200+ Tabby Cat Names

Furry, fun, and full of adventure, cats make excellent companion pets. While they vary greatly in terms of size, breed, and color, the tabby cat is one of the most popular types around. However, contrary to popular belief, tabby is not a breed, but rather a physical description that refers to the cat’s markings. Famous for their stripes, tabby cats are characterized by different styles of lines and patches on their fur.

The popularity of tabby cats and their varied markings means there is no shortage of names. We’ve compiled a list of our favorite tabby cat names, along with recommendations for special categories. Whether you’re after a fun name or one that ascribes to your cat’s colors and stripes, we’ve got the ultimate list below.

Typical Tabby Cat Breeds

As mentioned above, tabby is a type of marking. Some of the most popular cat breeds that are tabby in coloring are:

• Abyssinian
• American Bobtail
• American Curl
• American Shorthair
• Domestic Shorthair
• Maine Coon Cat
• Ocicat
• Oriental Cat
• Persian
• Siberian

It’s also worth noting that tabby cats come in four different types of markings and patterns. These are:

• Mackerel – the most common type of tabby, with narrow stripes that run parallel to each other.
• Classic – consists of elegant swirls across the cat’s sides with a butterfly pattern over the shoulders.
• Spotted – resembles the mackerel or classic pattern, but with periodic broken lines.
• Ticked – typically has multiple colors for each cat hair, with bars on the legs and tail.

Favorite Tabby Cat Names

Choosing a favorite tabby cat name isn’t easy, especially when there are so many fun and unusual options. Below is a list of our favorites, and yes, some of them are of the foodie variety!

• Apple – cute, fun, and simple. It’s a fruit, but hey, why not?
• Bandit – great for mischievous kitties.
• Celeste – for the elegant tabby.
• Diamond – good for a white tabby with stripes.
• Dorito – think boisterous or adventurous!
• Emerald – suits cats with bright or deep green eyes.
• Fluffy – ideal for tabbies with soft, luscious fur.
• Ginger – well-suited to orange tabbies.
• Harley – great as a unisex name and for owners who are motorcycle-inclined!
• Izzy – short for Isabelle, this is a great name that equals fun.
• Jazz – fantastic for a musical household (especially if your cat favors it).
• Kit Kat – fun to say, but also reminiscent of the candy bar!
• Luna – suited to a darker tabby or one with blue eyes.
• Midnight – great for the night owl tabby!
• Noodles – perfect for a hyper or crazy cat.
• Oreo – like the cookie, black and white tabbies come to mind!
• Patches – ideal for tabbies with blotched or patch-like designs.
• Ruby – great for cats with a ‘royal’ or older personality.
• Skittles – another fun name that’s great for an energetic tabby.
• Squeaker – a good one if your cat is a talker.
• Twinkie – another fun food reference, great for light beige and white tabbies.
• Velvet – like “Fluffy”, soft and furry tabbies will suit this name.
• Zoey – means “life” in Greek. Great for a cat with plenty of zest.

Famous Tabby Cat Names

Tabby cats feature heavily in films and animated movies. Below are some of the most popular and well-known tabby cats in the world:

• All Ball – the beloved companion of “KoKo” the gorilla.
• Azrael – the orange cat from The Smurfs cartoon.
• Bill the Cat – from the Bloom County comic strip.
• Garfield – perhaps the most famous animated tabby of all — and lover of lasagna.
• Hobbes (of Calvin and Hobbes) – although technically a stuffed tiger.
• Heathcliff – a cartoon cat.
• Keyboard Cat – a video-based internet meme.
• Lil Bub – the famous Tumblr kitty.
• Maru – the YouTube sensation that loves boxes.
• Nermal – Garfield’s overly cute nemesis.
• Tabby – First Pet to President Abraham Lincoln.
• The Cheshire Cat – the wide-grinning cat from Alice in Wonderland.
• Tigger – is also likely to be a tiger, but his appearance fits the bill!
• Thomasina – from Disney’s 1963 movie, and the book, “The Cat Who Thought She Was God”.

Fun Tabby Cat Names

Some names are just fun because of how they sound and what they relate to. Below are a few exciting options to choose from:

• Abby – a sweet name for a female that also rhymes with tabby!
• Attabiy – a name that honor’s a tabby’s roots. Tabby cats were named after a striped silk made in the Attabiy district of Baghdad.
• Bullseye – the pattern on a tabby’s body sometimes resembles a bullseye, making it an appropriate name.
• Crabby – another rhyming name that would suit a grumpy tabby!
• Em – a fun name that refers to the M-shaped mark on many tabby’s foreheads.
• Flabby – perhaps a bit more silly, flabby is good for felines of the larger variety!
• Leopard (or Leo for short) – for the spotted tabby variety.
• Reese – another foodie reference. Great for tabbies with brown, orange, and yellow colors.
• Tabico – tabico cats sometimes have calico colorings or markings, hence the combo name “Tabico”.
• Taffy – returning to food, this is a fun name that refers to the famous saltwater candy.
• Tiger – if your cat has deep, noticeable stripes, Tiger is a great name.

Tabby Cat Names by Color

As well as markings, tabby cats come in an array of colors. Below are some excellent ones that appeal to your feline’s fur shades.

• Amber – evocative of the beautiful jewel, Amber is a beautiful color and fantastic name for a female tabby with goldish orange coloring.
• Blue – for cats with a bluish hue.
• Cinder – great for charcoal or darker varieties of tabby.
• Cocoa – dark, brownish cats will suit this name.
• Copper – ideal for the rusted color tabby.
• Cinnamon – for the tabby with a reddish-brown hue.
• Earl Grey – yes, like the tea! Ideal for felines with grey colorings.
• Ember – think hot coals. Great for cats with black markings.
• Fawn – for the yellow/tan feline with a delicate personality.
• Goldy – golden-hued tabbies will suit this well!
• Honey – a sweet name that also suits the light beige variety.
• Onyx – great for tabbies with bold, saturated coat colors.
• Pepper – for felines that are gray and black with a speckled or ticked pattern.
• Red – for tabbies with strong red coats.
• Sable – a strong name that suits darker, more masculine cats.
• Shadow – great for blackish cats who are mysterious, too.
• Stoney – grayish-colored tabbies will suit this name.
• Tawny – a great name for a light brown-orange tabby.

Striped Tabby Cat Names

Like colors, names that appeal to your tabby cat’s stripes is another cool way to go. Below are some names that refer to other striped animals in the wild.

• Bongo – a distinctly striped antelope.
• Bontebok – another antelope with patched markings.
• Bumblebee – those colorful buzzing insects that love flowers.
• Chevrotain – a lightly striped mouse deer.
• Chipmunk – those cute striped creatures we love to feed nuts to.
• Civet – a patterned nocturnal animal.
• Coati – a member of the raccoon family with a notably striped tail.
• Culpeo – a type of fox with patch-like markings.
• Duiker – an antelope with distinct stripes on its back.
• Goral – an ungulate with dark, red-brown patches.
• Hog badger – known for its distinct white face markings.
• Hyena – famous for its dark spots!
• Kob – an antelope known for its striped horns.
• Kulan – a wild ass with alternating dark patches of fur.
• Lemming – a rodent with distinct color patches.
• Lemur – you can’t miss the black and white tail on this mammal.
• Mongoose – a mammal with ticked fur.
• Nyala – a spiral-horned antelope with stripes on its fur that look like white paint.
• Opossum – a marsupial known for its white patchy face.
• Polecat – these mammals have amazing bright patches of fur.
• Skunk – reminiscent of the character, Pepé Le Pew, skunks’ stripes are second to none.
• Weasel – a colorful rodent known for its white under-markings.
• Zebra – an equine with strong black and white stripes.

Male Tabby Cat Names

Appealing to the sex of your cat is another way to go. If you’re after something for the male cat in your life, below are some options that require no explanation.

• Badger
• Blade
• Blaze
• Buckwheat
• Christian Grey
• Copper
• Earl Grey
• Elvis
• Felix
• Grey Gardens
• Greyhound
• Hercules
• Hunter
• Kobe
• Monty
• Oliver
• Prince
• Quintin
• Raj
• Rufus
• Scar
• Shaggy
• Silver Fox
• Slim Shady
• Tang
• Toby
• Victor

Female Tabby Cat Names

For the female cat, you could go appeal to names that are evocative of feminine energy.

• Ariel
• Auburn
• Blossom
• Catniss
• Cheyenne
• Dotty
• Duchess
• Ebony
• Eclair
• Emma
• Foxy
• Goldie
• Juliet
• Kiki
• Lexie
• Lili
• Lulu
• Missy
• Misty
• Muffin
• Paisley
• Pebbles
• Pepper
• Petals
• Piper
• Poppy
• Princess
• Queenie
• Raven
• Raya
• Silky
• Smurfette
• Tabitha
• Tinkerbell

Unisex Tabby Cat Names

Last but not least, if you’re looking for gender-neutral or unisex tabby cat names, below are some great possibilities.

• Apricot
• Binx
• Bumblebee
• Checkers
• Cheetah
• Cinder
• Coconut
• Colby
• Cookie
• Curry
• Domino
• Fire
• Furball
• Hershey
• Hodgepodge
• Inky
• Jelly
• Jinx
• Leopard
• Linguine
• M&M
• Mac
• Mango
• Marble
• Mars
• Mocha
• Nutmeg
• Orange
• Patchwork
• Peanut
• Platinum
• Poupon
• Puff
• Shadow
• Slate
• Smokey
• Snickers
• Socks
• Speckles
• Spot
• Stripes
• Swirly
• Tablet
• Tiggy

Choosing a Name for Your Tabby Cat

Choosing the best name for your cat always comes down to personal choice. But, if you’re after one that’s ideal for a tabby, the lists above can be a useful guide for determining what fits the appearance and personality of your special feline.

For example, if your cat’s markings are distinct, you could go with names that appeal to their color or stripes. Alternatively, boisterous cats would do well with a name from the fun category. Or, if your kitty stands out because of its big personality, you could go for a famous tabby name instead. Whatever you decide, have fun!