Hi everyone, it’s Allegra! Mom has been working really hard and I thought I’d give her a break by taking care of today’s post.
I know a lot of you have been asking about me and how I’m doing without my sister. Just like Mom, I’m adjusting to life without our girl, and I’m trying to take care of Mom as best as I can. But today, I want to talk about my name! You wouldn’t believe how many people think I’m named after the allergy medication. Seriously? Do you really think Mom would have named me after a drug?
I was actually named by my foster mom, and since Mom thought it suited me purrfectly, she never changed it. “Allegro” is a musical term that is used for a lively, fast-paced movement. She thought it fit my exuberant spirit well, and that’s why she kept it.
But Mom being Mom, she also has a whole bunch of other names for me. For a while when I first came to live here, I thought my name was Allegrano. I will admit I had a propensity to get myself in trouble back then…
Mom also calls me Allie, Allie Bellie, Legra Degra, and Allegra Bellina. Don’t those all sound really pretty? She also calls me Mousie, which I take exception to. I mean, really? Mousie? But she says it with such love in her voice, I can’t be mad at her.
Do you have nicknames for your kitties?
Our cats, four over the years, were Nalle (ginger tabby tom cat), Signe (female tabby with all the colors in the Universe), Jenny (ginger tabby female, saved at six weeks young) and of course the most beautiful of them all – Kajsa, my sweet Tortie.
The nicknames, for all of them actually, have been “bebis”, “humlehund” and “honungshund” – Swedish words that are just sweet no say, “bebis” of course meaning Baby. I called Signe my little “pumla” – a dialectal word for a round Christmas tree ornament – since she was, well, round as such. Sometimes I called Nalle “bajskorv”…. he had the nasty little habit of not wanting to use the litter box if there already was a “poo” in it, which made not so fun to come home if the work day was long; seeing the crumbled up carpet in the hall way meant there was a stinky surprise inside.
We have a few names for our cat Gizmo. Some of the nicknames we have for her are Gizzy (My favorite) Giz, and of course her name Gizmo. And of course when I’m really upset with her I tend to use her first, Middle and last names. Gizmo Marie _______.
I love hearing all your name stories – so many creative names, and the nicknames are adorable!
I’m so glad to hear from you, Allegra, and I’m very glad that you’ve become mom’s extra pair of hands. It just goes to show you, just how smart cats are, and how stunning and beautiful they are, too. I for one never thought you were named after a drug, your mom, Ingrid, would never look upon you as a pill. Maybe she has many other names she sometimes calls you, you know when you’re being mischievous, but I won’t mention those names at this time. Bye for now, and I for one would love to hear what you have to say more often, so don’t be a stranger. Love ya, my dearest pussy cat!
Our beautiful Ginger boy is Puff, for obvious reasons, adapted to puff mayhem. He’s all boy and very rowdy, as well as soooo loving. And our Tabby is Samantha, after Bewitched, because she appears and disappears at will. She is also known as Samantha toe beans and Destructo-beast, she adores shredding any paper and knocking down just one thing off a dresser or table. (She really has it in for our Google Alexa, it’s always on the floor, poor Alexa!)
You have a lovely name, Allegra. And the nicknames are precious. Take care of yourself and your mom during these trying times. Sending hugs to you both!
Love these creative and beautiful cat names! Our 11 yr old Maine Coon/Siberian mix girls came when kittens from woman who chose Russian related names for all of her cats and kittens. So, we have Vanya and Valentine. A friend debated with me that they were both names for males, not females, but in researching found they can be used for either and we kept those names as we liked them . Also found that in Hebrew, Vanya means “gracious gift from God”, which she and her sister certainly are. Nick names for Vanya include “Van, cha, chan” and Princess Purr-Purr (she purrs almost constantly) and for Valentine “Fluff Bottom” and Princess Paw-Paw (she has very large paws).
You have s beautiful name for a beautiful girl, I can see where the name come from my Tortie was very active also still is from a tiny kitty, her name is Amira , means princess which she is, her many names are Mira, My , pretty kitty, baby girl and little monkey when she is climbing on the dresser emptying the clothes out of the drawers. When I are really it’s A Mi Ra come here
Magic, our female ginger spotted tabby, who’s a sorta tame ferral cat = Twinkie or Tom Cruise because her acrobatics are amazing!
T.C. (stands for Thunder Cat), our bottle baby swirled tabby = The Creature when she’s misbehaving, Parkour Kitty because of her spectacular leaping and landing skills, Brave Tiger Girl – because she just is.
Buddy Love, T.C.’s striped tabby older brother from a previous litter (dad went MIA after T.C.’s birth, Momma & T.C.’s litter mates all rescued, Buddy is the lone survivor of his clan) = Gentleman Couch Potato, and Beau-Beau because he is such a love.
Talira, our barely tortie house panther = Tai-Tai (she’s Beau-Beau’s bestie), and Tarzan. She’s the reason I decided to stick with vertical blinds instead of switching to drapes!
And our dilute torbie (yes, torbie, not tortie) foster soon going up for adoption: Lady Grey Girl, or G.G. and Fluffylovey. She is supper fluffy, and loves pets and chin scratches.
Thanks fur reading!
I enjoyed hearing how your name came to be. I had a big laugh about Alegrano. When we got Pono, he was in so much trouble, it was always Pono no. He was still learning his name and for a while when we would say Pono, he would hear the no part and thought he was in trouble. My girls are Miss Waikiki, Honolulu Baby! and Pele. They go by Kiki, Keeks or Princess, Lulu or Louie Lu, Lu and Pele usually goes by Pele, pretty girl or Miss Floofy Pants..
Allegra,
Your name suits you perfectly! My boys, We named Grayson. Milo was another’s cat, and kept his name as is. Hamish’s name was Rocky 3, by previous owner. Just wasn’t a Rocky to me, I liked Hamish better.
Grayson, Milo, Hamish, Nan
My two sweeties were already named when they came to stay. That didn’t matter. They came to be Sir Winston and Lady Dawn, Oreo and Ginger Snap, Ernesto and Queen Bee. I won’t divulge nicknames 7-14.
Since I’ve been adult, the cats that have joined my family have been adults and already had names. I always feel like the trauma of shelter life, or being dropped off by previous guardians, must be overwhelmingly scary. I don’t change the existing name of humans who join my tribe, doing so to someone who doesn’t speak my language fluently seems unkind and selfish…so I don’t get the pleasure or pressure of naming my feline friends. But as our relationship grows and we learn each other, nicknames start to add up. …although nicknames for Maeve can sound extremely silly. Sweet “MayMay” and my silly “koko-bear” don’t seem to mind. Still, I wonder what they call me?
Allie Bellie, you are so cute and funny..I’m always glad to see you..My Isabella, is often called Belly Belly..My tuxedo whose name is Jack is called JackAckAck..Pyewacket is PyePye..My longhaired cats name is Fuzz, but I usually call her Fuzzel..My PrinCessie, is Cessie..Then there is Snow, He-Man, Tom-Tom, Batman, Prince, Jetson,Tux, and Zazzle..That’s my 13 cats from 1yr old to 20 yrs old, all rescues..I love all of the different, unique, funny, loving personalities, and yes I really do need all these cats!
Our Black Bombay name is named Luka but he’s also known as Mr. Schmooka Luka, Schmook De Luc, and just plain Schmooka.
Miss Gracie sometimes thinks her name is “Nnnnnnoooooo” but when she’s a good girl she is Moo Moo xx
Few of our cats have one name….Olivia became Olivielou and now she’s Lulu, Felix is Feedeefee, Smidgen is Midgee, Chinook is Nookie. My husband names the cats by their colors (Whitey, Blackie Whitey, Fluffy Gray, Blondie etc.). We recently lost our Mr. Sister who got his name when he was a stray and my husband thought he was a sister to another stray who showed up with him. When I had both cats neutered he became Mr. Sister and his brother is FluffyTail. Occasionally I called Mr. Sister Spike cuz he always looked liked he should have a baseball hat on sideways. I adopted a cat whose name at the time was Lil Hooker and I changed it to DaisyMae but I started calling her Doodle so now her official title is DaisyMae Hooker Doodle…..she responds to Doodle.
My cats have some unique names. We have Dolo, short for Dolofan, which means “fat” in Romanian. He was the largest of our litter of four born in our house. He was fat so we chose the perfect name. Now that he’s grown he’s long and sleek so the name doesn’t quite fit. Lol.
Our other kitties have Irish/Celtic names matching my heritage. We have Niamh and Carys.
Glad that Allegra is doing well. Love following your pet loss blog as we lost our beloved cat, Reese (Dolo’s sister) two months ago.