Sanderson Sisters Cat Name Trios

Hocus Pocus opened on July 16, 1993 to lukewarm reviews and a thirteen-million-dollar opening weekend, then quietly became one of the most-watched Halloween films of the next thirty years. The Sanderson sisters — Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy) — are seventeenth-century Salem witches resurrected on Halloween night. Winifred is the bossy redhead with the spellbook, Sarah is the dreamy younger blonde who sings the resurrection spell, and Mary is the dim-witted middle sister who tracks scents with her oversized nose.

The trio maps onto three female cats with distinct social roles. The Winifred cat is the household dictator — first to dinner, last off the windowsill, vocal about preferences. The Sarah cat is the dreamer — the one staring out windows for hours, the one who sings opera at three in the morning. The Mary cat is the snifter — face in every box, every shopping bag, every guest's coat pocket.

A black cat in the household locks the theme in (the film's plot revolves around the immortal black cat Thackery Binx). Halloween-themed coats — black, black-and-white, calico — match best, but any three female cats with sharply different personalities can wear the names. The 2022 sequel Hocus Pocus 2 confirmed the trio's pop-culture permanence.

The three columns below suggest cat names matched to each side of the trio by meaning. Mix and match across the columns to assemble the right set for your three cats. Refresh the page for fresh suggestions; click any name to see its full profile.

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