Burmese Cat Names, Cat Names of Burmese Breed, Page 2

Every modern Burmese descends from a single walnut-brown female cat named Wong Mau, brought from somewhere along the Thai-Burma border by a sailor and delivered to Dr. Joseph G. Thompson in San Francisco in 1930. Two years later, when Wong Mau was bred to a Seal Point Siamese named Tai Mau, the litter split into three colour patterns — but it was the dark, solid-chocolate kittens that bred true and became the foundation. CFA picked the breed up for registration in 1936 and granted Championship in 1959. GCCF in the UK got there earlier — recognition came in 1952, with the Burmese Cat Club founded two years later.

The Burmese is medium-sized but startlingly heavy — fanciers call them bricks wrapped in silk, and CFA's standard compares the build to a small bulldog. The coat is short, fine, and satin-finished; the eyes are large, gold to amber, and set far apart. They reach full size by eighteen months, faster than most pedigreed breeds, which means a name does not have to age across three years of slow growth the way a Maine Coon's does.

Naming options divide cleanly. Honour the founder line: Wong, Mau, Sealcoat (the first blue Burmese, born in England in 1955). Honour the geography: Mandalay. Yangon. Bagan. Pegu. Honour the foundation colour — sable Burmese were the original four-paws-on-the-ground stock, and naming a sable kitten Mocha, Espresso, Truffle, or Ganache treats the colour as the heritage feature it actually is. The dilute champagne, platinum, and blue colours arrived later and carry their own naming logic.

A Burmese is a Velcro cat. Pick a name you can say at lap distance, because that is where the cat will be.