If you’re looking for the best tough cat names for your rock-star kitty, we’ve got you covered!
We’ll look at the top 133 names (including gangster cat names) that are the epitome of grit and gristle!
In other words, these names will tell the world, “back off buddy, cool cat coming through!”
Check them out and tell us which ones you love!
You may also adore these clever mischievous cat names!

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Tough Cat Names for Male & Female Kitties
Some cats are defined by their tough personalities.
We as cat parents know more than one cat that can hold it down and hold their own – if you know what I mean.
So when you get an adorable new kitten and you realize she is incredibly resilient and strong, it’s only natural you want her name to reflect that.
So what we have done is scour the Internet and our brains to bring the toughest cat names we can think of.
Tough Male Cat Names
This one’s easy, as there are a lot of tough feline characters throughout history and in folklore as well as cartoons that we can draw inspiration from.
- Admiral
- Arnold (like Schwarzenegger)
- Aslan – The all powerful lion from Narnia
- Ares – Greek God of War
- Atlas – He held up the heavens, who else can say that?
- Balboa
- Bane
- Boss
- Bruiser
- Bronson
- Bugsy
- Bullet
- Cheshire
- Chief
- Doyle
- Fang
- Felix – We just had to, he’s the OG!
- Hades – King of the Underworld, who can beat that?
- Han – From Star Wars, I think that speaks for itself.
- Harry
- Heathcliff – The street smart orange cat.
- Hercules
- Hulk
- Khan
- Kong
- Kova- Finnish for “tough”
- Lion
- Loki
- Lucifer – The annoying and evil cat from Cinderella.
- McClane (Bruce Willis’ character from the Die Hard movies)
- Mufasa
- Odin
- Oliver – Any cat that can bond with street dogs is tough!
- Rebel
- Rocky
- Rowdy
- Samson
- Scat the Cat
- Scratchy – Yes, from the Simpsons! A cat that continuously tries to kill a mouse is tough in our books.
- Salem – The awesome sidekick of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
- Simba
- Snake
- Scar – Even though we realize he’s quite the coward from the Lion King, but at least his name is tough.
- Tarantino
- Tiberius
- Tiger
- Thor
- Walker
- Vulcan – The calmest and most logical race in Star Trek.
Whether it be from movies or deities, there are a few very fitting names, with Ares as one of our favorites.
Some of the names speak for themselves, like Tiger and Lion, the big cats have so much power they can take down most other animals.
Hulk, referred to as the strongest Avenger, can definitely live up to your tough cat.
Now, let’s check out some tough names for our female cats!
Tough Female Cat Names
- Andromeda
- Aphrodite – Goddess of Beauty
- Artemis – Goddess of wild animals and the hunt.
- Astra
- Athena – Greek Goddess of war
- Cersei – She’s a terrible person, but super tough.
- Clarice
- Diva
- Domino
- Duchess
- Eowyn
- Gaia – Goddess and Mother of Life.
- Gamora
- Hera – The queen of all Gods!
- Harley – In reference to Harley Quinn.
- Hermione
- Katniss – Everdeen
- Jinx
- Leia – The Princess in Star Wars was pretty tough.
- Liberty
- Lynx
- Matilida
- Medusa
- Minx
- Mystique
- Nala – The tough significant other of Simba.
- Nikita
- Puma
- Sarah (Connor, from Terminator)
- Ripley
- Rogue
- Queenie
- Sabriel
- Sarabi – Nala’s mother
- Selena – Catwoman is tough!
- Sassy
- Savannah
- Sheba
- Shuri (from Black Panther)
- Stormy
- Trinity
- Valkyrie
- Venus
- Vixen
- Xena – Warrior princess, if you were born in the 90’s .
As a bonus, for those extra tough kitties out there, we have made a list of gangster cat names if all the above don’t seem tough enough.
Gangster Male Cat Names
- Capone – After Al Capone
- Baby Face – After Baby Face Nelson
- Siegel – After Bugsy Siegel
- Danger
- Mad Cat – After Mad Dog Coll, but Mad Cat instead.
- Dillinger – After John Dillinger
- Angelo
- Mickey
- Mario
- Joe or Joey – Lots of gangsters with that first name.
- Gambino – After the Gambino crime family.
- Gotti – After John Gotti.
- Corleone – Have you watched The Godfather?
- Kingpin
- Don – Mafia boss
- King
- Prophet
- Satan
- Ice – The slang for kill.
Gangster Female Cat Names
- Bonnie – One half of Bonnie and Clyde
- Belle – After Belle Starr, a Texas outlaw
- Kelly – After Machine Gun Kelly’s wife.
- Ma – After Ma Barker of the Barker gang.
- Rebel
- Flamingo – After Bugsy Siegel’s girlfriend.
- Queen – After Sandra Beltran.
- Angel Face
- Diamond
- Cougar
- Dollface
- Cadillac
- Black Widow
- Bandit
- Bandana
- Wicked
- Hatchet
- Pistol
- Warrior
- Calypso
Naming your new kitten after a mob boss or his girlfriend, or a female gangster in her own right is the definition of tough.
Which do you think was the toughest sounding name? Which would you choose for your new kitten?
I’m more of a dog person, but these names are flat out awesome. If I had any I would get two and name them Bonnie and Clyde for sure! They would be the best partners in crime.
So many kitty names! I love it so much! I just named one Fizzgig that I got as a rescue 3-day old kitten. Shes certainly a crazy one and fits her name. I love the top Instagram image about Fluffy! I think it is hilarious when a mean looking cat has such a sweet name!
We have recently got a kitten and called her Freya, but I think we should have named her one of these names as she is definitely tough!
We don’t have cats but these names are so nice! I am thinking of getting another dog and I will choose a name from this list if our plans push through.
We always choose names based off movies or books. Luna, Raven, Dusty, George etc. I love the name bullet!!
I love this name cats actually my cat names are miming and memeng This is really nice names now I have an idea names for my future cats sounds amazing!
I am not a cat person but love reading your blogs since you share some amazing things. These are amazing names of beautiful cats.