Egyptian Mau Cat Names
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The Egyptian Mau is the fastest pedigreed domestic cat. TICA documents recorded sprints of up to 30 miles per hour, helped by a loose belly flap running from flank to hind leg — a structure most cats don't have, but the cheetah does. The hind legs are proportionally longer than the front legs — the reason a Mau looks like it is leaning forward even at rest.
Despite the look, the modern Mau is not a continuous descendant of the cats in Egyptian tomb art. Spotted cats resembling the breed do appear in frescoes and papyri dated around 1550 BC, but the line that exists today is a 1956 revival. Russian princess Nathalie Troubetskoy brought three Maus from Italy to the United States that year; CFA registered the breed in 1970 and granted Championship in 1977. UK recognition came much later — Melissa Bateson imported the first UK Maus in 1998, and GCCF granted full recognition in 2006.
The Mau is the only natural spotted domestic breed — the spots arise from the cat's coat pattern itself, not from selective breeding off a tabby. The forehead carries an 'M' shape called the mark of the scarab, the eyes are gooseberry green ringed by dark mascara lines, and the coat appears in three colours: silver, bronze, and smoke. Naming pulls comfortably from genuine Egyptian sources beyond Cleopatra — Bastet, Sekhmet, Khufu, Nefertari, Khepri (the scarab god) — and from the breed's signature speed: Cheetah, Bolt, Zephyr, Comet.
A Mau name should pull on speed, ancient Egypt, or the silver-bronze-smoke tonal range. Bastet for a silver. Coppera for a bronze. Cinder for a smoke. Khepri (the scarab god) for any cat that ended up with the M-mark sharpest on the forehead.
Most Popular Egyptian Mau Cat Names
A curated 30-pick shortlist of the most established and recognizable picks for EgyptianMau cats. Browse the full alphabetical list below for all 69 options.
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria | Feminine of Alexander. Defender of mankind. | Female | English |
| Anika | very beautiful, graceful | Female | African |
| Arty | Bear, Stone | Unisex | English |
| Ash | Ash tree. | Male | English |
| Athena | Goddess of War | Female | Greek |
| Bambooka | Unisex | ||
| Bes | Myth Name (Dwarf God, Brings Joy) | Unisex | |
| Bubu | Owl; monster of the underworld | Unisex | |
| Cairo | City In Egypt | Male | English |
| Cinder | Burnt ashes | Unisex | |
| Cleopatra | glory of the father | Female | Greek |
| Couscous | North African grain dish | Unisex | |
| Cyrus | throne | Male | Persian |
| Dalila | Delicate | Female | Swahili |
| Dapple | Mottled or spotted | Unisex | |
| Darius | protector | Male | |
| Dorothea | Gift Of God | Female | Dutch |
| Egypt | Ancient civilization of the Nile | Male | |
| Fifi | Jehovah increases | Female | |
| Geb | Myth Name (Earth-God) | Unisex | |
| Giza | Hewn Stone | Unisex | |
| Heba | gift from God | Unisex | |
| Hobbs | Bright fame | Unisex | |
| Isis | throne | Female | Egyptian |
| Kiwi | Small brown fuzzy fruit | Unisex | |
| Kiya | Egyptian mythology | Unisex | |
| Laila | Night, dark beauty. | Female | Spelling |
| Layla | night | Female | Arabic |
| Laziza | Unisex | ||
| Leila | dark as the night | Female | Persian |
| Leopard | Spotted wild cat | Unisex | |
| Luxor | Ancient Egyptian city | Unisex | Egyptian |
| Lynx | Keepers of the secrets of the forests in mythology, also the name of a conste... | Male | |
| Majestic | Dignified, regal | Unisex | |
| Majesty | Royal dignity | Male | |
| Matrix | Unisex | ||
| Maya | Abbreviation of Amalia: variant of Maia. | Female | |
| Mayhem | Chaos, disorder | Male | |
| Memphis | City Of Moph | Male | |
| Mesi | Water | Unisex | Egyptian |
| Midnight | Intense darkness, the middle of the night | Male | English |
| Moonstruck | Unisex | ||
| Moses | saved; child; taken from water | Male | Egyptian |
| Nadine | from the Chuck Berry song | Female | |
| Natalie | birthday of the Lord | Female | |
| Omar | first son, disciple; gifted speaker; famous | Male | Arabic |
| Pandora | talented one | Female | Greek |
| Pashu | Born At Easter | Unisex | |
| Pharaoh | ruler | Male | Latin |
| Ra | sun | Male | Egyptian |
69 names found. Page 1 of 2.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Egyptian Mau actually from ancient Egypt?
Genetically, the modern breed is a 1956 revival, not a continuous descendant. Spotted cats matching the Mau's appearance do appear in Egyptian frescoes and papyri dated around 1550 BC, but the line registered today traces to three cats brought from Italy to the United States in 1956 by Russian princess Nathalie Troubetskoy. The look is genuinely Egyptian; the breed paperwork is mid-twentieth-century.
Why is the Egyptian Mau called the fastest cat?
TICA documents sprint speeds up to 30 miles per hour. Two physical features make this possible: a loose flap of belly skin that runs from flank to hind leg (giving extra body extension at full stretch — a feature shared in form with cheetahs), and hind legs proportionally longer than the front, which produces the breed's tipped-forward stance even when standing still.
What is the 'mark of the scarab' on a Mau's forehead?
It is the 'M' shape that runs across the forehead between the eyes — visible on most Maus and many tabbies, but on the Mau the marking is named for the scarab beetle, a sacred Egyptian symbol of the rising sun. Egyptian art frequently paired cats and scarabs as protective figures, which is part of why the breed name carries cultural weight in the cat fancy.
What colours do Egyptian Maus come in?
CFA, TICA, and GCCF all recognise three colours: silver (black spots on pale silver), bronze (dark brown spots on warm bronze), and smoke (black spots on pale silver-tipped smoke). All three carry the same 'M' forehead mark and gooseberry-green eyes. The smoke variant is the rarest of the three.
Are Egyptian Maus good family cats?
They are intensely loyal to their immediate family but reserved with strangers. CFA describes them as 'affectionate, loyal, outgoing and fearless' with the people they know — sometimes shy and easily startled by loud noises with people they don't. Many Maus have an unusual love of water (GCCF specifically mentions cats who 'stick their heads under a running tap').
What names suit an Egyptian Mau?
Genuine Egyptian names beyond the Cleopatra cliché — Bastet (cat goddess), Sekhmet (lioness goddess), Khufu, Nefertari, Khepri (the scarab god), Anubis, Hathor — fit the breed's actual cultural lineage. For the speed angle, Cheetah, Bolt, Zephyr, Comet, Dash. For coat colour: Silver and Quicksilver suit silvers, Bronze and Coppera suit bronzes, Cinder and Ash suit smokes.
Related Naming Guides
Egyptian Mythology Cat Names: Bastet, Ra, and a Sacred Naming Tradition
No civilization in history revered cats the way ancient Egypt did, which makes Egyptian mythology arguably the single most natural and meaningful well there is for a cat name. This guide deliberately leads with the documented history: the cat-goddess Bastet and her enormous temple at Bubastis, the mummified cats buried by the hundreds of thousands, the well-attested law that reportedly made killing a cat a capital crime, and the spotted Egyptian Mau, the closest surviving echo of those temple cats themselves. From there it draws out the names genuinely worth using: the great deities, from the gentle Bastet to the lioness Sekhmet, the sun-god Ra, the jackal-headed Anubis, and the wise scribe Thoth; the pharaohs and queens, including Cleopatra, Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, and Hatshepsut; and the sacred places and treasures, Cairo, Luxor, Karnak, the Sphinx, and the scarab. There is a practical coat-matching section for black and golden coats, ready-made deity pairings such as Isis and Osiris for two-cat households, and a closing note on confidently pronouncing Sekhmet, Anubis, and Nefertiti.
Egyptian Cat Names: 36 Calls with History and Clear Boundaries
Egyptian cat names are often presented as one undifferentiated mix of ancient deities, royal names, archaeological places, modern Arabic names, and Egyptian Mau references. This guide separates those lanes across 36 database-linked candidates. Bastet, Sekhmet, Ra, Horus, Cleopatra, Nefertiti, Dendera, Memphis, Bes, Tefnut, Layla, Zahra, and the remaining calls receive source, pronunciation, association, and daily-use notes without treating a Greek rendering as an original Egyptian spelling or a modern Arabic name as pharaonic. Museum material grounds ancient-cat imagery, while breed information keeps the Egyptian Mau distinct from ancient Egypt as a whole. Readers learn to identify a figure’s documented role, avoid sacred-cat myths that exceed the evidence, label transliteration uncertainty, and stop historical associations from becoming predictions about a real animal. A six-lane shortlist, museum-object check, pronunciation ledger, cultural-comfort review, sound trial, and final provenance card turn a popular theme into an accurate, usable naming decision for a modern multi-cat home.
25 Unique Egyptian Cat Names For Girl Kittens
Egypt is considered the ancient and sacred home of cats, with felines deeply woven through its history, culture, and heritage since the Egyptian Mau was first domesticated to dispatch rats and rodents. This collection of 25 unique Egyptian names brings that mystique to your girl kitten. Lovely picks include Alu meaning child-like, Baraka a blessing, Buikhu meaning best, Kahotep peaceful, Kemnebi panther, Khenti one who leads, Menetnashte powerful, Mshai wanderer, Nebtawi lord, Nomti strong, Odji evil, Rasui dreamer, Shalam an Egyptian greeting, Shushu boastful, Sokkwi foolish, Uro a king, and Wati rebellious. Choose a meaningful name that suits your cat's personality and ancient feline lineage.
25 Unique Egyptian Cat Names For Boy Kittens
Egypt is considered the ancient and sacred home of cats, with felines woven through its history, culture, and heritage since the Egyptian Mau was first domesticated to dispatch rats and rodents. This list of 25 unique Egyptian names celebrates that legacy for your boy kitten. Picks include Ahmenhotep meaning pleasing to the God Amen, Anok Fero meaning Pharaoh, Anok Sabe meaning wise, Baraka meaning a blessing, Benipe strong as iron, Kahotep peaceful, Kamenwati black rebel, Kemnebi panther, Khenti one who leads, Kufu the pharaoh, Menetnashte powerful, Mkhai fighter, Nebtawi lord, Nomti strong, Panahasi barbarian, Uro a king, and Wati rebellious.
30 Female Egyptian Cat Names
Egypt is the ancient sacred home of the cat, where felines first lived alongside humans guarding the royal granaries from rodents. If you want to give your newborn female kitten an Egyptian name, this list of 30 picks is steeped in goddess lore. Bast is the beautiful black cat goddess and mother of all cats, Isis rules fertility and motherhood, Hathor protects women, and Hebony simply means black. Softer options include Aisha (peaceful), Dalila (sweet and gentle), Miu (gentle), Jamila (beautiful), Layla (born during the night), and Nile after the famous river that fed the kingdom.
30 Male Egyptian Cat Names
Cats were first domesticated in ancient Egypt to guard royal granaries from rodents, and the Egyptians honored them through countless gods and goddesses. If you are searching for a male Egyptian cat name for your boy kitten, this collection of 30 unique picks draws straight from that mythology. Anubis fits a black cat as the god of the afterlife, Ra the supreme sun god suits a regal tom, and Horus, Osiris, Thoth, and Sphinx all carry powerful meaning. Gentler choices like Bes (bringer of joy), Shai (a guardian angel), Nuru (child of light), and Baraka (a blessing) round out the list for your sacred companion.