In a viral Reddit thread, a user reveals she’s given her cat more than 20 nicknames, and a surprising number of fellow Redditors have weighed in with long lists of names they call their furry friends.
The original poster’s list is extensive: “Milo (his real name), Milosh, Baby, Mr Baby, Mr Meh, Mr Mrreh, Mr Moo, Mr Milo, Mr Handsome, Mr Eh Eh, Mr Oo Oo, Mr Oo Oo Ah Ah, Mr Baum Baum, Mr Grumpidy Bumpidy, Mr Ping, Mr Pink Pitty Pads, Mr Orange, Mr Punchy, Mr Puffy Pants, Mr Pretty Pants, Mr Princess”
“Valentina. AKA Tina, Valley Girl, Teenie, Teenie Weenie, Queenie Teenie Beanie, Tina Beana, Fluffer, Fluffercakes, Missy Hissy Cakes, Missy Floofy Pants, Felix, Felick, Felicky, Baby Girl, Mama’s Baby Girl.” another wrote.
Another: “Luna, which turns into Lu, Fluff, Fluff Bucket, Fluff Butt, Fuzz Butt, Fuzz face, or various meowing sounds.”
Most of the people who responded to the thread have handles that mark them as female, and I’m going to go ahead and assume the vast majority of the others are too.
You just can’t call your cat Shmubbles or Mr. Grumpidy Bumpidy and retain your man card. It is not possible.
Here at Casa de Buddy, we keep it simple: Bud or Buddy. I feel like if I just start freestyling names, little man is going to be confused.
Indeed, that’s the subject of Mollie Hunt’s Oct. 6 post, “What’s In A Name?”, which notes we should call our cats by their proper names for good, practical reasons: not confusing the little ones, getting them accustomed to responding to their names, and the peace of mind that comes with knowing they’ll respond in an emergency.
Research has repeatedly confirmed what we’ve all known anecdotally: domestic felines know their names and they even know the names of other cats they live with. They may not always deem a human worthy of a response, but they hear us and they know we’re calling for them.
I do call Bud other things, but they tend to be invented by my sleep-deprived brain when he insists on screeching in my ears or standing on my face to get me out of bed.
They’re not really nicknames so much as they’re insults, but don’t worry — no egos were bruised in the process. In the past I’ve thrown pillows at him for his relentless assaults on my sleep, and he seems to think that’s hilarious.
So yes, in the momentary anger of getting woken up for the fifth time in an hour, while he’s standing on my face and the tips of his back claws are digging into my cheek, I might mumble “Shut up, you furry little turdball!” or threaten to defenestrate him like an out-of-favor Russian oligarch.
But I dote on the little guy, function as his faithful servant, and try to give him his best life. I’ve also seriously considered constructing a throne for him. What’s a little “annoying little jerk” between friends? It all evens out!
Pain In The Bud 
oh wow there are so many… a few that come to mind are: Bellaboo, Belllaboobah, Gorgeous Miss B, little lovely, the black furrry thing, Moomah, she only really responds positively to “Bella” as that generally means treats or feed…
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I’m sorry, John, I’m gonna have to send the Buddinese Tiger to revoke and collect your man card. “Belllaboobah” is a nickname too far.
Jokes aside, it’s interesting that she responds only to Bella, since I assume you’re using the same tone of voice for her name and nicknames.
There was a study that found cats will still distinguish between their names and similar sounding words, so Bud will distinguish between Bud and “dud,” for example.
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I admit it !!! – we have even more “gooey” names for her but her modesty and Mi5 prohibits me from revealing them …
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Not good. Cats respond to thier name and owners voice. I call my cat in the middle of night just to see if he is doing something he is not supposed to be doing. I fogot to close bathroom door. Do not want him drinking from toilet. I had toilet seat down but i found him in there. And if a cat ever escapes by accident home he will respond if he feels like it. Again. My cat.
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I’m not going to tell Batman about Buddy’s tactical moves to awaken the human servant! He’s already perfected the early morning birdie toy concert and climbing my back like it’s K2!!
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It must be fun to see that kitten energy again and their wonder at discovering the world. Not great for sleep, but few things are more heartwarming than seeing a kitten joyfully playing with a new toy or experiencing snow for the first time.
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Yes, he is a day brightener and a very sweet boy!
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I’m guilty of calling Lynx, “Fuzzbutt”; of calling all the girls “Sweetheart” and all the boys “Buddy”; calling The Kittens “Kittums” or calling Spooky, “Spookums”, or replacing all second syllables with “ums”, and sometimes the hubs calls them different names than I do … Trying to do better and at least use the given names most of the time …
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The “butt” suffix seems to be popular: fluffybutt, fuzzbutt, furrybutt. My best guess, though I don’t have any proof for this, is that embedding the cat’s name in a nickname, like your “Spookums,” is probably less confusing for them.
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Guilty. Ramses is sometimes referred to as “Mr. Prowly” and Brandon is “Fluffy Butt”. Tim sometimes refers to Ramses as simply “Dick”…
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Tim calls him that when he’s naughty/annoying? I wonder if that’s a guy thing.
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Gray has name in different languages, Grau, Gris, Grigia. When I am joking I call her Grayu a mix of Gray and Grau 😸sometimes we call her Patata or Cicciona like a sweet nickname
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You’ve got German, Spanish and Italian and possibly French too, if I’m not mistaken. A very cosmopolitan cat.
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We have Sgt Stripes, Sarge, Stripes, and The Dude (as in The Big Lebowski because of his laid-back attitude). Snoops is the Empress and Onyx is Empress of the Night. (I have been known to call her Luci after the demon in Disenchanted.)
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The Dude abides! Great movie and great nickname. If any of the other cats gets snippy with him, he can say “This aggression will not stand, man!”
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Doesn’t this cat look like a female version of Buddy? GWENDALYN (ID 237019 ), 4 YO, FEMALE – IN QUEENS ACC – came into the shelter as a stray on 9/17/2025.
TBD 10/14/25
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Yes! She has a very Buddesian look to her. Maybe she’s his long lost sister
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