Cute Cat Names

An informal nickname for names such as Julia, Juliette, and June.

Up-and-coming actress Beanie Feldstein is attracting attention toward her unusual — but rather cute — nickname. She was born Elizabeth Greer Feldstein but nicknamed "Elizabeanie" by her childhood nanny. It was later simplified to Beanie by her older brothers.

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

A snug word name that may appeal to hygge-minded parents. It reappeared on the US charts in both 2020 and 2022 after a gap of 55 years. It can be short for Cosima or Cosette/Cozette.

There's only one: Emmylou Harris, the singer who gives dignity to an old-style combo name.

Banana is one fruity name we wouldn't recommend. Pick Plum instead. There is a Japanese novelist whose pen name is Banana Yoshimoto--birth name Mahoko.

Sixties-style short form that sounds cool again -- though the unscrupulous Pete on "Mad Men" is not a character to emulate.

As a name, it's linked to Sir Mulberry Hawk, a character in Charles Dicken's Nicholas Nickleby.

Cookie is most often used as a dog name, and it should stay that way.

Bamboo is a plant name that you might want to save for the zoo's name-the-panda contest. It was used for a starbaby in 2000, though, the rapper Big Boi.

Popular for pets, not baby boys.

While we don't see many parents adopting Otter as a name for their own babies, Zooey Deschanel put this one in the lexicon when she used it as a middle name for her adorably-named daughter Elsie Otter. Even in the celebrisphere, Otter is one of the most unique baby names we've heard.

Friendly but flimsy.

As the former stage name of TLC founder Perri Reid and the name of the youngest member of the animated Flintstones clan, it's got some pop culture cache. But it'll be too cutesy by half for most parents.

Mittens is a common name for cats with mitten-like fur patterns on their paws. The word actually has feline origins — it shares a root with mite, an Old French pet name for a cat. It became linked with mittens because they were made of fur.

Cutesy pet form of Clementine.

Zibby is the adorable, zippy nickname for Elizabeth used for the lead female character in the film "Liberal Arts." Zibby can make a Libby for the 21st century.

Baby is rarely seen as a given name — or even nickname — these days, although it did rank in the Top 1000 from 1989 to 2003. These instances can be accounted for in two ways. Firstly, infants whose birth certificates are not filled out on time are given generic placeholders for registration, such as Infant, Unknown, or Baby. But more influential during this decade was the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing, starring Jennifer Grey as Frances "Baby" Houseman. It's the origin of the famed line, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."