What do I name my gender-bending cat?

People might also associate the name Newman with with Seinfeld character, and based on your description of the cat so far I say it fits great! I’m loving that name 100%.

steel

I’ve heard cats are actually particularly difficult to figure the gender on and getting it wrong doesn’t always mean the vet is inept. But that’s just what I’ve heard!

Anyway, my boyfriend’s cat (Willow) was named after the (female) Buffy character. When they found out she was actually a he, they re-named him…. Willow. After the character in the movie Willow.

So stick with Estelle and come up with a super reason for why. Perhaps you had a great-great uncle named Estelle that your family was very fond of?

If Estelle is getting his teeth pulled, he’s probably old enough to be used to his name.
“Steel” is a great idea.

Or this:

My friend Mo named her new girl kittens Blanche and Stella. Then she too found out that they were boys. She still calls them Blanche and Stella and it’s great. “Blanche killed a squirrel and then he ate the whole thing in front of Stella. Stella was so mad! He went right out and tipped over Blanche’s dish.”

How about some ambiguous names like Pat or Chris. Your cat could be the feline on the block that all of the other cats wonder if it’s “a brother or a sister”.

You could just call him Mr. Estelle. Kind of change it to a “last name” since he is probably used to the sound of it so far, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to add a Mr. in front of it. Or… just change the a to an o and voila! Estello!

Let us know what you decide!

You could always call him Mostel, after Zero It sounds simialr and he probably won’t notice the difference.

I’ve been wrong on the gender of 2 of my past cats (both ways). If your cat is used to his name, better not change it…I like the ‘Mr.’ idea, above ^^. If he’s not had the name for long, I love Newman for his name…it’s purrfect!

I would call him/her “Rocky Horror”.

True story: Mother having a baby. Didn’t know what the word “placenta” meant. Heard the Doctor say “placenta”. Named her baby girl “Placenta”.

I also like the name “Newman” because the cat is a new man, but you must always pronounce the name steinfeld-style, with a derogatory, annoyed, resentful anger.

True story: My mom worked in the nursery and a couple picked the name “Female” because they saw it written on the base of one of the baby beds. They thought it was pronounced Fem-allie.

good god.

I think I would rathe be named Female than Placenta

Another true mis-named birth story: my mom had a friend who gave birth to twins, to keep things straight the hospital had labeled them as “TwinA” and “TwinB”, but the mom had thought that was what the husband wanted to name them and so she left the names as “Twina” and “Twinb”!

I’ve been called worse. “Afterbirth” has a nice ring to it.

How did they pronounce “Twinb”?

“Tweena” and “Twinbee”?

Twina pronounced like “twin-aah” and Twinb pronounced like “Twin-bee”. I won’t be surprised if they change their names when they grow up.

Thanks for everyone’s input so far! Some super ideas. He’s an older cat, but I just adopted him 6 months ago.

Another problem with “Estelle” is that it sounds similar (to cat ears) to the other cat’s name- “Ashton.” So “Newman” and “Ashton” would distinguish the cats auditorally, also.

Lurve for all the funny answers. :D

Supposedly, cats respond better if there is an “S” in their name. I once had a prolific cat I named “Slut”. I would go with a gender-neutral name with an “S” in it like “Sal” (for Salvador or Sally) if he changes back into a female again.

You never know. It could happen. If he/she keeps changing her name & her sex, she’ll never know what’s going on.

@Psyla: Lurve for naming your cat Slut. That must have been amusing to introduce her/him to guests. I once had one named Roadkill. Not quite as out-there as Slut, but it did embarrass my mother whenever we (my siblings and I) would tell complete strangers we were going home to play with Roadkill… good little hilly billy kids we were. ;)

Son and/or daughter of Milo?? How about Otis – then we could have Milo and Otis fluthercats?

Actually, I two like Newman but there is something funky and fun about a male cat names Estelle. I want to name my next dog Newman specifically so I can say. “Hello Newman”, when it comes in. (But I also really want to name my next dog Gromit.)

tonedef, what you should do is keep the Estelle, but always pronounce it in a deep male voice.

Esteban sounds similar to Estelle.

Syz! I thought of that, too!

but then everyone would think he was a Cuban drug lord.

Lol. Maybe it’s short for Emilio Esteban. Or in keeping with the gender bending, Gloria Esteban.

My son’s little daughter is named Ayla, pronounced like Laila without the L.
I asked Ayla’s mother what they would name a second child and she said Beela.

The fourth kid would be a dealer, the sixth kid would be a feeler, and the seventh kid would be a gila monster.

Keep it “Estelle.” My cousin has a big mean tomcat named “Shaniqua;” resulting from the same scenario as yours. It hasn’t affected him a bit, the scratchy little bastard. The cat, I mean.

@psyla: exactly. healer, jailer, Christine Keeler, peeler, reeler, 18-wheeler….

Well, I’ll tell you that I know a few men whose middle names are girls names, for example, my friend’s middle name is Alexis. You could name him Getty, depending on if you like the name of not. Getty Estelle. Or you could just keep it a girls name I mean, do something different. I wonder if some names were once one gender then, because of humans, were made into 2 genders. Like kelly, I never knew it was a girls name——I thought it was only a boys name!

Angel also used to be a popular boy name. Now almost no one would name their male child that.

I like Galileo, s/he sure did reach for the stars!!!!!

Psyla: Best to do it with some of this stuff.

My grandfather was named Angelo rest his soul
My friends middle name is also that. I like that name but eah it is a bit feminine. Plus Angel o with an o at the end. Never heard it without an o.

My Angel Tree kid was named Angel; It’s a pretty popular name in the Southwest.

lola.

Your cat isn’t gender bending.

I think it’s great your cat is genderqueer you have a sophisticated cat, stick with the name and you can stick it to the gender nazis in a small way as well