Cat Names That Mean Curious

Word name with an air of mystery.

Alcott evokes shades of nineteenth-century New England, and memories of the author of the books Little Women and Little Men. Louisa May Alcott was the daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott, noted educator, writer and philosopher, and colleague of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

Seneca was both a Roman philosopher-statesman and is a Native American Iroquois tribe. Occasionally used for both girls and boys, Seneca is now a Hunger Games character.

Runes are symbols in ancient Germanic alphabets. They are often viewed as mysterious and therefore as a name, Rune imparts a feeling of folkloric mystery. As intriguing as that might be, the homonym ruin creates a lot of teasing potential.

An unusual, energetic surname choice that would make a good Madison alternative. Madigan was a typical police detective series of the 1970s, starring Richard Widmark.

French version of August, for both sexes. And for those who feel the spelling of August is too plain.

Hypatia, an ancient Greek name, has a distinguished namesake: Hypatia of Alexandria was an early philosopher and scholar of mathematics and astronomy--as well as inventor of several scientific instruments.

Alfredo, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese variation of Alfred, is most familiar as the romantic lead in Verdi's evergreen opera La Traviata. On a less romantic note, Alfredo is also the name of a pasta sauce.

A pretty, dainty name for one of the little characters in the children's book series The Borrowers. It was the basis for a later Studio Ghible animated film, The Secret World of Arrietty. While the connection to Harriet is tenuous, you might want to consider Arrietty as an honorific for an ancestral Harriet, Harry, or even Henry or Henrietta.

A name with a less conventional animal meaning, rescued by the reputation of the Greek courtesan Phryne (more beautiful than Aphrodite, one of the wealthiest women in classical Athens) and the charming character Phryne Fisher from Australian author Kerry Greenwood's detective series Phryne Fisher's Mysteries, set in the 1930s. In the series Phryne is a wealthy Melbourne woman, but goes beyond her class and gender stereotypes - she can fly a plane, drives her own car and sometimes wears trousers. However, while displaying bohemian panache, she manages also to maintain style and class. With the Greek pronunciation of the name (FREE-nee), Phryne could be an alluring, unique alternative to Phoebe, although most English speakers would default to the FRY-nee pronunciation.

Russian form of the Greek name Bessarion, most prominently borne by 19th-century Russian literary critic, writer and philosopher Vissarion Belinsky.

Abelard brings to mind Peter/Pierre Abelard, the great twelfth century Breton scholastic philosopher and theologian, who was equally celebrated for his tragic love affair with Heloise--one of the world's most famous love stories.

Hardy is a spirited and durable un-Germanic German surname that is starting to be used in this country.

A paradox is a statement that while seeming true contradicts itself. With the less-than-pleasant "Doxy" as an obvious nickname, Paradox is perhaps a better name for a cat than a baby.

One of the most familiar German names, with an upright Prussian image. Friedrich might just have been out for long enough to start coming back in.

Voltaire is the nom-de-plume of François-Marie Arouet, who became noted for his witty and satirical takes on enlightenment philosophy and Western society. Voltaire's most famous work, Candide, used satire as a vehicle to advocate against religion, monarchy, greed, and for tolerance, freedom and reason. It is said that his moniker was a variation of his sister's family nickname "le petit volontaire" (the determined little thing).

Extravagant virtue name which is notably the first name of the British TV detective Inspector Morse.

The pronunciation is not intuitive to English speakers, who aren't used to Os said as As.

No, not Ben (you'll say a million times), not Van -- Venn. John Venn was a British logician and philosopher famous for introducing the Venn diagram, which is used in several fields, including logic, statistics, and computer science.

Although she declared her independence as far back as the reign of Elizabeth I--Good Queen Bess, Bess now sounds less passé than Beth or Betsy.