Unisex Asian Cat Names

The Asian breed group is British, not Asian, and started by accident. In 1981, in the household of Baroness Miranda von Kirchberg, a Chinchilla Persian male named Sanquist mated unintentionally with a lilac European Burmese queen named Faberge. The litter produced four female kittens with a shaded silver coat — neither the mother's mink nor the father's longhair — that didn't match either parent breed. Rather than neuter the litter, the Baroness recognized a new phenotype and developed it. The name "Asian" was chosen for the group's Burmese paternal lineage; the cats themselves were bred entirely in the UK.

Therese Clarke founded the Burmilla Cat Club in 1984 to organize breeders around the new line. GCCF granted Preliminary Championship to the first variety in 1990 and full Championship to all five varieties by 2003 — the Tiffanie, the semi-longhaired variant, was the last to be admitted. The CFA, TICA, and FIFe have not recognized the Asian Group; it remains a primarily UK pedigree, and only about 160 Asian-Group kittens were registered with GCCF in 2023.

Five varieties live under the Asian Group label. Asian Self covers solid colors, including the British-type Bombay (jet black). Asian Smoke is silver-white at the root with darker tipping. Burmilla — the original 1981 phenotype — is shaded silver with darker tipping. Asian Tabby covers spotted, classic, mackerel, and ticked patterns. Tiffanie is the semi-longhaired variety. All five share the Burmese silhouette: medium muscular build, large wide-set eyes from green to amber, glossy short coat (Tiffanie excepted), modified-wedge head.

Naming directions for each variety: Burmilla and Asian Smoke — Silver, Pearl, Mercury, Frost, Mist. British-type Bombay — Onyx, Jet, Coal, Soot, Raven. Asian Tabby — Tigger, Hazel, Tawny, Stripe. Tiffanie — Tiffany, Audrey, Coco, Ruby. For the founding accident: Faberge, Sanquist, Miranda.