Cat Names That Start With I

Indie — as in indie films — is the more girlish version of the name, but earthy, gender-neutral Indy is catching up slowly and steadily. Indy entered the Top 1000 for girls for the first time in 2023 after rising over 100 places. For a longer full name, vibrant Indigo remains more and more stylish each year.

Iggy is the quintessential pop star name, though it's the nickname Cate Blanchett uses for son Ignatius. Iggy does bring any grander-sounding name down to earth.

Ishmael is most familiar through "Call me Ishmael," the opening line spoken by the youthful narrator of Moby-Dick. Few American parents have followed that advice, though the Spanish and Arabic spelling, Ismael, ranks at Number 362. With its warm and pleasant sound, though, we could see Ishmael tagging along behind Isaiah and Isaac.

The heroic movie figure Indiana Jones was often called Indy, as in the equally testosterone-laden Indy 500 car race. It could also be short for Indigo or Indio, or just use it as is.

A Top 200 choice in the US from the late 1880s to the early 1930s, Irma has nevertheless fallen out of favor with modern parents, and doesn't look set for the sort of comeback that some of her vintage sisters have enjoyed in recent years. The devastating hurricane which hit the Caribbean Islands and the south-east coast of the US in 2017 has no doubt dealt its chances of revival a further blow.

Issa might make more sense if you're using it as a nickname for any one of the various names ending in -issa, but this spelling is also an Arabic and Hebrew boy name. The Isa spelling is almost exclusively feminine.

The longer Isabella stays in the Top 10—and it's been there for more than a decade—the more we hear the nickname Izzy (especially if we watch Grey's Anatomy). it's just a matter of time before it stands on its own, as it has as a first name for the daughter of Eddie Murphy and Paige Butcher.

Distinctive Native-American choice with forceful meaning.

Multipurpose pet name serving Isidore, Isaac, Israel, and -- increasingly -- Isabel.

One of three Cherokee names with the same meaning, along with Inali and Enoli, both male names.

Isra is a gender-neutral Arabic name. The name of a chapter of the Quran, it refers to the Prophet's journey from Mecca to Jerusalem.

Irie is an upbeat and modern name that originated as a Rastafarian term for "positive and powerful."

In the ancient Hindu religion, Indra is the warrior god of sky and rain. The vowel ending makes it sound feminine to the English speaker; it also sounds like the French river Indre.

In the US, Emmanuel has held steady around the Top 200 for a quarter century now, but this variation has dropped off the Top 1000 for three of the past seven years. It was Number 974 in 2016.

Isambard is derived from Old German Isanbert, meaning "bright iron" or "famous iron". Its most famous bearer, rather fittingly, is the 19th century British civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, noted as one of the driving forces of the Industrial Revolution.

Ikenna's meaning makes it a subtle way to honor a father or grandfather. Ikenna is the name of a popular YouTube star.

This French form of the name Ismeria is one of those uncommon names that's been consistently used in France since the middle ages.The origins of this rare name are shrouded in mystery. Ismeria / Ismérie is an obscure figure in European Christian legend, sometimes purported to be the great-aunt of Jesus Christ, who is connected to the devotion of the Black Madonna.

Iridiana is related to the Greek name Iris, who in Greek mythology was the personification of the Rainbow. Iridiana is a frillier version of the name, likely to appeal to people who prefer Isabella to Isobel and Delphinia to Delphi.

Diminutive of Imogen, rarely given as a standalone even in the UK, where Imogen is a Top 50 pick.

A noble surname from northern England that has occasionally been used as a first name.