iCatNames Find the purr-fect name

Methodology

How content is produced on iCatNames, where the data comes from, and what we deliberately do not do. This page exists for two reasons. First, search-engine evaluators (Google's E-E-A-T framework: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) reward sites that state their methodology publicly. Second, more concretely, we would want this from any naming directory we relied on.

Where the data comes from

Cat-name directory (22,292 active names)

Assembled from public-domain naming sources, etymological dictionaries, and cultural tradition lists. Compiled by hand over years; not LLM-generated. Each name carries gender, origin, meaning, pronunciation (where known), and links to one or more curated collections. Origin-field accuracy was systematically improved on 2026-05-06 — see our updates log for the cleanup detail.

Breed pages (75)

Every breed page is grounded in a synthesis of three official cat-fancy registries: the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), The International Cat Association (TICA), and the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF). Where a breed is recognized by all three, the page reflects all three. Where a breed is recognized by only one or two — Bambino is TICA-experimental only, Aegean is recognized by no major registry — the page states the recognition gap honestly.

Coat-color pages (32)

Cat coat genetics drawn from standard references — principally Wikipedia's "Cat coat genetics" article and the scientific literature it cites (e.g., Schmidt-Küntzel et al. 2005 on the chocolate B-locus). Cultural folklore drawn from primary historical documents (Pope Gregory IX's 1233 papal bull Vox in Rama) and major traditions (Bastet veneration, Tama the calico stationmaster of Kishi Station, the "tortitude" personality belief which is documented as folklore but lacks scientific support).

Breed × color cross pages (86)

Built only where the database holds at least 75 names linked to both the breed template and the color template. Combinations where the overlap is thinner are not built — the parent breed or color page is the better entry. Each cross page combines a breed-specific verified fact with a color-specific verified fact in a way neither parent page does alone.

Pair (32) and trio (10) themes

Cultural origins are sourced from primary works (Dumas's 1844 Les Trois Mousquetaires, Hesiod's Theogony c. 700 BCE, Bill Watterson's 1985-1995 Calvin and Hobbes) or canonical secondary sources (Wikipedia for film/TV release dates and character descriptions).

Naming tips (717 active articles)

Each tip is a hand-edited piece, not LLM-batch-generated. Some tips predate our current editorial rules (see below) and are scheduled for review case by case.

How we write content

Every page rewritten in the 2026-05-09 content overhaul was written under a public set of editorial rules we call the anti-template guardrails. The summary:

  • Hard-banned phrases. "Perfect for", "ideal for", "delightful", "wonderful", "charming" (unless quoting a verified source), "Whatever name you choose", "Discover the best", "Find the perfect", "rich tapestry of", "fascinating world of", and bare-adjective tricolons ("playful, curious, and loving"). These are phrases that AI-spam classifiers reliably flag, and they are low-signal language regardless of who writes them.
  • Specificity floor. Every page must contain at least three verifiable specifics — a registry-recognition year, a named person or named cat, a quotable historical detail. If a topic does not yield three verifiable specifics, the page is shorter and admits the gap rather than padded.
  • Framing-axis variation. Across any batch of similar pages (60 breeds, 21 colors), at least three different opening framings are used: historical fact, counter-intuitive specific, behavioral observation, physical-trait specific, cultural reference, owner-type observation. No single batch can have every page open with a personality description.
  • Closer rotation. Across any batch of pages, no single closing CTA pattern is allowed to dominate. We do not end every page with "If you are weighing X, browse our Y and Z" or any equivalent template.
  • Honesty principle. If a folklore claim lacks scientific support (the "tortitude" personality belief is the textbook example), we state that. If a breed has welfare concerns documented by veterinary bodies (Scottish Fold, Munchkin, Bambino), we state those. If a breed name does not match its DNA-confirmed origin (the Abyssinian's genetic origin is coastal India, not Ethiopia), we state that.

These rules apply to the pages rewritten in the 2026 content overhaul and to new editorial batches. Older tips may predate the rules and are reviewed case by case; an active count is shown above rather than frozen into this paragraph.

Editorial review and source display

New or substantially rewritten guides identify the writer, reviewer, review date, and the sources used for factual claims. A source list does not mean every naming suggestion comes from that source; it identifies the references used for breed standards, coat genetics, veterinary context, or trend data. Name meanings remain tied to the database and are left blank when we cannot document them.

  • Writer: assembles the candidate pool, structure, internal links, and draft.
  • Reviewer: checks factual claims, source fit, link validity, duplication, and whether limitations are stated clearly.
  • Review date: changes only after a substantive review, not for cosmetic formatting.
  • Corrections: material corrections are recorded in the updates log; readers can report an error through contact.

What we do not do

  • No automated bulk-filling of unknown facts. We do not fill empty meaning, pronunciation, or short-description fields without a traceable source. Unknown data remains unknown.
  • No fabricated dates, named cats, or events. If a fact cannot be sourced to a registry, a primary text, or a credible secondary source, it does not appear on the site. Mistakes happen; when they are found, we correct them and document the correction in the updates log.
  • No retroactive edits to changelog entries. The updates log is append-only. If a 2026-05-06 entry says we removed 254 names and a later review finds we should have kept 12, the later entry says so — we do not edit the old number.
  • No invented citations. "According to recent studies" without a study is not a sentence we will write.
  • No copy-paste from competitor sites. Where a page draws on another reference (Wikipedia is the most common), the reference is acknowledged here or in our editorial notes.

Data history and corrections

Every substantive correction is documented at /updates. The most consequential corrections to date:

  • 2026-05-06 origin cleanup. 16,138 cat-name records had a falsely-set Hebrew origin tag (a default-value import bug). All 16,138 were reset to NULL. This means roughly 100–200 actual Hebrew names also lost their tag — an acceptable trade-off; the meaning field still preserves their religious context where present.
  • 2026-05-06 short_desc cleanup. 111 short_desc rows containing baby-name framing markers (imported from a baby-names database) were removed. Approximately 1,565 short_desc rows remain — those are descriptive content that works for cats too.
  • 2026-05-06 thin-content noindex. 4,146 cat-name pages with all five descriptive fields empty AND no breed/famous-cat link marked noindex,follow. Pages still render for direct visitors and internal links; only Google indexing is suppressed.
  • 2026-05-06 junk-name removal. 254 user-submitted long or garbage names physically deleted, with HTTP 410 + X-Robots-Tag: noindex returned at their former URLs.

If you find a factual error on the site, contact us (see /contact). We would rather know.

Limits we acknowledge

  • Many cat names lack a documented meaning or origin. 9,591 of 22,292 active names currently have no meaning field, and 17,942 have no origin. We do not invent values to fill these.
  • The "Hebrew" origin cleanup over-corrected slightly. Approximately 100–200 actual Hebrew names lost their origin tag. We will restore them when we have a structured source for verifying actual Hebrew etymology, not before.
  • Several breeds in our 75-collection directory are recognized by no major cat-fancy registry. Those pages must state the recognition gap and identify the smaller registry or reference used.
  • Cat genetics on this site is not a substitute for veterinary guidance. We discuss B locus, D locus, W locus, and others at the level of accuracy a careful pet-naming site needs. For a real genetic question — health screening, breeding decisions, hypoallergenic claims — talk to a veterinarian.
  • We are a small operation. When we say "we" we usually mean "Marvin and Claude". This page exists partly to make that scale visible.

Why this page exists

A directory's quality is partly the content on its pages and partly the trustworthiness of the operation behind those pages. This page is the second part. We write it for the same reason we maintain the updates log — public commitment is a constraint that improves the work over time.

Journalists looking for citable statistics, story angles, or data extracts: see our press kit.