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Name That Cat

© Stacey Monfils

Having recently acquired a new cat courtesy of a busy road, my husband being at the "right" place at the "right" time, and the "Please, can we keep him?" from my two children, we set about the task of finding a name for this black and white ball of fur. We went through the standard (and ordinary!) names first, "Boots" (for his white feet), "Frosty" (because it was cold when John found him); and "Tigger" (yawn!); the colors, "Blackie" (for his black coat); "Whitefeet" (again, for his white feet); and "BW" (for his black coat AND white feet); to the possible-but-let's keep-trying, "Charlie" (as in Chaplin, for his small white mustache); "Lucky4u" (speaks for itself...); and "Robin, the Boy Wonder" (remember the old Batman series? The cat is a male and we did wonder where he came from..).

It was only after we couldn't decide that I took a look at the BOOK OF CAT NAMES by Simon Jeans (Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. New York, 1992).

All four of us selected a few names and we put them in alphabetical order below:

AJAX - Ajax the Great was the King of Salamis, renowned for his great physical size and bravery. A good name for a courageous cat (which he was not). Also perfect for the cleanliness-conscious cat (which he most definitely was NOT, hence the horrid smell and the flea family that lived on his body!) BYTE - For the cat with megabytes of personality and charm (unfortunately my five-year-old son took the name BYTE literally, stating that NO ONE would be biting on his cat any time soon!) CAPRICE - A tendency to change one's mind without adequate or apparent motive, ideal for those cats who scamper around the house in a world of their own (My husband vehemently opposed this name, fearing that I would change my mind about keeping him!) DALLAS - The epitome of glitz and gossip, and the television series everyone loved to hate. Just the title for a cat with enormous self-esteem and padded shoulders (Nah!) EARTHA - Eartha Kitty, a wonderful name for the cat with a sexy, sultry purr (Sexy? Hardly!) GARBO - Greta, the late and great movie star. For the smoky Persian or sultry Siamese who just want to be alone...(Not this cat. It's often YOU who wants to be left alone!) GRISELDA, GRISEL - This name means a woman of exemplary patience and meekness. It comes form the story of Patient Grisel, the last tale in Boccaccio's Decameron. From there it was used by many others, including Chaucer, who tells of Grissell who endured the humilations and cruelties inflicted upon her by her husband without so much as a murmur. (They do not make cats like this).

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