Pet name lists
Names for the animal rather than for a character. Every list here is written by hand and split into sections, so you can go straight to the colour names, the ones for a female, or the ones with a story behind them.
2 nickname lists, 204 hand picked nicknames ·
Written and checked by 
Wren Calloway
How do you pick a name a pet will actually learn?
Keep it to one or two syllables with a hard consonant and a clear vowel, because animals hear sound rather than meaning. Then say it out loud at the volume you would use in a garden. Anything you would feel silly shouting is the wrong name, however well it reads on a screen.
A pet name has to do a job that a character name never does: it has to be recognised, at distance, by an animal that is not especially interested in you at the time. That single constraint rules out most of what looks good written down, and it is why the lists in this group are arranged by sound and by story rather than by how clever the word is.
Why these lists are split into sections
Nobody reads a hundred names in one column. Every page in this group is broken into named sections, one for each way of choosing: the colour of the coat, whether the animal is male or female, the mythology you want to borrow from, and the famous ones that already carry a story. Reading one section and ignoring the rest is how they are meant to be used.
A tool sits under the list, not above it
Somebody naming twelve villagers wants a generator. Somebody who has just carried a kitten through their front door wants a real list with real notes on it, so on these pages the lists come first and the generator sits underneath as a way of breaking a tie. Both are free and neither needs an account.
Common questions
How many syllables should a pet name have?
One or two, ending on a hard consonant if you can manage it. An animal is picking your name out of ordinary household noise from another room, and a long soft word simply does not survive that trip. Anything longer gets shortened by the household within a fortnight, which is worth knowing before you fall in love with a four syllable one.
Will a cat actually learn its name?
Most do, and there is research to say so: cats distinguish their own name from similar sounding words even when a stranger is the one saying it. What they do not reliably do is come when called, which is a separate question about motivation rather than recognition. Use the name at feeding time and the two get linked quickly.
Should the name describe the animal or not?
Either works, and they age differently. A colour name is instantly right and never becomes wrong, which is why the black cat list starts with the coat. A personality name is more personal but you are guessing at eight weeks old, so if you pick one, pick a trait that is already obvious rather than one you are hoping for.
Can I change a rescue animal's name?
Yes, and it is common. Shelters name animals on arrival for paperwork, not because the animal answered to it. Use the new name constantly for the first fortnight, attach it to food, and do not alternate between the two: the confusion comes from switching, not from changing.
Are these names free to use?
Yes, entirely, and there is nothing to credit. They are hand written lists of ordinary words, historical figures and folklore, so no name on them belongs to anybody. The license page sets out the one boundary, which is about copying the lists and the notes wholesale rather than about naming your cat.
Why is there a generator underneath the lists?
Because a small number of people arrive wanting a joke name rather than a real one, and a two word tool answers that in one press. It sits below the lists rather than above them because the lists are what the page is for. Nothing is stored either way and there is no account.