Tuxedo Cat Names: 70 Picks for a Cat Already Dressed for Court

A tuxedo cat shows up to every occasion in formal wear: black coat, white shirtfront, sometimes white gloves and a white mustache for good measure. "Tuxedo" isn't a breed. It's a coat pattern, and it turns up in everything from shelter kittens to Maine Coons. But every tuxedo cat has the same air of having somewhere important to be.

These tuxedo cat names lean into the look: formal wear, the courtroom, the boardroom, and a few famous black-and-white cats who wore it first.

Black-tie classics

• Tux: the obvious choice, and a classic for a reason.
• Black Tie: the dress code, printed on the invitation and on the cat.
• White Tie: the even more formal dress code, for a cat with a bright white chest.
• Bow Tie: for a tuxedo cat with a neat white patch at the throat.
• Cufflinks
• Cummerbund
• Tails: the formal coat, and the thing they chase.
• Lapel
• Spats: the white covers once worn over formal shoes, and the perfect name for a cat with white paws.
• Boots or Mittens: for white feet, depending on how far up the white goes.
• Oreo: the most popular black-and-white name of all time.
• Domino
• Checkers
• Penguin: the other animal that never takes off the tuxedo.
• Magpie
• Panda
• Orca: the black-and-white whale, for a cat who loves the bathtub a little too much.
• Piano: black keys, white keys.

For the courtroom

Judges wear black robes. British barristers wear black gowns with two white bands at the throat. Your tuxedo cat has been dressed for court since birth.

• Barrister: a courtroom lawyer in the UK, dressed in black with a white collar.
• Bands: the two white tabs barristers wear at the neck.
• Silk: in the UK, senior lawyers "take silk" and earn a silk gown.
• Your Honor
• Esquire
• Counselor
• Black Letter Law: the basic, well-settled rules every lawyer learns first.
• Gavel
• Chambers: a judge's private office, and wherever this cat decides to nap.
• The Bench
• Bailiff: for the cat who keeps order in the house.
• Docket
• Brief: for a short-haired tuxedo.
• Dissent: for the cat who disagrees with every decision you make.
• Motion Granted: what every cat expects to hear.
• Due Process
• Affidavit: a sworn statement. This cat will swear they were never fed.
• Sustained: the best word in an objection.

For the boardroom

• White Collar: a tuxedo cat literally has one.
• In the Black: an accounting term for being profitable. Good news for everyone.
• Black Swan: a finance term for a rare, unpredictable event. Also, any tuxedo cat at 3 a.m.
• Chairman of the Board
• Board Seat: whichever chair you were about to sit in.
• Dress Code
• Closing Bell
• Monochrome
• Net Worth
• Ticker
• Merger: for the second cat, joining the household.
• Black Card: for a cat with expensive taste.
• Wingtip: the classic office shoe, for a cat with white-tipped paws.

Gentleman and lady names

• Bond: the most famous tuxedo in film.
• Gatsby: for the cat who throws the best parties.
• Sinatra: for the crooner who made a tuxedo look easy.
• Darcy: for a proud, handsome cat who warms up eventually.
• Astaire: for the most graceful cat in the room.
• Maestro: orchestra conductors still wear tails.
• Jeeves: the perfectly mannered butler.
• Alfred: another butler who knew how to wear a dark suit.
• Ambassador
• Coco: after the designer who made the little black dress famous.
• Audrey: for the cat with a little black dress and perfect posture.
• Tiffany: for breakfast, or any time.
• Pearl: black and white, and always elegant.
• Grace: for a cat with movie-star poise.
• Ella
• Opera: for a cat who sings at night.

Famous tuxedo cats

• Sylvester: the cartoon cat forever chasing Tweety.
• Socks: the Clinton family's tuxedo cat, who lived in the White House in the 1990s.
• Palmerston: the tuxedo cat who served as chief mouser at the UK's Foreign Office.
• Felix: the early cartoon cat, black with a white face.

Tips for naming a tuxedo cat

1. Start with the markings. Look for white paws (Spats, Socks), a white chest (White Tie, Bow Tie), or a white "mustache" on the face. Many of the best tuxedo cat names come straight from the pattern.
2. Wait a few days. The look gets them named Tux; the personality gets them named Dissent.
3. Say it out loud. A short name with a clear sound, like "Tux" or "Bond," is easy to call from across the house. Longer names usually get a nickname anyway: "Black Letter Law" will be "Letter" within a week.
4. Think about the whole household. If you're adopting a pair, try matching names: Black Tie and White Tie, Cufflinks and Lapel, or Bond and Coco.

Want more ideas for cats with a profession? See our cat names for lawyers and bankers or our Latin pet names from the law.