by Jessi Klein
Tabby cat names come in all shapes and sizes – kind of like tabby cats themselves!
What exactly is a tabby cat?
It’s not a specific breed but rather a classification of any domestic cat with distinctive stripes, dots, lines or swirling patterns. Many have a mark resembling an ‘M’ on their forehead. They come in many different color mixtures, including black, gray, brown orange and cream.
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Also worth noting, there are four distinctive patterns:
- Mackeral – narrow stripes that run vertically down their back.
- Spotted – various shaped spots throughout their body.
- Ticked – a pattern that produces agouti hairs, hairs with distinct bands of color on them, and looks almost like salt and pepper.
- Classic – circular smudges that look almost like a bullseye.
- Patched – used to describe a tortoiseshell tabby cat with patches of brown & red.
(Photo examples and more info can be found here.)
So, now that you’ve got clarification on what exactly a tabby cat is, let’s get to the fun part: tabby cat names!
An obvious name choice is Tabby, or Tabitha or Tab. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here are many more options.
Tabby Cat Names Based on Patterns
What makes a tabby cat so special is the patterns on their fur, so why not use this as inspiration for their name?
- Spot – This is a great choice if you have a spotted tabby cat. And we love the irony of giving a cat a classic dog name.
- Pebbles – Tabby cats often have a pebbled fur pattern. Also, this name is adorable.
- Patches – Patterns of different colors kind of look like patches.
- Harlequin – A name inspired by the harlequin pattern.
- Marble – Tabby coats often have a marble pattern.
- Dot – A super sweet name for a girl cat with spots.
- Checkers – We love this creative spin on the specked pattern of tabby cats.
- Mackeral – Named after one of the four distinct tabby patterns. You can also shorten to “Mac.”
- Agouti – Cats with the ticked pattern have what’s called agouti – fur coloration in which each hair displays alternating bands of dark and light pigmentation. When it comes to tabby cat names, this is definitely unique!
Tabby Cat Names Inspired by Color
Tabby cats come in all sorts of different colors. Here are some names based on the most popular colors common to these beautiful creatures.
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- Shadow – For the cats that are darker in color.
- Pepper– A great option if your cat is gray and black with a ticked partner.
- Onyx – If your cat has a bold, saturated coat color, this could be a cool name.
- Sable – A strong name choice for male cats.
- Blue – Sometimes cats have almost a blue-ish hue.
- Cinder – Another unique option for a cat that’s a little dark in coloring.
- Earl Grey – A fun, cultured name for cats with a gray coat.
- Ember – Ember is the color of a glowing hot coal, which could kind of sum up some of the tabby colorings.
- Stoney – We love this sweet name for a grayish-colored cat.
- Cocoa – A cute, sweet name for a brown-ish cat.
- Cinnamon – Great for cats with a reddish hue.
- Red – Or, why not go with the literal color?
- Amber – A beautiful, girly name based on the goldish orange coloring.
- Tawny – A light brown-ish orange color, tawny also makes a super cute cat name.
- Fawn – This light yellow/tan color is quite popular in felines and provides great inspiration for tabby cat names.
- Ginger – A sassy, sweet name.
- Goldy – Perfect for that golden-hued furball.
- Copper – If your cat has a warm, rusty coloring, this is perfect.
- Honey – How cute is this name?
If you’re liking name inspired by color, check out previous articles we’ve written on ginger cat names, gray cat names, black cat names, and black and white cat names.
Fun Tabby Cat Names
Tabby cats are such unique, playful creatures so why not have a little bit of fun with their name?
- Abby – A super sweet female cat name in itself, Abby also rhymes fabulously with tabby. Abby the Tabby!
- Gabby – Or, there’s also Gabby.
- Flabby – If your cat is a little on the heavier side, Flabby is a silly, funny name.
- Crabby – And if your cat has an attitude problem, why not call it like it is? Crabby the Tabby.
- Tabigail – We totally just made this up. For female tabby cat names, this might just be perfect.
- Tiger – Because the tabby pattern kind of looks like a tiger coat.
- Reese – Inspired by Reeses Pieces, those brown, orange and yellow candies.
- Taffeta – Tabby comes from a translation of the French word for “striped silk taffeta.” How fancy is that?
- Em – Many tabby cats have an “M” shaped mark on their forward, so you could call your cat Em, Emma or Emmy.
- Tabico – Some cats have a combination of tabby and calico markings, affectionately called tabico.
- Attabiy – Tabby cats were named after a striped silk made in Baghdad, specifically the Attabiy district.
- Leopard (or Leo for short) – The coats of some tabby cats kind of looks like a leopard.
- Bullseye – As we mentioned before, some tabby cats have a bullseye shape on their fur. How adorbs is this name?
Famous Tabby Cats – Purrrr-fect Inspiration for Tabby Cat Names
And finally, you could draw inspiration from famous tabby cats.
- Garfield – The famous orange cartoon cat is considered a tabby. At least according to Wikipedia.
- Morris – The advertising mascot for 9Lives brand cat food.
- Ithaca Kitty – This popular stuffed toy from the past was modeled after a tabby cat.
- Think Think – The President of Taiwan owns a tabby cat named Think Think.
- Freya – The name of the tabby cat belonging to former British Chancellor George Osborne.
Tabby Cat Hack All Goodies
There you have it, 49 tabby cat names!
If you’re looking for other ideas, don’t fret – we have hundreds of other options. Try out our cat name search to pick one that fits your preferred style and interests.
Good luck, and congratulations on welcoming a new furbaby into your home.