And the Most Popular Names for Adoptable CH Cats are…

Photo courtesy Paul-W

What’s the number-one name for an adoptable CH cat?

Wobbles.

Wonder why, haha.

In descending order, here’s a list of the most popular names for adoptable (and adopted) CH cats that have been posted on Petfinder.com since January:

• Wobbles
• Weebles
• Wiggles
• Weeble
• Tippy
• Penelope
• Molly

Do any of those look familiar? Runners-up include: Wobble, Thumper, Shadow, Reggie, Pansy, Katie, Jody/Jodie, Ivy, Forest Gump, Dweeble, Cricket and Buddy.

I think it’s funny that the top names are nicknames for the condition’s characteristics. But just as CH cats are also endearingly called “drunken sailors” or “wobbly cats,” we can be sure that all of these names were given in love.

Now, to be fair, most shelters have a naming policy for their adoptable pets. For example, at the Tree House Humane Society, where I volunteer, I believe they can only use a name once every 10 years. (This is in case a pet is returned, so it can keep its identity at THHS.) It also helps prevent confusion, especially if you love the name Max — which happened to be the most popular cat name in 2010 — and consequently name every other cat at the shelter Max.

Somes shelters even name litters by themes. For example, CG’s litter was named after board games. He was named Scrabble, his siblings were Yatzee and Checkers. These themes can help shelter staff better remember groups of kittens. And who can forget Weeble and Wobble, two CH siblings that were adopted together?

So one must assume that when a CH cat crosses a shelter’s path, they’re more than likely to give it a name they certainly can’t give another cat (unless they’re into misnomers).

But anyway, while we’re on the topic of names, here are the 10 most popular cat names from 2010:

• Max
• Bella
• Chloe
• Oliver
• Lucy
• Smokey
• Shadow
• Tiger
• Tigger
• Charlie

Photo courtesy Anon.Rosie

This list (in descending order) was compiled by Petfinder last year, after they took a look at more than 300,000 pets that were up for adoption. It’s interesting how Shadow makes both lists. (It was even Ellie’s original name!)