Marvel Cat Names: Goose, Chewie, and a Whole Universe for a Heroic Cat

Marvel is not the first place most people look for a cat name, which is a shame, because its universe turns out to be quietly full of cats — and not just metaphorical ones. There is an orange tabby who is secretly an alien with a pocket dimension in her stomach, a black stray taken in by the world’s deadliest spy, a fluffy white cat owned by a recovering assassin, and a saber-toothed tiger who fights alongside the Avengers’ pets. Add the hundreds of heroes and villains whose names happen to sit beautifully on a cat, and Marvel becomes one of the deepest naming wells there is.

This guide starts with the genuine article — the cats Marvel actually drew — before opening out to the heroes, villains, and women of the wider universe whose names suit a real cat. I have kept to what the comics and films actually show, and flagged the one or two famous “cats” who are nothing of the sort. Where a name lives in our directory you can follow the link to its meaning; where a character is too obscure to have an entry, I have said so plainly rather than invent one.

The real Marvel cats

If you want a name that is, properly, a Marvel feline, this is the short and surprisingly varied list. Every one of these is a cat the comics or films put on the page.

• Goose — the orange tabby of Captain Marvel (2019), and the most famous Marvel cat by a wide margin. Goose looks like an ordinary ginger cat and is in fact a Flerken, an alien able to swallow objects whole into pocket dimensions; in the film she casually stores the Tesseract in her stomach and scratches Nick Fury’s left eye, which is the running joke behind his eyepatch. Goose is a wonderful name for a confident orange tabby with a deadpan stare and hidden depths.
• Chewie — the comics original, and the same character Goose is based on. In the pages of Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers’ pet is called Chewie, named after Chewbacca both because she resembles him and because Carol could not think of anything better. First appearing in 2006 and revealed as a Flerken in 2014, Chewie is the deeper-cut name for the cat-literate household, and pairs perfectly with Goose if you ever have two ginger cats.
• Liho — the black cat adopted by Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, in her 2014 comic run. Liho was a stray who lingered near Natasha because of the attention she paid it, and the name is the spy’s dry, self-deprecating joke: Liho is the Slavic personification of misfortune and bad luck. The name is not in our names directory yet, but for a wary black rescue cat who decides, slowly and on its own terms, that you can be trusted, nothing fits better.
• Alpine — the white cat belonging to Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, in the comics. Usually drawn as a fluffy long-haired Angora, Alpine became the emblem of Bucky’s softer, recovering self — living proof that even a former assassin can be a devoted cat dad. Alpine is a clean, wintry, slightly aloof name for a long-haired white cat with a calm, grounding presence.
• Hairball — the orange cat of Robbie Baldwin, better known as Speedball, and a member of the Pet Avengers, the misfit super-pet team led by the giant teleporting bulldog Lockjaw. Hairball gained kinetic, bouncing powers much like his owner’s, which makes Hairball the perfect, faintly ridiculous name for a high-energy ginger kitten who treats the furniture as a trampoline.
• Zabu — not a house cat at all but a saber-toothed tiger, the loyal companion of Ka-Zar in the prehistoric Savage Land and another member of the Pet Avengers. Zabu is a strong, exotic, ever-so-slightly absurd name for a big-boned tabby or a Maine Coon who carries himself like the last great predator of a lost world.

One honest footnote, since the question always comes up: Cosmo, the telepathic space-dog of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Rocket, the talking raccoon, are not cats — but both names sit so well on a cat that they have quietly migrated over anyway, and Rocket in particular suits a small, loud, fearless cat with a chip on its shoulder. Use them with a clear conscience; the cat will not check the source material.

What a Flerken actually is

It is worth pausing on the Flerken, because it is the single best idea Marvel has ever had about cats. A Flerken is an alien species that merely resembles an Earth cat — the same size, the same indifferent stare, the same habit of sitting on things it should not — but each one is also a living gateway to a pocket dimension folded up inside its body. From its mouth it can extend a mass of tentacles and swallow objects, or whole people, into the space within; it lays clutches of eggs; and it is, by the reckoning of every spacefaring race that has met one, genuinely dangerous. The joke writes itself: anyone who has lived with a cat already suspects it is hiding something enormous behind that blank expression, and the Flerken simply makes the suspicion literal. Carol Danvers spent years assuming Chewie was an ordinary pet before learning the truth, which is roughly the experience of every cat owner who has watched their placid animal produce a sound no living thing should be able to make. To name a cat Goose or Chewie is to admit, fondly, that you have no real idea what is going on inside it — and that you would not trade it for anything.

Hero names for a bold cat

Most Marvel cats will never be Flerkens, but plenty have the swagger of a hero. For the confident, dramatic, faintly self-important cat, the Avengers bench is deep:

• Thor — for the big, golden, supremely self-assured cat who clearly believes he is owed a throne; the heavier the cat, the better the joke.
• Loki — the trickster’s name, ideal for a clever, mischievous cat who opens cupboards and feigns innocence; Marvel even turned Loki into an actual cat in its Marvel Meow shorts, so the reference is doubly earned.
• Stark or Tony — for the slick, vain, infuriatingly brilliant cat who runs the household and lets you think otherwise.
• Bruce or Hulk — the perfect pairing of names for a cat who is gentle and bookish right up until the vet appears.
• Steve and Bucky — plain, loyal, old-fashioned names for a steadfast cat, and a ready-made pair for two bonded toms.
• Peter or Quill — for the cocky, charming, slightly chaotic cat with a soft centre; Quill is the rarer, more distinctive of the two.
• Hawkeye, Clint, or Kate — sharp, watchful names for the cat who tracks a laser dot with lethal focus.
• Logan — gruff and short-tempered, for the scarred old tomcat who has clearly been in a hundred fights and won most of them.
• Storm — regal and elemental, lovely on a silver or smoke-grey female with a commanding presence.
• Riri, Kamala, or America — bright, modern names from Marvel’s younger heroes, for a quick and fearless kitten.

Villain names for the cat who runs the house

Let us be honest about who is in charge. For the imperious, scheming, faintly menacing cat who regards you as staff, the villains fit far better than the heroes:

• Hela — the goddess of death, all icy command and theatrical menace; unbeatable on a sleek black female who sweeps into a room and expects it to fall silent.
• Magneto or Erik — for the dignified, formidable cat with absolute conviction that he is the most important being present, and a point of view you will not change.
• Mystique or Raven — for the shape-shifter who is sweet on your lap one moment and a blur of claws the next; Raven is the wearable everyday form.
• Venom or Eddie — a gleefully sinister pick for a glossy black cat with too many teeth and an appetite to match.
• Ego — the living planet whose name is also the single most accurate one-word description of any cat ever written.
• Ronan — severe, ceremonial, and grand, for the cat who treats every meal as a state occasion held in his honour.
• Wade — for Deadpool himself, the ideal name for the chaotic, fourth-wall-ignoring cat who does whatever it wants and somehow gets away with it.

Black Widow and the women of Marvel

Marvel’s women give some of the best cat names of all, and the Black Widow connection runs deepest, since Natasha is one of the few heroes with a real cat of her own. For a sleek, self-possessed, slightly dangerous female cat, start there: Natasha in full, or Nat for daily use, for the watchful cat who misses nothing. From the wider roster, Wanda suits an intense, unpredictable cat with a touch of chaos magic about her; Valkyrie is bold and battle-ready, ideal for a fearless warrior of a cat; and Hela returns here for the regally cold ones. The gentler picks are just as strong: Pepper is brisk, capable, and quietly in charge, lovely on a tidy ginger; Hope and Janet, the two Wasps, are light and quick, perfect for a small, darting cat; and Felicia — Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat herself — is the obvious, glamorous choice for a confident black-and-white cat with a taste for trouble. For a poised, intelligent female who simply seems above it all, Jennifer, alias She-Hulk, carries real wit.

Matching a Marvel name to your cat’s coat

Because so many Marvel cats come colour-coded, it is easy to match a name to a coat. An orange or ginger tabby is spoiled for choice: Goose, Chewie, and the bouncing Hairball are all literally ginger Marvel cats, with Rocket for the small loud one and Pepper for a tidy female. A black cat belongs to Liho, the dark sorcery of Loki, the icy Hela, or the sinister Venom. A white cat, especially a fluffy one, is an Alpine through and through. A silver or smoke-grey cat carries Storm, the cyborg-cool Nebula, or the quicksilver Pietro. A black-and-white tuxedo cat is a natural Felicia, the Black Cat. And a big, broad, magnificent cat of any colour can carry Zabu or Thor with full, unironic dignity.

Marvel pairs and trios for a multi-cat home

Marvel is built on teams and rivalries, which makes it one of the best sources for naming cats that belong together. The neatest pair is the Flerken double act: Goose and Chewie, the same character from two universes, ideal for two ginger cats. For brothers who fight constantly and love each other anyway, nothing beats Thor and Loki. Two bonded, loyal toms are a ready-made Steve and Bucky, while a fast, scrappy pair suits Rocket and Nebula. The twins Wanda and Pietro are the obvious pick for a literal pair from one litter. And if three cats arrived at once, Marvel hands you a genuine feline trio: in Mr. and Mrs. X, Gambit and Rogue adopt three cats named Oliver, Lucifer, and Figaro — three real Marvel cats whose names happen to be classic cat names already.

Cats who are basically superheroes already

Marvel has a long history of cat-themed heroes, and their names suit a cat who carries herself like one. Tigra — Greer Grant, the striped, fur-covered Avenger with literal claws and a tail — is the standout, a perfect name for an athletic brown tabby who climbs everything and lands every jump. Patsy, alias Hellcat, is the lighter, scrappier counterpart, ideal for a small, fearless, acrobatic cat. And for the burglar with velvet paws, there is always Felicia, the Black Cat, who in the comics keeps a whole crew of feline accomplices — surely the only Marvel rogue whose henchmen are, fittingly, actual cats. If your cat’s superpower is theft — of socks, of the warm spot, of your seat the instant you stand up — one of these is the honest choice.

Choosing one, and saying it for fifteen years

The simplest way to narrow a Marvel list is to decide how loudly you want to fly the flag. A loud reference — Goose, Hairball, Mystique — announces your fandom and gives you a story for every visitor. A quiet one — Alpine, Pepper, Oliver — simply sounds like an excellent cat name, with the Marvel meaning kept as your private bonus. Neither is wrong; it is purely a question of temperament, yours and the cat’s.

One last practical note, because you will say this name perhaps ten times a day for the next fifteen years. The Marvel names that carry across a kitchen are the short, open ones — Goose, Loki, Thor, Nat — while the grander ones reward a daily short form: Magneto becomes “Mags,” Natasha becomes Nat, and Hairball becomes, inevitably and affectionately, “Hairy.” If a small orange menace with hidden depths is what landed on your doorstep, our orange cat names and tabby cat names collections have more in the same key; for a black sorcerer in the Loki or Hela mould, the black cat names list is where to go next; and for a big, bold cat that needs a name to match, the strong cat names page keeps the heroic register going. Whatever you choose, you will be doing the most Marvel thing of all: giving an ordinary-looking creature a name that hints, quietly, at the universe folded up inside it.