Unisex Cornish Rex Cat Names

The Cornish Rex has no guard hairs. The coarse outer layer most cats wear is simply missing from the breed, which is why the remaining down coat lies in tight marcel waves down the back and curls right out to the whiskers and eyebrows. The texture is closer to crushed velvet than fur.

The entire breed traces to a single kitten named Kallibunker, born 21 July 1950 on a farm at Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. His owner, Nina Ennismore, was advised by geneticist A.C. Jude to breed Kallibunker back to his tortoiseshell mother Serena — that mating produced enough curly offspring to confirm the trait was heritable. A Life magazine feature in 1956 carried the news worldwide, and a pregnant queen named Lamorna Cove arrived in California in 1957 to start the North American line. CFA granted Championship status in 1964; GCCF followed with immediate Championship recognition in 1967.

Naming a Cornish Rex tends to pull from three honest directions. Founding-cat names — Kallibunker, Serena, Poldhu, Lamorna — sit well on a breed that owes its existence to one farm cat. Cornish geography (Bodmin, Tintagel, Truro, Penzance, Mousehole) anchors the Celtic west-country origin, and the Arthurian thread runs through Tintagel for owners who want a more literary handle. The breed's greyhound-like silhouette — long legs, arched back, tucked belly — also rewards lean-sounding names like Whippet, Saluki, or Arrow.

For the other rex-family lineages, see our Devon Rex cat names — the recessive-gene cousin from the next county over — and our Selkirk Rex cat names, the only rex breed with dominant curls.