When T.S. Elliot wrote in a poem (The naming of cats) the lines ?(when) I tell you, a cat must have three different names?, he must have owned a cat. Many cat owners would have to agree that finding a cat's name is both a serious and a fun thing to do and that a cat's name barely lasts a whole year before they find a new, better and apt name for their pets.

Most cats start out with simple and uncreative names. A black cat given to you by a friend is unsurprisingly called Blacky, much like what you will expect from a fluffy cat named (surprise, surprise) Fluffy. These names (along with the likes of Smokey and Tiger) are given by previous owners who really do not want to be attached to the cat because they are giving it to some other friend. They sort of expect you to change the names of these cats as you take them to your house.

When you give a different name to a cat, you are welcoming him to your family. Most names come from favorite things, like characters from a book, movie or television show. Other names crop up from famous (and infamous) celebrities such as Britney, Saddam or Osama.

Aside from giving your cat a name that first popped into your mind, there's one fun way that a certain website mentioned. It's acrophonology - it is the analysis of a name through the qualities of the letters. Before giving your cat or any pet just any moniker, it won't hurt to give acrophonology a try, right? You can even find online analysis of your cat's name. Sites that offer this kind of service often deliver a brief summary of the hidden meanings that are within your cat's name. Sure sounds fun and quite rewarding, right?

Other ideas can come up from cartoons, mythology, ancient historical figures and even from common names of people. There are plenty of names out there and if you can't think of any, just type ?cat names? in your favorite search engine and you'll find great names that you might have not thought of.

These names though, however good they are, tend to change after certain circumstances. Imagine a cat you named Fatso because he was fat when he was a kitten. All of a sudden, after 1 year he went from a kitten who always slept to a cat that prowls the night. This will build up his body and the once fat kitten is no more. So what about his name of Fatso? It sounds ridiculous introducing him to your friends as Fatso when he is not fat at all, so you are bound to change her name after that.

Another secret with cats names is that you have to be creative. Sometimes you don't even have to think of a word as cats provide them to you with their actions.

Other cats names change after certain incidents. These incidents include accidents such as your cat breaking a big bottle of strawberry jam (so you named her Strawberry) or like when she cries too much and you can't sleep for several nights (so she is named Banshee).

The value of your cats name does not only extend to that term of endearment that you would like your lovely feline companion to be regarded with, but your cats name is also important when it's time for you to train it. If you are planning to make your pet one of the most well-trained, making your cats name easy to say and quite unique will make it easier for you to say it when you have to issue a command. One tip is use your cats name in positive commands such as "come". When your cat gets accustomed to hearing its name in only positive commands it will learn to love its name.