Yellow Cat Names, Names For Yellow Kittens, Page 10

Open Merriam-Webster to the entry for 'yellow cat' and the primary definition is not a domestic cat at all — it is the flathead catfish. Wilbur Daniel Steele's short story "The Yellow Cat" ran in Harper's in March 1915 and was selected for the Best Short Stories of the Year, and that is one of the few cases where the phrase clearly describes a fur-bearing animal in serious print. No major cat-fancy registry — CFA, TICA, GCCF — recognises Yellow as a coat colour. The same cat is Red on a pedigree, Orange in the United States, Ginger in Britain, and Yellow in the rural and folk register that has not been to a cat show.

That register matters for naming. A yellow cat tends to belong to an owner who described the kitten by what they saw, not by what a breeder told them. The names track the register: Sunny. Honey. Butter. Buttercup. Butterscotch. Caramel. Goldie. Tom. Tommy. Tiger. Tigger. Whiskers. Boots. Daisy. Lemon. Mango.

If the cat is mostly the lighter buff end of the orange spectrum, ask yourself whether a name like Honey or Butter fits — or whether the pale-cream register on our Blonde page suits the kitten better.