orange cat names: 80+ names for your ginger menace

So you have acquired an orange cat. Congratulations, and my condolences. You are now the custodian of the internet's favourite idiot, a creature the humans insist shares a single brain cell across the entire colour. I will defend the ginger cat shortly, because the reputation is unfair. But first, the names, because a cat this loud in appearance deserves a name with some warmth to it.

A word on the colour before we start, since people get it wrong constantly. Orange is not a breed. It is a coat, it appears across dozens of breeds and moggies alike, most orange cats are male, and every single one of them is a tabby underneath even if the stripes are faint. I explain the genetics properly in what breed is an orange cat. For now, just know your ginger is almost certainly a magnificent nobody, and that is the best thing to be.

food names for a snack-coloured cat

The obvious category and the strongest. Orange cats look edible, so the humans name them after warm, orange food and it works every time.

• Marmalade
• Cheeto
• Nacho
• Mango
• Butterscotch
• Pumpkin
• Cheddar
• Biscuit
• Peaches
• Cinnamon
• Apricot
• Nutmeg
• Tang
• Clementine
• Waffles

fire and sun names

For the ginger who burns a little brighter, or at least a little warmer, than the rest.

• Ember
• Blaze
• Sunny
• Phoenix
• Flame
• Ra
• Copper
• Rust
• Amber
• Saffron
• Sol
• Ginger
• Rusty
• Flare
• Dawn

famous gingers

The orange cat has a long public career, and the results are mixed. Garfield I will not be discussing at length; he is a lazy, mean-spirited glutton who gave the entire colour its reputation, and I hold him personally responsible. Puss in Boots at least had the decency to be competent. Borrow these knowing the company your cat now keeps.

• Garfield (against my advice)
• Puss
• Simba
• Aslan
• Hobbes
• Milo
• Oliver
• Crookshanks
• Heathcliff
• Jones
• Orion
• Vincent
• Toulouse
• Morris
• Prince John

in defence of the ginger, and classic names to match

Now the correction. The single-brain-cell joke is a slander. Orange cats are not stupid, they are optimists, which the humans mistake for the same thing. A ginger cat walks into every situation assuming it will go well, and often it does, purely through confidence. That deserves a proper, dignified name, not another snack. Consider these.

• Winston
• Archie
• Rufus
• Leo
• Rory
• Freddie
• Jasper
• Teddy
• Gus
• Ollie
• Hercules
• Sunny
• Miel
• Fox
• Chester

how to choose

Orange suits a warm name, but resist the urge to make the colour the whole personality. Rusty and Ginger are fine, but they tell the world nothing except that your cat is orange, which the world can already see. Pick something that says what the cat is like, not what colour it is, and the name will still fit when the novelty of the coat has worn off and you are simply living with a confident idiot who loves you. Say your shortlist out loud, keep the one that makes you smile, and forgive it in advance for the lasagne it will inevitably steal.

Related reading from my desk: what breed is an orange cat for why yours is male and a tabby, the cat names hub for every other list, and funny cat names, a category oranges were born for.