The Biggest, Most Purr-fect List of Literary Cat Names (200+ Name Ideas!)

As a long-time cat lover and current manager of five felines, whenever the opportunity to talk about cat names comes up, I can’t help but get excited. When working through potential names for our kitten, we ran through a number of literary cat names as possibilities—and we ended up choosing Felix, after the comic character and cartoon. It was one of many literary cat names we considered and we realized it was the purrfect name for the adventurous little tuxie.

Whether you’re getting a new kitty or are helping someone make an important decision on what to call their new furball, let this list of literary cat names be inspiration for giving that feline an excellent identity. I’ve included subcategories here, including names for a pair of cats or a trio of cats that correspond to literature in some capacity. This list includes names of actual cats in the books, as well as other names and references from the books that would make for excellent names. There are excellent fictional cat names and nerdy cat names to enjoy from all kinds of books.

Not included on this list are cat pun names because that’s been well covered. How fun would it be to give your kitty one of those punny and creative names?

The Ultimate Guide to Literary Cat Names

Literary Cat Names Based On Classics

• Behemoth from The Master and Margarita
• Ichabod from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
• Pluto from The Black Cat (Edgar Allan Poe)
• Samsa from “The Metamorphosis”
• Tab from Watership Down
• Argos from The Odyssey
• Younger from A Raisin In The Sun
• Bartleby from Bartleby the Scrivener
• Mr. Biswas from A House For Mr. Biswas 
• Huckleberry from Huckleberry Finn
• Gulliver from Gulliver’s Travels
• Raven from The Raven
• Havisham from Great Expectations
• Esperanza from The House On Mango Street
• Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo
• Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God
• Tea Cake from Their Eyes Were Watching God
• Darcy from Pride and Prejudice
• Jean Val Jean from Les Miserables
• Cosette from Les Miserables
• Quixote from Don Quixote
• Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Kindred for Kindred 
• Caliban from The Tempest
• Trueba from The House of Spirits
• Antonia from My Antonia
• Scarlett from Gone With The Wind
• Holmes from Sherlock Holmes
• Algernon from Flowers for Algernon
• Shug from The Color Purple
• Gilgamesh from The Epic of Gilgamesh
• Ishmael from Moby Dick
• Queequeg from Moby Dick
• Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s
• Iago from Othello
• Oliver from Oliver Twist
• Ozymandias from the poem “Ozymandias”
• Tybalt from Romeo and Juliet
• Prufrock from T.S. Eliot’s classic poem

Fictional Cat Names Based On Contemporary and Genre Books

• Richard Parker from The Life of Pi
• Diesel from Arsenic and Old Books
• Maurice from The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
• Naga from The Library at Mount Char
• Bilbo from The Hobbit
• Lisbeth from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
• Pennywise from It
• Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web
• Murphy from A Wrinkle In Time
• Merricat from We Have Always Lived In The Castle
• Binti from Binti
• Pippin from Lord of The Rings
• Miss Adorabelle Dearheart from Going Postal
• Cersi from Game of Thrones
• Khaleesi from Game of Thrones
• Phineas from A Separate Peace
• Princess Buttercup from The Princess Bride
• Miss Marple from the “Miss Marple” series
• Church from Pet Semetery

Literary Cat Names Based On Children’s Books

• Crookshanks from Harry Potter
• Cheshire from Alice in Wonderland 
• Percy from Percy Jackson
• Aslan from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
• Tigger from Winnie the Pooh
• Tesseract from A Wrinkle In Time
• Snowbell from Stuart Little
• Firestar from Warriors
• Skippyjon Jones from Skippyjon Jones
• Ginger from The Last Battle
• Omakayas from The Birchbark House
• Harry Cat from A Cricket In Times Square
• Harriett from Harriett the Spy
• Matilda from Matilda
• Westing from The Westing Game
• Milo from The Phantom Tollbooth
• Max from Where The Wild Things Are
• Mrs. Norris from Harry Potter
• Squire Gingivere from Mossflower
• Dragon from Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
• Socks from Socks
• Jonas from The Giver
• Tiger Lily from Peter Pan
• Junie B. Jones from Junie B. Jones
• Trixie from the “Trixie Beldon” series
• Splat from Splat The Cat

Cat Names Based On YA Books

• Stelmaria from The Golden Compass
• Buttercup from The Hunger Games
• Mogget from Sabriel
• Moxie from The Subtle Knife
• Rue from The Hunger Games
• Katniss from The Hunger Games
• Starr from The Hate U Give
• Cinder from Cinder
• Cullen from Twilight
• Hazel from The Fault In Our Stars
• Artemis from Artemis Fowl
• Katsa from Graceling
• Lyra from The Subtle Knife
• Mogget from Abhorson
• Simon from Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda
• Miss Peregrine for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
• Liesel from The Book Thief
• Kaz from Six of Crows
• Ronan from The Raven Boys
• Monty from A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
• Sadie from Sadie
• Karou from Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Nerdy Cat Names Based On Comics

• T’Challa from Black Panther
• Garfield from Garfield
• Nermal from Garfield
• Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy
• Harvey Dent from Batman
• Heathcliff from Heathcliff
• Storm from X-Men
• Josie from Josie and the Pussycats
• Ichigo from Bleach
• Marvel after any/all Marvel comics
• Isis from Catwoman
• Korra from The Legend of Korra
• Salem from Sabrina, The Teenage Witch
• Cake from Adventure Time
• Goose from Captain Marvel
• Domino from X-Force
• Bucky B. Katt from Get Fuzzy
• Catbert from Dilbert
• Chubby Hugs from Get Fuzzy
• Chi from Chi’s Sweet Home
• Faron from Peanuts
• Ampersand from Y, The Last Man
• Shiva from The Walking Dead
• Fritz from Fritz The Cat
• Hershey The Cat from Sonic the Hedgehog
• Luna from Sailor Moon
• Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes
• Pusheen from Pusheen
• Streaky from Supergirl

Cat Names Based On Authors

• Booker for Booker T. Washington
• Sojourner for Sojourner Truth
• Flannery for Flannery O’Connor
• Kipling for Rudyard Kipling
• Dante for Dante
• Chaucer for Geoffrey Chaucer
• Hugo for Victor Hugo
• Wheatley for Phyllis Wheatley
• Zora for Zora Neale Hurston
• Sylvia for Sylvia Plath
• Morrison for Toni Morrison
• Eliot for T.S. Eliot
• Agatha for Agatha Christie
• Maya for Maya Angelou
• Keats for John Keats
• Kerouac for Jack Kerouac
• Ginsberg for Allan Ginsberg
• Langston for Langston Hughes
• Asimov for Isaac Asimov
• Thoreau for Henry David Thorough
• Crane for Stephen Crane
• King for Stephen King
• Steinbeck for John Steinbeck
• Alice for Alice Walker
• Millay for Edna St. Vincent Millay
• Gin after Virginia Woolf

Bookish Cat Names for Multiple Cats

• Crookshanks and Mrs. Norris, for the cats in Harry Potter
• Alonzo, Bombalurina, Bustopher Jones, Cat Morgan, Coricopat, Demeter, Electra, Great Rumpus Cat, Griddlebone, Growltiger, Jellylorem, Jennyanydots, Macavity, Mister Mistoffelees, Mungojerrie, Munkustrap, Old Deuteronomy, Rum Tum Tugger, Rumpelteazer, Skimbleshanks, all from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats
• Scout and Jem from To Kill A Mockingbird
• Bucky B. Katt and Chubby Hugs from Get Fuzzy
• Linus and Lucy from Charlie Brown
• Truman and Capote for author Truman Capote
• Simpkin, Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit, Tom Kitten, Mrs. Ribby, Moppet, and Ginger from the stories of Beatrix Potter
• Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby from The Great Gatsby 
• Henry, Jessie, Violent, and Benny from The Boxcar Children
• Beth, Meg, Amy, and Jo from Little Women
• Edgar, Allan, and Poe for Edgar Allan Poe
• Garfield and Pooky from Garfield
• Simon and Baz from Carry On
• Eleanor and Park from Eleanor and Park
• Cordelia, Goneril, and Regan from King Lear
• Meg, Charles, and Calvin from A Wrinkle In Time
• Romeo and Juliet from Romeo and Juliet
• Beezus and Ramona from Ramona Quimby
• Don Quixote and Sancho from Don Quixote
• George and Martha from George and Martha
• Fern, Charlotte, and Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web
• Marilla and Matthew from Anne of Green Gables
• Sherlock and Watson from Sherlock Holmes
• Ari and Dante from Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of the Universe
• Ishmael and Ahab from Moby Dick
• Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia from How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
• Beowulf and Grendel from Beowulf
• Koko and Yum Yum from “The Cat Who…” series
• Gandalf and Frodo from The Lord of the Rings
• George and Martha from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• Tully, Stark, Lannister, Baratheon, and Greyjoy from Game of Thrones
• Betty and Veronica from Archie
• Jane, Thelma, and Harriet from Catwings

Here’s a nudge to adopt your new pets, rather than to shop for them. You can find the perfect adoptable pets on Adopt a Pet. It’s also worth noting that adopting senior pets can be a tremendous gift for both you and the pet you bring into your life. See if you can find a local shelter that specializes in pets 7 and older and consider giving one of those furry friends their forever home.