Luna and Milo are once again the most popular cat names in the US.
The annual list was published this week by US News and World Report, which tallies the most popular names from more than 3.5 million pet insurance policies.
Luna and Milo have had quite a run, appearing as the top names or within the top five since at least 2020. Lists from Canada and the UK are usually different, with names like Poppy, Jasper, Millie, Alfie, Smudge and Daisy, but Milo and Luna feature prominently in those lists as well, often appearing in the top 10.
Buddy, a name suspiciously absent from some lists, slides in at number 22 in the US News list.
Bella, Oreo, Simba, Cleo, Oliver, Charlie and Nala remain popular names, while Catticus The Destroyer, Buddy’s name for himself, is nowhere to be found.
I don’t expect Ramses to ever make the list – and we like it that way!
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Well, he’s got his own pyramids, obelisks and temples, as well as arguably the greatest poem of all time, so he doesn’t need no stinkin’ popularity list of names.
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3rd place !! -Our mysterious Mi5 cat is of course upset that her clandestine identity is now well known and popular – she expected to see a black bar and the words “redacted” next to her name
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Speaking of MI5, the new season of Slow Horses is out and it’s great!
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I tried watching Slow Horses once, but just couldn’t get into at the time. I’m gonna have to give a go again. Have you watched Dept. Q on Netflix? It’s not about MI5, but OMG is that show so GOOD!!
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I’m a big fan of UK crime shows and prefer their long-form storytelling over the “wrapped up in an hour” format of Law & Order, Chicago PD, etc., so I’ll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.
Slow Horses usually takes an episode or two to set the table, but then it moves very fast. It’s about the purgatory where MI5 sends its rejects, agents who have screwed up in various spectacular ways (the eponymous Slow Horses), so it’s got a much different tone, with characters who are always ripping on each other in amusing ways.
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My neighbor named her cats after pasta. Fusilli. Rigatoni. And sauce. Marinara.
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That’s hilarious. Imagine cats named Alla.Vodka and Pasta Fagiolo.
I could absolutely see people in my neighborhood, which is heavily Italian-American, naming their cats Gabagool, Galamad and Prozhoot.
“Oh! Little Mortadell is begging for pepperone again!”
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Well! I see that Blaise, Sam and Emma are nowhere
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Kinda surprised that Sam isn’t on there. It’s a good name for a cat.
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Hmm, I’d have expected Stripey and Shelley and Silver, I’ve known of other cats with those names. Our others, Boss, Lynx, Spooky Spookums, and Franklin, I wouldn’t expect.
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I would have thought Silver would be for sure, and Lynx has to be on the wider list. I forget, is Shelley after Mary or Percy?
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Our Shelley is in my opinion named after Mary, teller of tales; suits her as Franklin says, because her “tail looks like it comes from three different cats”. My hubs and the friend who adopted her named her Shelley because she’s a tortoisehell. Lots of torties by that name for that reason so I thought it would be on the list.
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Caramel didn’t make the list? Nor Milky Bar or Malteser? Well, I guess they are very special cats. Interestingly, Rosie creeps in at #60. A neighbour has told me that Caramel’s human family call “him” Rosie, but I’m having none of it. Caramel is Caramel, and will always be Caramel!
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I looked up top UK cat names and there’s no Caramel, but Rosie does make the list:
Click to access Blue-Cross-top-100-pet-cat-names.pdf
There’s a Fudge, a Smudge, Coco, Oreo, and Cookie, but no Malteser, Milky Bar or even Jaffa Cakes for that matter.
Is Caramel a male cat your neighbors named Rosie before they took him to the vet and realized their mistake, or is he a she?
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Caramel is a female (and presumably neutered), but in our eyes has always been of the male persuasion.
Thank you for the link to the list. Interesting that Smokey makes the list both in the UK and the US. Smokey was the cat I grew up with, decades before you were born!
Incidentally, I meant to say in my earlier comment, best wishes for getting your novel published.
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Smokey’s a good name and I’m always heartened by people’s memories of their first cats. Ginger cats are something like 80% male due to the genetics of coat expression, if memory serves, so it makes sense you’d think she’s a he.
Thanks for the well wishes on the novel. All I can say right now is it’s a love letter to the Earth and all its life, and hopefully will have readers thinking about the fact that we get no do-overs and will never find a world more beautiful and suited to our species than this one, so we’d better take care of it.
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I was aware that ginger cats are mostly male and so was as surprised as you that to learn that Caramel is not quite what I had believed. But he remains an honorary male, and is much loved here at Platypus Towers (it’s currently 7:30am and he’s asleep on the sofa, having already consumed countless edible treats. He’ll probably wake up in an hour or two and trot off home for another breakfast).
Your novel sounds intriguing, and I look forward to learning more when you find a publisher.
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My first cat was named Fleabag which obviously wouldn’t be on a list like this. But it fit him so well. I’ve had strays that we feed that I give odd names to. Olive and her Mini Me daughter Pimento. Marple (after Miss Marple), an orange boy that just walked right into the house and moved in for a while. Smoke the ethereal silver kitty and Molly McMoo the cow cat. Tuxie boy is Fred (for Fred Astaire) and our other (orange) boy is George.
My 2 kitties are named Archie and Beanie. She came pre-named and he took 3 weeks to name. I try to give my pets and strays names that fit their personalities.
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That’s the way to do it. Give it a little time to get to know their personalities before naming them. That’s what I did with Bud and I’m glad I waited instead of naming him something ridiculous.
Archie’s a great name, as is Beanie.
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Beanie was named by the shelter, first time I’d seen a good name from them 🤣. I ‘ve always loved that name. She was Bean sized at 8 weeks so it fit her well. For Archie, we tried Elliot (really wanted Elliot to stick, but nope), Scooter, Skippy, Pickles, etc. So many. Used each for a few days, but they never sounded quite right. After 3 weeks and no name I was getting desperate when I mentioned Archie. Looked at him and said he was born to be Archie! Don’t know why it took me so long. 🤦♀️
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Yeah you start to feel bad when it takes too long. Two weeks in and my brother was aghast when I was still calling Bud “the kitten.”
Coincidentally, Archie Comics is some 3 miles from my home in a nondescript building. You’d never know it was there. I didn’t until someone mentioned it to me and I looked it up.
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No Clarence, Tyler, or Melinko, which adds to their individuality.
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Clarence is one of my favorites for a cat. It seems to fit perfectly, especially for that little dude.
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@thebigbuddy: I’m a huge Brit crime show fan too. There’s another new show on Netflix called Legends you might like too. It’s based on a true story. Haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, but it sounds promising. Stars Tom Burke from The Musketeers (another brit show I love).
Synopsis: The Netflix crime thriller series Legends is based on the true, untold story of ordinary British HM Customs officers who went deep undercover to infiltrate major drug gangs in the early 1990s.
The Operation: Set during the final days of the Thatcher government, the agency recruited regular civil servants—who usually held mundane desk jobs or checked airport bags—and gave them minimal training for high-risk undercover work.
Also, check out Masterpiece on PBS. They’ve got some stellar brit crime. Some are more cozy crime, but they’re really good and so fun to watch. Anything British, I’ll watch it. I love their stuff!
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The Operation sounds interesting. Sounds like Cold War era spy games type show. I’ll check out Legends as well since I’ve got Netflix.
I had BritBox and will subscribe again when the new season of Blue Lights comes to the platform. It’s premiering on BBC in the UK today, so it should be available to us Yanks soon.
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@thebigbuddy:
That’s so cool about Archie Comics. Do they still write the Archie Comics? I used to read them when I was a kid at my grandparents cabin. Those and Thor comics. I might even still have them. I have no idea who my Grandma bought them for because I not a comic book reader and neither were my brothers. I was glad they were there though. Not much to do at their cabin except feed the birds and get scared shitless when a Garter Snake would fly out of the weeds at you. I hated the place with a passion.
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I think they are mostly doing reprints now with occasional original stories. It’s probably a nostalgia market for that stuff.
If you still have old comics, they could be worth some cash depending on what you have and how the condition is.
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I’m guilty of using Lucy, Shadow, and Nala. My favorite on this list is “Cat”, naming your cat “Cat” actually sounds nice, it’s simple and to the point.
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