Anime Cat Names

40 hand-picked anime cat names from the Name Vault — plus how to make one stick.

How to Pick One

Sort the list into cats and people before you fall for anything. Luna and Artemis are the talking cats of Sailor Moon, Jiji belongs to Kiki's Delivery Service, Kirara is the two-tailed cat in Inuyasha, and Madara is the true name of the creature better known as Nyanko-sensei in Natsume's Book of Friends. Those carry the theme without explanation. Luffy, Levi and Vegeta are human characters, so a cat called Vegeta is a joke about its owner rather than a description of the animal. The other hazard is the mouth. Japanese has five pure vowels and gives every beat roughly equal length instead of the heavy stress English uses, so Kakashi and Karupin come out mangled and inconsistent. Two beats ending on an open vowel gets the fastest head-turn: Jiji, Yuki and Sora qualify, while Kuro sits close enough to no to cause a confused pause.

FAQ

How do I choose the right anime cat name?

Say your top three out loud at feeding time — the one that feels natural to call across a room is the winner. Two-syllable names ending in a bright vowel get the fastest response.

Which of these are actually cat characters?

Luna and Artemis from Sailor Moon, Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service, Kirara from Inuyasha, Chi from Chi's Sweet Home, Madara or Nyanko-sensei from Natsume's Book of Friends, Sakamoto from Nichijou, Blair from Soul Eater, Karupin from The Prince of Tennis, and Meowth from Pokemon. Happy counts loosely, being a small winged blue creature rather than a cat. Everything else on the list is a person.

How do I pronounce these without butchering them?

Japanese vowels are consistent: a as in father, i as ee, u as oo, e as eh, o as oh, and they do not drift the way English vowels do. Each syllable takes about the same length, and the language uses pitch rather than the stress accent English speakers instinctively add. So Kakashi is three even beats, not ka-KAH-shee. Say it the same way every time and the cat will learn it.

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