Ragdoll Cat Names: 150 Ideas for Girls, Boys and Pairs
Around 150 names sorted by girl, boy, colour and character, plus four rules for picking one that works.
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The best Ragdoll cat names are short, soft and easy to call across a room: two syllables, ending in a vowel sound, nothing that sounds like a command or another pet. Below are around 150 ideas, sorted into Ragdoll cat names for girls, for boys, names that suit each colour and pattern, big fluffy and regal names for a cat that may one day weigh 8 kg, cute Ragdoll kitten names from our own colony and litters, and matched pairs for two kittens. Say your shortlist out loud for a day before you commit. Some names that look lovely written down feel silly shouted at a cat on the stairs.
Six kittens from one litter, named to one theme so the siblings share a world until their families rename them.
How to choose a Ragdoll cat name
Cats learn the sound of a name, not the meaning, so the sound is what matters. Four things make a name work in practice.
Two syllables carry. Mabel, Otis and Atlas cross a room and a garden without effort. One syllable can vanish into the background noise, and anything with four syllables shrinks to a nickname within a week anyway.
End on a vowel sound. Names ending in an ee, ah or oh sound are the ones cats seem to pick out of ordinary speech, which is why so many well loved cat names end that way. Rosie, Fifi, Milo.
Avoid commands and clashes. A name that rhymes with no, sit or stay muddles a kitten, and a name close to another pet's name, or a child's, muddles everyone. In a house of sixteen Ragdolls, Kitty and Dotty are as close as we let two names get.
Try it out loud for a day. Call it from the top of the stairs. Say it at the vet. Say it sternly at two in the morning. If any of those feel wrong, keep looking. The kitten does not mind the wait, and a name chosen a week after meeting the cat usually fits better than one chosen from a photo. Our guide to settling a kitten in covers those first days.
Ragdoll cat names for girls
Girl Ragdolls grow into elegant, substantial cats, so a name that is soft at the start and still sounds right on a 5 kg adult with a full ruff does well. These are the ones we hear most often from the families who take our kittens, with a few we would happily choose ourselves. Most end on a vowel sound, which is no accident.
- Willow, Pearl, Ivy
- Hazel, Rosie, Matilda
- Clementine, Nala, Maisie
- Peggy, Freya, Ottilie
- Nell, Elsie, Florence
- Harriet, Minnie, Lottie
- Edie, Tilly, Primrose
- Delilah, Esme, Agnes
- Betty, Iris, Ophelia
- Wren, Penelope, Margot
- Beatrix, Dolly
If you want something less common, try the colour list further down, or borrow from our own colony, where Snowflake and Milkyway are living proof that a three syllable name works perfectly well once a cat has heard it a thousand times. Still deciding between a girl and a boy? Read male vs female first.
Ragdoll cat names for boys
Boys are the big ones. A male Ragdoll can reach 9 kg and takes three or four years to finish growing, so the aim is a name that suits a 1 kg kitten and a small lion equally. Short, warm and a bit solid tends to win. These are the boys' names we like best and the ones that come up again and again.
- Alfie, Teddy, Milo
- Otis, Arthur, Hugo
- Stanley, Ralph, Monty
- Finn, Oscar, Louie
- Ozzy, Rupert, Barnaby
- Jasper, Remy, Wilbur
- Bertie, Reggie, Albie
- Caspian, Frankie, Dexter
- Leo, Percy, Rufus
- Toby, Bruno, Sidney
- Horace, Humphrey
Our two studs are Aqua, a blue bicolour famous on our show for collecting objects and hoarding them, and Dunston, a blue mitted famous for never once commenting on anything. Neither name is on any list, and both fit their cats exactly, which is the whole point. A name you have never heard on another cat is a fine thing.
Names for the colour, from seal to fluffy white
Ragdoll kittens are born white and the colour arrives over the first weeks, so you may be naming a cat whose final shade you can only guess at. Our colours and patterns guide explains what comes in and when. If you arrived here searching for names for a fluffy white cat, the pale and the bicolour rows are the ones for you.
- Seal and chocolate: Sable, Cocoa, Mocha, Truffle, Espresso, Brownie
- Blue: Misty, Smoke, Ash, Storm, Pebble, Slate
- Lilac and cream: Lilac, Sorrel, Fawn, Honey, Vanilla, Peaches
- White and pale: Snow, Cloud, Marshmallow, Ivory, Blizzard, Polar
- Mitted and bicolour: Mittens, Socks, Domino, Boots, Patch, Puzzle
Colour names are the safest bet for a kitten chosen from a photo, because the markings will not change their mind. A blue kitten stays blue. A seal kitten only gets darker. Marshmallow, our bicolour queen, is the house's proof that a pudding name ages well on a serious adult cat.
Big, fluffy and unique Ragdoll cat names
Ragdolls carry themselves as if they own the house, and in ours they do. A name with some weight to it suits an adult who drapes across an entire sofa arm and looks at you as if you are late. Unique Ragdoll cat names in this mould tend to come from titles, the weather, the night sky and the pantry.
- Duchess, Baron, Luna
- Atlas, Bear, Mabel
- Winston, Pudding, Biscuit
- Nimbus, Juniper, Ottoline
- Empress, Majesty, Sultan
- Admiral, Tempest, Comet
- Orion, Aurora, Pumpkin
- Crumble
Pudding and Biscuit sound soft, but on an 8 kg cat they are exactly right. If you prefer dignity, Duchess and Winston have never once been wrong. Whatever you choose, a regal name does not stop a Ragdoll stealing a sock or falling off the back of the sofa mid stretch. The name is for you. The cat already has its own opinion of itself.
Names from our own colony and litters
Sixteen Ragdolls live in our house, and their names are a fair sample of what works. The queens are Snowflake, Pulaski, Milkyway, Tennessee, Dorothy, Marshmallow, Fifi and Lola. The studs are Aqua and Dunston. The rising girls are Kitty, Skye, Boo, Daisy, Clover and Dotty. Call any of those across a garden and you hear why they stuck: nearly all end on a vowel sound, and none sounds like a command.
Our litters are named by theme, so siblings share a world. The Fairytale Litter had an Ariel and a Pinocchio, the Viking Litter had an Astrid, and the Summer Litter and the Chocolate Litter followed the same idea. Past kittens have included Bramble, Poppy, Fern, Lavender and Astrid. A theme makes a litter easy to tell apart at a glance when they are all still white, and it gives a new family a story to keep or to drop.
Most families rename, and that is fine. The litter name is a working title. A kitten that leaves us at nine to ten weeks adapts to a new name within days, especially when it arrives attached to a food bowl.
Pairs for two kittens
Two kittens from one litter are easier than one in several ways, which we cover in one kitten or two. If you are taking a pair, names that belong together are half the fun, and they help children keep track of who is who. Our guide to children and kittens covers the rest. These are pairs we would happily shout across the garden.
- Salt and Pepper
- Fig and Plum
- Thunder and Lightning
- Pip and Squeak
- Bonnie and Clyde
- Sage and Rosemary
- Rhubarb and Custard
- Ernie and Bert
- Juno and Jupiter
- Scone and Crumpet
- Tom and Jerry
- Ziggy and Stardust
- Wallace and Gromit
- Mango and Kiwi
- Pancake and Waffle
One rule: avoid pairs that rhyme or start with the same sound, because a cat cannot tell Millie from Tilly when you are calling from another room, and neither can you at a distance. Pick two names that sound different, then enjoy the fact that they belong together.
Quick questions, answered
Should you name a Ragdoll kitten before or after meeting it?
After, if you can bear to wait. Make a shortlist from photos by all means, but a name chosen after an hour with the kitten tends to fit for life, and plenty of families settle it on the drive home. The litter name you are given is a working title, not a decision.
Can you rename a Ragdoll kitten?
Yes. A kitten of nine or ten weeks has heard its litter name for a few weeks at most and will answer to a new one within days if you use it at mealtimes and during play. Even adult cats adapt to a new name in a few weeks, so a rescue cat can be renamed too.
Do Ragdoll cats know their names?
Yes. A 2019 study in Japan found that cats can tell their own name apart from similar sounding words, even when a stranger says it. Whether a Ragdoll chooses to come when called is a separate question, although ours usually do, because a name has always meant food or a lap.
How are your litters named?
By theme, so each litter shares a world: the Fairytale Litter, the Viking Litter, the Summer Litter and the Chocolate Litter are examples. Siblings get names that belong together, which helps us tell white kittens apart and gives their new families a story. Most families rename, and we expect them to.
Thinking about a Ragdoll kitten?
Our Ragdoll and Ragcoon kittens grow up in our home in Ryde, Isle of Wight, with health tested parents and our support for life. See who is available now, or join the waiting list for the next litter.