So you have finally brought your new kitten home that you have waited so long for, you have got everything you need; the litter tray, toys, a bed, food and drink for them and then a friend will drop by and remind you of the one thing you had completely forgotten about, ‘What’s their name?’.

Now you might be thinking that this isn’t true for you and in fact you are one of the people who had the name ready before you had even picked your new cat, or even before they were born! The naming of your kitten is the start of the relationship between the two of you, or between the whole family. So you can be sure to make the right decision on the name for the new member of your family below is some handy tips that might help to make that decision a little bit easier;

Shorter names are the best for cats because they are easier to learn, a name with two syllables is best rather than a longer name. If you chose to give them a long name, then make sure you can shorten it to a nickname for them to learn. if you have more than one pet in your house then you should try and give them very different names, having two very similar names will confuse them.

Another useful thing to think about when naming your cat is that the tiny kitten that is smaller than your hand at that point in time will grow into a much larger cat, their personality will also change too, so names like Tiny might be cute and obvious to start with, but as they grow you might change your mind. Some people like to name their new cat after one they have lost, this is fine however be aware that your cat will be a lot different even if they look the same, their personality will be different.

All of the above of just some little tips, you can be however imaginative you want to be when naming your cat, far more than when naming a child as you don’t need to worry about causing them any psychological harm and your pretty certain that they aren’t going to get bullied because of their name by any of the local cats! Here are some of the most popular cat names in the UK;

• Molly
• Charlie
• Jasper
• Max
• Oscar
• Poppy
• Tigger
• Smudge
• Millie
• Daisy