300 Super cute French cat names 😻 By Personality, Interest & trait

French names for cats

Naming a cat can be a fun and creative process.

Whether your cat is a sophisticated lady or a mischievous troublemaker, I’ve curated a huge list of over 300 possible French cat names organized into categories based on personality traits, favourite foods, physical characteristics, and interests. 

Additionally, I’ve included a section of names inspired by famous French people.

Name your feline friend “cat” or “kitten” in French. 

Wouldn’t it be funny to name your cat “CAT” but another language?

Picture it, “Hey cat, where are you?”

But instead of using the English word, you use the French word for Cat.

There are several ways to refer to cats in French.

The two main ways are “chat” and “chaton.”

1. Cat: chat   /Shaw/
2. Kitten: chaton /Shaw-Tonh/
3. Feline: Féline /Fey-lean/

Here are some cute French terms of endearment that all more or less mean cat or kitty in French. 

1. Minou: /Mee-New/
2. Minouche:/Mee-noush/
3. Minette : /Mee-Net/
4. Chatoune:/Shahw-Toon/

Cat Pun names: French words that begin with “CHAT”…the French word for cat.

If you’re looking for (punny) funny pun cat names,  I’ve got you covered.

Here are some French words that contain or start with “Chat,” the French word for cat.

For instance, Catatonique or Chateaubriand? 

• Catatonique: Catatonic
• Chateau: Castle
• Chateaubriand: large center-cut filet mignon, roasted and served alongside potatoes and a sauce
• Chatouille: Tickle
• Monsieur Chatouille: Mr. Tickles
• Chataigne: Chestnut
• Chatou: a french town near Paris.
• Achat: To buy
• Galuchat= shagreen (a natural hide, typically from shark, stingray or dogfish)

Naughty Body Part names for cats

Childish names for male and female genitalia are popular terms of endearment and are considered cute words.

Try out these two possible cat names, which roll off the tongue and are so fun to say. 

• Zézette: kid name for female genitalia. It is also the name of a pastry from Sète.
• Zizi: A kiddy name for a penis, like Willy or Wiener.

Famous French people names For Cats

The list of human-cat names you could give to your cat are endless. 

I’ve narrowed down this list of names to famous historical French men and women and stereotypical French names that just sound really French.

Powerful male cat names: Based on famous historical French men.

• Napoleon
• Bonaparte:
• Cézanne: Paul Cézanne (famous French painter)
• Chagall: Marc Chagall (famous French painter)
• Jacques Cousteau 
• Louis or  Lous IVX
• Louis Pasteur: French inventor who invented pasteurization
• Marcel: Marcel Proust was a famous French author)
• Matisse: Henri Matisse ( famous French painter)
• Molière: (French actor and playwright similar to Shakespeare)
• Monet: Claude Monet, a famous French painter
• Rimbaud: Arthur Rimbaud (famous French poet)
• Renoir (famous French painter)

Cute Female cat names: Based on famous historical French women.

• Marie Antoinette
• Madam Curie or just Curie
• Mona Lisa: not French, but she is located in the Louvre.
• Coco
• Chanel
• Coco Chanel
• Dior
• Jeanne d’Arc 

Choose a Stereotypical French name for your male cat

Here are some very stereotypical male French names that would make cute names for your male cats. 

• Beauchamp
• Beauregard
• Bouvier
• Didier
• Dominique
• François
• Gaston
• Guillaume
• Jacques
• Jean-Louis
• Jean-paul
• Marcelle
• Pascal
• Pierre
• Sergio

Human French Female names you can name your cat.

• Amandine
• Anouk
• Amelie
• Charlotte
• Delphine
• Elle
• Fifi
• Frostine
• Lilou
• Margot
• Odette
• Ophelie (popular cat name)

French Language Cartoons make great French cat names

Here are the names of some French cartoons that would make adorable French cat names. 

• Pepe le pew:
• Pépé le putois: French name for Pépé Le Pew
• Gaston
• Spirou
• Tin Tin
• Madeleine
• Asterix
• Nicolas Nik-Olah
• Lucky Luke Looky-luke
• Babar
• Cendrillon: Cinderella
• Chapeauté: A fun name to give your cat if you’re a fan of “cat in the hat.”

White and black cat names

If you have a black cat or white cat, your cat’s good looks deserve the perfect moniker.

Black cat names in French

• Noir: /Nwahr/ Black
• Noirette: /Nwahr-ette/ diminutive form of the word black.
• Nuit: /Nu-Wee/ Night
• Minuit: / Min-wee/: Midnight
• Ébène: /Ay-Ben/ Ebony
• Charbon: /Shar-Bohn/ Coal
• Café: /Kah-Fay/ Coffee
• Chocos: /Show-Kow/: French name for the Chocolate coco puff cereal sold in France and parts of Europe.
• Coca: /Coe-Kah/This is what people in France call a coke (the drink)
• Cacao /Kah-Kow/ 
• Encre /Ankruh/: Ink
• Crasse /Krass/: Dirty, filthy
• Onyx /Oh-neeks/: 
• Reglisse / Ruh-gleese/: Licorice
• Tapenade/ Tap-uh-nad/: A popular French spread made of puréed or finely chopped olives, anchovies, and capers.
• Le chat noir / Luh-Shaw-Nwoire/: The black cat

French Cat names for white cats

• Artique /Ar-Teek/: Arctic
• Alpe /Alp/: Alps
• Alpine /Al-Peen/
• Perle /Pairle/: Pearl
• Béchamel /Beh-Shaw-Mel/: White French sauce made with flour and butter
• Blanc /Blawn/: White (masculine)
• Blanche /Blawnsh/ White (feminine)
• Babybel: French brand of cheese that sells mini rounds of cheese wrapped in red wax.
• Blanco: /Blawn-Koe/: French name for liquid whiteout.
• Calisson: /Kah-lee-sonhe/: A diamond-shaped sweet from the provincial area made of almonds covered in white royal icing.
• Chamallow: /Shaw-Mah-low/: A brand of marshmallows in France.
• Chantilly: /Shant-ee-yee/ : Sweet whipped Cream
• Cocaïne /Ko-Kah-Een/: Cocaine
• Coton /Koe-Tonhne/: Cotton
• Farine /Faw-Reen/: Flour
• Flocon /Flow-Konhe/: flake 
• Glaçon /Glah-Sohne/: Ice Cube
• Ivoire: /Eve-Wahr/: Ivory
• Kiri: /Kee-Ree/ A soft, spreadable white processed cheese enriched with cream created in Sablé in the ’60s.
• Neige: /Nayge/ Snow
• Noix de coco: /Nwah-Duh-Coco/ :coconut
• Nougat: /Noo-Gah/: Nougat is a white fluffy but firm confection made of sugar or honey and egg whites.
• Nuage: /New-Ahge/:Cloud
• Phantom: /Fawn-Tome/ :Ghost
• Yaourt: /Yah-ourt/: Yoghurt

French Food names for cats who are foodies

Does your cat love delicious treats or have a sweet tooth? Will they eat anything you put in front of them? 

Here is a collection of French names for cats based on French food and French cooking terms. 

Related: 100 Essential French ingredients for your French grocery list

Savoury Food Names For Cats in French

• Aioli
• Boudin: A type of sausage, usually blood sausage.
• Calisson: Almond paste candy from Provence
• Caviar: fish eggs, a delicacy
• Cornichon: Looks like a miniature cucumber. 
• Croque Monsieur
• Croque Madame
• Escargot: Snails
• Kebab: A popular type of fast food in France that looks like a burrito
• Quenelle KA-Nell: Football-shaped poached dough, a specialty from Lyon.
• Moutarde: Mustard
• Mayonnaise
• Patate: another name for a potato in French
• Ratatouille: Famous French dish from Nice and the mouse’s name in the Pixar movie.
• Sardine: 
• Soufflé: means puffed up or puffy as in chocolate or egg soufflé.
• Truffe: Truffle

Sweet Food Names For cats in French

• Bonbon: Candy
• Canelle: Cinamon
• Caramel:
• Cassonade: Brown Sugar
• Chocolat: /Show-ko-law/ It sounds better pronounced in French.
• Chocolatine: /show-ko-law-tine/This is the same as pain au chocolate, used mainly in the southern region of France.
• Chocos: A chocolate breakfast cereal sold in France and other European countries
• Gâteau: Cake
• Chantilly: /Shawn-tee-yee/ Whipped cream
• Choquette: /Show-Kette/ A typical French puff pastry made with pâte à choux
• Guimauve: Marshmallow
• Haribo: Brand of candy popular in France.
• Tagada: well-known pink candy 
• Chamallow: Marshmallow name by Haribo candy brand.
• Kinder: Not French, but extremely popular in France.
• Nutella
• Miel: /Mee-Yell/ Honey
• Pâte à choux Pata-shoe: A pastry dough used in many recipes such as profiteroles, cream puffs, and eclairs.
• Sucette: lollipop/sucker
• Suzette  (like French crepe suzette)

Fruit and Nut Names For Cats in French

If you have a nutty cat who acts like a fruitcake, try these names out for size.

• Cacahuète Caca-wet: Peanut
• Clementine Klu-mon-tine: A small citrus, like a cross between a tangerine and mandarin orange. 
• Noisette Nwah-zet: Hazelnut, the same stuff Nutella is made out of.
• Pistache Pee-stash: Pistachio
• Mirabelle Me-raw-bell: a small, sweet yellow plum most commonly grown in the Lorraine region of France.
• Prunelle prune-elle: Small blue prune. The French expression “Prunelle de mes yeux” is the equivalent to “apple of my eye”

French Cooking Terms As Cat Names

• Croquer: to take a bite
• Popote: Mess hall where soldiers eat. It has come to mean a simple cooked meal with no frills, like in a mess hall.
• Papillote: “in paper” refers to a cooking technique that uses built-up steam inside a folded piece of parchment paper.
• Roux: French cooking term for flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. 
• Gourmand: Someone who enjoys eating and often eats too much.

French Names For Cats based on Wine, Cheese & alcohol

French Cheese Names

• Bleu (Also the colour blue and what you call extra bloody rare steak in French)
• Brie
• Beaufort
• Camembert
• Cantal
• Chavignol (a popular smelly French goat cheese)
• Epoisses (really stinky French cheese made with cows’ milk)
• Raclette
• Roquefort

French Wine Names

• Rosé
• Pineau
• Beaujolais
• Champagne
• Chardonnay

French Alcohol names

• Grenache: one of the most widely planted red wine grape
• Remy: As in the brandy Remy Martin
• Pastis:/pah-steece/  an anise-flavoured liqueur invented in France in the 190s often served as an aperitif drink.
• Cointreau: A type of triple sec. It’s a strong, sweet, and orange-flavoured liqueur often served as a pre dinner drink or an ingredient in cocktails.

French cat names based on personality

French Names For Mean and Grumpy Cats

If you have a cat with a sour personality, try these cat names on your size.

• Bêtise / bet-ease/  bête can mean both “beast” and “stupid.” Bêtise has a wide range of meanings: crazy, stupid, nonsense, and mischief.
• Bouffon /Boo-phohn/: Joker, jester, bafoon.
• Clochard /Cloe-shar/: Hobo
• Griffeur/ Gree-fur/: Scratcher
• Lagaffe/Lah-fag/: The mistake
• Méchant / May-shahn/: Mean or bad 
• Mordeur/More-der/: Biter
• Malain /Mah-layhn/ : Sly, cunning
• Mégot / May-go/ Cigarette butt
• Pépé /Peh-Peh/: cute name to call you granddad
• Salé / Sal-ay/: Salty
• Tati / Tahtee/ : Aunty
• Vilaine /Vee-len/: Naughty
• Papi/ Papee: Gramps
• Ton Ton / Tohn-tohn: An endearing way to say uncle in French

Cute & Cuddly French Cat Names

• Bobo: a boo-boo or owie
• Bisou: /Bee-zhou/ bisou is a kiss
• Câlin:/Kaw-lanh/ Cuddle 
• Doudou: /Doo-Doo/ Teddy Bear
• Doudoune: /Doo-Dune/ big puffy jacket
• Mignon /Min-Yowhn/: Cute
• Papouille: /Pahp-wee/ a very tender or light tickle
• Peluche: /Puh-Loosh/ Stuffed animal
• Poilu: /Pwah-Lu/ Hairy

Fat Cat? Try these cute French terms of endearment.

The French language has hundreds of cute French terms of endearment. Here are a few that would make cute cat names in French. 

• Bouboule: French slang for fatty
• Boulotte: Big and short. 
• Boulette: Meatball
• Ourson: Diminutive of bear
• Pérpère: Gramps, grandpakids. Has another connotation: tubby, chubby.
• Rondelet: Rotund, chubby

Classy French Cat Names

• Monsieur: 
• Madame
• Mademoiselle
• Bijou: Jewel
• Chic
• Duchesse
• Diva
• Lafayette: as in the famous department store in Paris and other major French cities. 
• Mystique
• Panache: Flamboyant, with an ooh la la classy flair. Also, the name of a fancy feather that gets bigger towards the tip, usually worn in hats or helmets. 
• Prince / Princesse
• Pirouette: A ballet move (a complete turn on the toe or ball of one foot.)
• Pompon: decorative Pom-pom balls
• Paillette: Sparkly and glittery things used to decorate clothing or crafts.
• Rococo: Elegant 18th century France architecture and decoration style
• Satin: 
• Velours: Velvet
• Clochette: A small Bell

Flour Power Cat Names

• Orchidée: Orchid
• Coquelicot Koke-uh-Lee-koe: Poppy flour
• Rose: 
• Fleur: Flower
• Fleurette: a little flower
• Soleil: Sun
• Papillon: Butterfly
• Fleur de Lys: The national flower of France

Energetic and Rambunctious Cat names

• Galipette: Somersault
• Polisson: Prank
• Coquette: A flirt or tease 
• L’Ouragan: The hurricane
• Filou: Trickster
• Polisson: prank
• Cancan: As in the French cancan dance.
• Miauleur : Meaower, meaows a lot
• Moustique: Mosquito
• Abeille: Bee
• Papoter: someone who talks a lot about anything and everything. Similar to a chatterbox. 
• Ou-la: French Exclamation, like saying, “Oh wow.” The other way of saying this is Oh la la!

Lazy Cat names

• Flagada: an informal way of saying you’re exhausted
• Pouf: Type of bean bag
• Dodo: A childish way to say sleep
• Dormeur: sleeper
• Mémère: Granny
• Polochon: a mariner style duffle bag
• Pantoufle: House Slipper

French Cat names for pretty cats

Whether you have a male cat or a female cat, here are some French cat names that highlight their good looks. 

• Belle: Beautiful
• Jolie: Pretty
• Beau: Handsome
• Beauté: Beauty
• La Femme: The woman
• Poupée: Doll
• Poupette: Diminutive of Poupée
• Magnifique: Magnificent
• Ravissant (masculine) / Ravissante (feminine): Very attractive and charming.

Other French cat names

Cute French names for cats based on French cities

If parents can name their children after famous cities like Paris, why not name your cat after your favourite French city?

• Nîmes: this is where the English word for denim comes from (de Nîmes) from Nimes.
• Paris: This would be a good unisex name. In France, this is mostly a boy’s name. 
• Provence
• Dijon
• Lyon (3rd largest city in France, is pronounced exactly like the French word for Lion (LEE-yohne)
• Marseille
• Toulouse

Cat names based on French terms of endearment

These are names you call your close friends and loved ones.

I have a whole list of 101 French terms of endearment here.

• Amour Love: Many French people refer to their loved ones as Mon amour
• Chouchou Shoo-shoo: Chou and chouchou are extremely popular nicknames or French terms of endearment in France. 
• Chouchoute Shoo-shoot: Pampered or preferred one. A teacher’s pet is “chouchoute de prof,” for example. 
• Pitchou: Little one. Used primarily in the south of France from the Occitan language, where pichon means “little.” 
• Choupette:  This was also Karl Lagerfeld’s cat’s name

French onomatopoeia are really fun-sounding cat names

Onomatopoeias make great cat names because they’re fun to say. 

• Cocorico: Cock-doodle-doo
• Cui-Cui: tweet tweet
• Glou-Glou: Glug Glug
• Miam-Miam: Yum yum
• Ouistiti Weesh-teetee: The equivalent of saying “cheeeese” in English for photos.
• Poêt-poêt: honk honk or beep beep
• Poum-Poum: Sound of beating heart
• Plouf  Plouf: Splish Splash
• Pan-Pan: Bang-bang
• Youpi: You-PeeYipee

Choose a day of the week in French as your cat’s name.

I once knew someone whose cat was named Thursday. 

If you have a favourite day of the week, why not name your cat after that day in French?

• Lundi: Monday
• Mardi: Tuesday
• Mercredi: Wednesday
• Jeudi: Thursday
• Vendredi: Friday
• Samedi: Saturday
• Dimanche: Sunday

That’s all, folks

Have fun picking the puurfect name for your cat or kitten.