka means good luck charm
  • Poser who posed as a resident long enough to fall in love with
  • Random
  • Reiki - in Japanese means "spiritually guided life force energy" practiced by reiki masters who lay their hands upon the sick or injured to heal.
  • Pickles (was in a "pickle" when found
  • Podunk -found out in the middle of nowhere
  • Retread - found in an old tire along the road
  • Riffraf
  • Riley – now the cat is lving the Life of Riley
  • Romeo - for a cat that was roaming around and seems to be a real lover!
  • Rokkie! For the new kid on the block
  • Reuben, which is Hebrew for "He has seen my misery."
  • Ruckus (he created a Ruckus when we brought him home)
  • Secret
  • Scram
  • Scampy
  • Stitch
  • Solo (she is very much a loner amongst the rest of the cats)
  • Snafu
  • Stray Kitty
  • Sticky - cat stuck to us and sort of "chose" us
  • Stucker - I named one of our kittens "Stucker" after he got stuck up a tree, then stuck in my car, then stuck in the neighbor's garage overnight. And he stuck to us.
  • Sweetie
  • TC – that cat. We called him that cat so long we named him TC when we adopted him
  • Treasure – a real find
  • Tramp
  • Tuesday - Kitty found on that day of the week
  • Turnup – for a cat that just "turned up"
  • Vader -short for "Invader"
  • Velcro (he sticks with you)
  • Yonchi- means Lucky in Chinese (he's a rescued formally feral cat)
  • WN WN - pronounced one one – waste not/want not


    Doesn't matter how or what you would like to name your cat, we have the perfect name for you. Are you looking for a cat name to go with personality traits such as independent cats, playful cats, funny cats, cute or beautiful cats, loving cats, sweet cats, big cats or cats with big personalities, small cats, smart cats, not so smart cats, ornery cats, or talkative cats?

    Or are you looking for a name your cat based on his hair coat color or type such as he is white, brown, orange or red, grey, black, black and white, tabby, calico or a fluffy cat. Check out the links associated with any of those words and your get our list! We have the perfect name for your cat!

    Here is even a list of over 1200 common pet names. Or maybe you just want to look for an unusual names. How about cool cat names? We have tons of those!

    Do you want to know what the most common cat names mean? Learn about the "meaning" behind common Male cat names and Female cat names.


    Do you have a name suggestion? Email Us!

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