You’ve just brought home a new kitten and it’s time to pick a name. Some people know a name, even before they get the cat. They had a beloved pet die with the same name or they heard a name sometime and thought it would be a great name for a cat. I had a friend who liked to dance and she’d always wanted to get a black cat and name it Disco. But, you want to choose a name that matches your cat’s personality, so that makes the choice a little more difficult. Perhaps this is your first cat, or maybe you just really like to get a sense of your kitty before you choose a name. Whatever the reason, you’re here because you’re trying to think of some different cat names.

While making the popular choice is always a sure bet, you can’t go wrong with a name that everybody immediately associates with cats, you may want to be more creative. Personally, I like naming my cats with regular names. Tom is the obvious one (do you need a reminder or did you get it right away…I’ll only give you a hint – think of the most famous cat and mouse rivals); but I also like to pick older, relatively normal names that are not commonly used like Homer, Zeke, Amelia or Polly.

Naming your cat after one of your favorite TV characters or movie characters is also fun. Or perhaps you could name your cat after a character (even a cat) in a book. I have a friend who named his cat Azrael after Gargamel’s cat in The Smurfs.

Still, if you prefer to pick something a little more popular, here is a list of the most popular male and female cat names from the last year:

Male 1.)Max 2.)Tigger 3.)Tiger 4.)Smokey 5.)Oliver 6.)Buddy 7.)Charlie 8.)Simba 9.)Sammy 10.)Oscar Female 1.)Chloe 2.)Lucy 3.)Molly 4.)Bella 5.)Sophie 6.)Princess 7.)Cleo 8.)Angel 9.)Lily 10.)Maggie