Cat Names That Mean Cat

Lavi is a rare member of the trendy leonine group of names in the US, but in Israel it's among the Top 10 boy names. It makes a good alternative to Levi.

The Russian version of Katherine is usually Ekaterina, but this Slovak form is used throughout Eastern Europe and may be more friendly to the American ear.

Tony, as in classy. Or To-nyyy, as yelled out a tenement window.

Better than Lenny, not as good as Leo, and tightly tied to Tonight Show host Jay Leno.

Leontine is the French form of a name that's more familiar by its spelling variation Leontyne, the name made famous by opera diva Price. An obscure choice, Leontine nevertheless feels right for our lion-name-crazed moment.

A variation of Lionel that has made slow but substanial gains in recent years, perhaps helped by the resurgence of Leo. It is also the Spanish and Portuguese variant.

A short form that is given on its own to a good number of baby girls each year — Cali has been on trend in recent years along with sister names Callie and Kali, as the popular 90s and early 2000s nickname Allie has felt less fresh. The Cali spelling in particular also brings to mind the sunny state of California and all of the beachy imagery that follows.

Ariyah jumped into the Top 1000 for the first time in 2013, probably because some American parents see it as a creative spelling of the popular Aria or Arya. But it's also an authentic Hebrew name in its own right, a feminine form of the Biblical Aryeh, heard in modern Israel..

Creative choice, evoking the high-kicking can-can girls and other colorful figures in the works of Toulouse-Lautrec.

A word name with fashionable o-ending that has associations with both the homespun fabric and the mottled cat. Alice Cooper named his daughter Calico decades ago.

An Italian spin on the current European darling Leon, though the final e makes it a tad feminine to the American sensibility.

One of the most popular names of all time in Portugal and Brazil, with a romantic, lively sound. The main risk is confusion with other names that sound similar: Catalina, Katrina, and so forth. Caterina, with an "e," is more common in Italy.

Tau, rhyming with cow, is a simple straightforward name with roots in two languages and cultures, the Kaurna language spoken by indigenous Australian people or the African Tswana language, a Bantu language spoken by five million people.

Other wild animals like Fox, Wolf and Bear are catching on as baby names, and Tiger is a rarer option with several famous namesakes, including golf champ Tiger Woods, who was born Eldrick. Other famous Tigers include Indian actor Tiger Shroff, born Jai, and British actor Tyger Drew-Honey, who spells his name with a Y.

Alparslan is a combination of the Turkish words alp, meaning "hero," and arslan, "lion." The name is a reference to Alp Arslan, the title given to 11th-century Seljuk sultan Muhammad bin Dawud Chaghri when his army defeated the Byzantines.

Cato may have risen to new prominence in the English speaking world as an ancient Roman boys' name, popularized by The Hunger Games. But in the Netherlands, it's most widely used as a short form for Catharina and other forms of Katherine, ranking close to the Top 100, higher than any formal variation of the name. Cato for a girl is a cute idea and a fresh way to shorten the ubiquitous Catherine.

With the rise of many once-dated leonine names, from Leona to Lionel to Leonora, Leandra is an unusual choice that might be looking at a comeback..

The y makes it seem more like a name and less like an animal, but it's still not as appealing as several Leo choices.

May be the most modern, stylish Catherine nickname: more unusual than Kate or Cate, with an animal and word name edge. Cat Power is a trendy folksinger.

An old-timey boyish nickname that works as a diminutive of Leona or Leonie, Alondra, Lorna or any female name with strong L and N sounds.