black cat names: 80+ names for your tiny void

First, we dispense with the nonsense. Black cats are not bad luck. That superstition was invented by people who were startled by their own furniture in the dark. A black cat is simply the best-dressed animal in any room and the hardest to photograph, which is its own kind of power. Now, the names.

I am part black myself, so consider this an informed opinion rather than a list scraped off the internet by someone who has never met a cat. A black cat hides most of its expression in shadow, which means it communicates through action: the sudden gallop, the slow blink from a high shelf, the way it appears on your chest the instant you sit down. Name the animal accordingly. Below, sorted by exactly how theatrical you are feeling about a creature that is mostly silhouette.

mysterious and witchy black cat names

The obvious choices, and obvious for a reason. If your cat watches you sleep and gives off the energy of a familiar who has seen several centuries, start here.

• Salem
• Onyx
• Raven
• Hex
• Midnight
• Shadow
• Binx
• Sabrina
• Nyx
• Jinx
• Morticia
• Willow
• Circe
• Hecate
• Omen

night and space black cat names

For the void that appears to contain a galaxy. Works especially well if there is a single white star of fur on the chest, which the cat will treat as a design flaw and you will treat as a miracle.

• Cosmo
• Nova
• Eclipse
• Orion
• Luna (ironic but earned)
• Vader
• Pluto
• Comet
• Galaxy
• Twilight
• Blackhole
• Nebula
• Sirius
• Cinder
• Ash

void cat names

A word on the void, since the internet has taken to calling black cats exactly that, and I approve without reservation. A void is a black cat so complete it becomes a cat-shaped absence of light, a hole in the sofa with eyes, the thing you lose in a dark room and then step on. It is the most honest description of a black cat ever coined, and it earns its own names. Here are the ones that lean into the beautiful nothingness.

• Void
• Abyss
• Vantablack
• Umbra
• Blackout
• Obsidian
• Erebus
• Nyx
• Pitch
• Eclipse
• Onyx
• Dusk
• Hollow
• Cinder
• Shade

classic and elegant black cat names

Understated names for a cat that moves through the house like it holds the deed. As far as the cat is concerned, it does. Do not argue. You will lose.

• Coco
• Ebony
• Jet
• Sable
• Noir
• Velvet
• Guinness
• Espresso
• Pepper
• Domino
• Bear
• Inky
• Licorice
• Cola
• Panther

funny black cat names

A solemn shadow named Toast Crumb is, I concede, funnier than any witch name. The gap does the work. I notice my own title has been included again. I will allow it, as I am also mostly black and entirely serious.

• Toothless
• Batman
• Nightmare Before Dinner
• Void
• Blackout
• Sir Shadow
• Olive (she was)
• Bagheera
• Meowgic
• Count Fluffula
• Dementor
• Espresso Yourself
• Grim
• Edgar Allan Paw
• Chairman

how to choose the right black cat name

Because black cats hide their faces in low light, their character arrives through behaviour rather than expression: the appearing, the vanishing, the small crimes committed at 3am when they believe no one is watching. I know this because I commit them myself. Watch for a few days. A cat that keeps materialising out of nothing is a Shadow or a Binx. A cat that radiates smug royalty from the top of the cupboard is a Bagheera, whom I respect, or a Cleopatra, whom I tolerate.

One practical matter. You will spend real portions of your life standing in a dark garden calling a creature the exact colour of the dark garden. Pick something short and carrying. Two syllables. It will not make the cat come. Nothing makes the cat come. But at least the neighbours will learn its name.

does your void live up to the name

Once the little shadow is named, find out what it scores. The judge here rates any cat out of 100 on cuteness, fluffiness, gremlin factor, royal energy, and loaf form, and it is not softened by a pair of large yellow eyes in the dark. A cat named Bagheera had better bring the composure. See where yours actually lands.

More, if you insist: the generator, or funny cat names and cute cat names.

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