warrior cat names: 80+ names for fierce cats (and Warriors fans)

You want a warrior name. This tells me one of two things about you. Either you have read a great many books about fictional clans of feral cats and you would like a name in that tradition, or you have looked at your own small predator and understood, correctly, that it is a killing machine that happens to enjoy naps. I can help with both. One of these pursuits I respect without reservation. The other I find slightly puzzling but will indulge, because the underlying instinct is sound: cats are warriors, and a warrior deserves a name with some iron in it.

Let me be plain about my position. A cat does not need a fierce name to be fierce. I have watched a creature named Mr Bubbles reduce a fully grown jack russell to a whimpering apology, and I have known a Killer who was frightened of the toaster. The name flatters the human more than the cat. But if you are going to flatter yourself, do it with taste, and that is what the rest of this is for.

how the warrior cats naming system actually works

For those of you who arrived here through the Erin Hunter books rather than through owning an actual cat, the fictional clans use a naming system, and it is more thought through than most human ones. A cat is not given one name for life. It earns them in stages. As a newborn it takes a prefix plus "kit", so a grey kitten might be Greykit. On becoming an apprentice the suffix changes to "paw", giving Greypaw. When it earns full warrior status the leader grants it a proper suffix chosen to reflect a quality it has shown, and Greypaw becomes Greystripe. A leader adds "star", which is how Firepaw eventually becomes Firestar.

The prefix is drawn from appearance or circumstance, colour, markings, a distinctive feature. The suffix is drawn from character or deed, heart, claw, stripe, storm, pelt, foot, fur, tail. You can build a perfectly convincing warrior name for your own cat by pairing one of each, and it will sound entirely at home in the books. Below are some I would not be embarrassed to answer to.

• Firestar
• Graystripe
• Ravenwing
• Ashfur
• Brambleclaw
• Frostpelt
• Shadowstorm
• Thornheart
• Duskpaw
• Emberfoot
• Silverpelt
• Nightclaw
• Russetfur
• Stormtail
• Briarheart
• Cinderpelt

fierce names for a real cat

Now for those of you naming a live animal rather than a character. These are strong, unisex-leaning names that suit a cat with presence, the kind that walks into a room and expects it to fall silent. None of them require a fandom to understand.

• Blade
• Rogue
• Titan
• Onyx
• Saber
• Rebel
• Havoc
• Diesel
• Bandit
• Ranger
• Storm
• Talon
• Viper
• Ash
• Wolf
• Fang

warrior queens and goddesses

If your cat is a female with the bearing of a general, and most of them are, look to the women who fought and the goddesses who presided over it. These carry weight without trying.

• Valkyrie
• Athena
• Xena
• Freya
• Bellona
• Nemesis
• Artemis
• Morrigan
• Kali
• Zenobia
• Sekhmet
• Brienne
• Andraste
• Mulan
• Diana
• Enyo

warriors of history and legend

Real generals, conquerors and legends of the battlefield. Give one of these to a cat and you commit to a certain lifestyle, mostly one of being ignored by a small animal named after Genghis Khan.

• Spartacus
• Genghis
• Boudicca
• Attila
• Leonidas
• Hannibal
• Achilles
• Ragnar
• Cyrus
• Cleopatra
• Shaka
• Ajax
• Maximus
• Khan
• Caesar
• Joan

names that sound like a threat

And for the cat whose whole personality is menace, the ones that need no explanation. Say them out loud. If the name alone makes you check where the cat is, it has done its job.

• Reaper
• Bruiser
• Dagger
• Chaos
• Brutus
• Cutlass
• Menace
• Riot
• Gunner
• Hex
• Warlock
• Razor
• Ripley
• Slate
• Grim
• Vandal

how to choose

A warrior name has to survive two tests, and most fail the second. The first is that it sounds impressive, which is easy. The second is that you can shout it across a garden at ten at night without feeling like a fool, which is not. Titan is magnificent on paper and considerably less so when you are hissing it into the dark in your dressing gown. Say your shortlist out loud, in the daft voice you will inevitably use, and keep the one that still holds its dignity.

Beyond that, let the cat earn it a little, the way the clans do. Watch it for a week before you commit. A name given too early is a guess; a name given after you have seen the animal fight the curtains and win is a verdict. And if the fierce name refuses to stick and the cat becomes a Noodle regardless, do not fight it. The cat has told you who it is. That is the whole point of the clan system, and the one part of it worth taking to heart.

Related reading from my desk: the full cat names hub for every list I have compiled, unique cat names if you want something no other cat in the clan is answering to, and funny cat names for when the warrior act inevitably collapses into farce.