Literary Cat Names

Kesey is a possible literary hero name honoring Merry Prankster Ken Kesey, whose characters flew over the cuckoo's nest. Kesey rhymes with easy.

A lyrical choice with a similar feel to Story and Posy and a similar sound to Penelope. It might refer to either a work of poetry, a collection of poems, or something that is comparable to the beauty often associated with poetry as a form.

A name used in Germany and Holland as a form of Jerome, it's the unlikely moniker of fictional detective Hieronymous "Harry" Bosch.

One of the new-wave Christian word names that has appeared occasionally on the charts since the 2010s.

Japhy Ryder was a hero of Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums. Compared with Moses and Noah, Japhy sounds downright adorable and eminently baby-worthy.

If you want to move beyond Maya.

The names may sound the same, but they have different origins and meanings. Take your pick.

A British surname that was used only for males until Mrs. Norman Mailer, Norris Church (born Barbara), came under the public eye.

If you've heard this name, it's probably from the hero of the acclaimed Julia Glass novel, Three Junes, or else the political scientist Richard Fenno. As well as a Finnish name, it's alos a Frisian diminutive from names in the Frederick family, making it is a cousin of Freddie, Fritz and Fedde. This name is so rare it's never appeared on the charts, but with its energetic O ending it might appeal if you're looking for an alternative to names like Otto and Arlo.

The spelling Woolf inevitably conjures writer Virginia. If you're a fan of Mrs. Dalloway and the Bloomsbury group, Woolf might be a creative way to combine a trendy animal name with an original honor name. Woolf was the surname of Virginia's husband, Leonard.

Evocative of the great Nobel Prize winning poet Pablo Neruda, real last name Basoalito, who took on the surname Neruda to honor a Czech poet of that name. One of the most poetic boy names starting with N, or with any letter, for that matter.

Old fashioned nickname that some girls just might be able to pull off. You'd just have to be sure your little Fancy was one of them.

Lolita without the naughty implications.

Pretty and distinctive choice for poetry lovers.

Orleanna was the young heroine of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible.

Associated with the poet and novelist Galway Kinnell, this name of an Irish city, county, and bay would make an evocative choice. For further literary cred, writers Liam O'Flaherty and Frank Harris both hail from Galway.

This name of a character in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying is short, sweet and Southern-sounding.

Plausible literary name to honor upbeat Armenian-American playwright and prose writer William Saroyan.

Tigger is the bouncing not-a-tiger from Winnie the Pooh, a symbol of buoyancy and resilience. As Tigger says in the books, he's "the only one", and it should probably stay that way when it comes to people names, though Tigger would certainly make a cute name for a cat.

Name of the winning young heroine of Toni Morrison's first novel, The Bluest Eye.