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Korean Cat Names

Q: What is the most common cat name in Korea?

Nabi, the butterfly word, is the classic. It is the name Korea defaults to the way English defaults to tomcat names: everyone knows it, half the street cats seem to wear it. After Nabi the lane forks into the food words, Chamchi and Bam, and the endearments, Sundungi and Bokdeongi. Every lane is receipted above.

Q: Are Korean cat names different from Korean dog names?

The lanes split, and the split is the receipt. The dog side kept the sky and the calendar: Bom, Dal, the seasons. The cat side got the meow words, Yaongi and Nyangi, the endearments, and the bigger food lane. Words like Bori and Gureum travel both ways, so they live on the korean dog names page and are linked, not repeated.

Q: Is it okay to use these names outside Korea?

Yes, with the receipt attached. These are ordinary words: butterflies, potatoes, purrs. Nabi means butterfly, and a butterfly-soft cat anywhere can carry it. Keep the hangul and the gloss together, and the name stays honest wherever it travels.

Nabi is 나비, a butterfly. Two soft syllables, a real hangul root, and the name Korea has called its cats for generations. This table holds 56 Korean cat names: the meow classics, the food lane, the cat words, and the culture register. Hangul shown, reading shown, meaning glossed.

Prefer the tool? Open these in the generator. Every name comes with a receipt.

What are korean cat names?

56 real names, five lanes, one rule. The classic lane is the meow-and-endearment set Korean cats actually answer to. The food lane is the dominant modern convention, and the coat usually picks the food: Bam for orange, Jadu for gray. The cat-word lane is vocabulary, purrs included. The look and culture lanes close the table. Every row shows the hangul and the reading.

Grouped by lane. The hangul column is the receipt.

Korean cat names with hangul, readings, meanings and lanes
Name	Hangul	Reading	Meaning	Lane
Classic call names: the meow words and the endearments Korea actually calls
Nabi	나비	na-bi	butterfly; the classic Korean cat name	classic call name
Yaongi	야옹이	ya-ong-i	from yaong, meow; the cartoon cat name	classic call name
Nyangi	냥이	nyang-i	kitty; the affectionate cat word	classic call name
Kkoma	꼬마	kko-ma	the little one; the runt's name	classic call name
Sundungi	순둥이	sun-dung-i	the gentle one; the standard endearment	classic call name
Mongsil	몽실	mong-sil	from mongsil-mongsil, soft and fluffy	classic call name
Bokdeongi	복덩이	bok-deong-i	lucky lump; the treasure endearment	classic call name
Gwiyomi	귀요미	gwi-yo-mi	cutie; the viral affection word	classic call name
Mungchi	뭉치	mung-chi	from mungchida, to clump; the round one	classic call name
Bangul	방울	bang-ul	bell; the collar word worn as a name	classic call name
Badugi	바둑이	ba-du-gi	go-board patterned; the patchy-coat classic	classic call name
Narae	나래	na-rae	wings, the archaic word	classic call name
The food lane: the dominant modern lane: the coat picks the food
Chamchi	참치	cham-chi	tuna; the cat-food word above all	food lane
Yeoneo	연어	yo-no	salmon	food lane
Saeu	새우	sa-eu	shrimp	food lane
Meolchi	멸치	meol-chi	anchovy; the tiny kitten lane	food lane
Chureu	츄르	chu-reu	the squeeze treat, genericized in Korean	food lane
Gamja	감자	gam-ja	potato; the round and calm lane	food lane
Goguma	고구마	go-gu-ma	sweet potato; the golden lump	food lane
Hodu	호두	ho-du	walnut; brown coats	food lane
Ttangkong	땅콩	ttang-kong	peanut; the small striped one	food lane
Bam	밤	bam	chestnut or night; one word, both fit an orange cat	food lane
Yuja	유자	yu-ja	citron; the yellow word	food lane
Jadu	자두	ja-du	plum; the gray-lilac coat	food lane
Puding	푸딩	pu-ding	pudding; the cream lane	food lane
Jelli	젤리	jel-li	jelly; the soft wobble lane	food lane
Satang	사탕	sa-tang	candy; the sweet one	food lane
Kkul	꿀	kkul	honey; golden eyes	food lane
Cheese	치즈	chi-jeu	cheese; the orange-coat loanword	food lane
Cat words and sounds: the vocabulary, hangul shown
Goyangi	고양이	go-yang-i	cat; the word itself	cat word
Nyang	냥	nyang	meow; the syllable cats get called by	cat word
Nyaong	냐옹	nya-ong	meow, the full call	cat word
Golgol	골골	gol-gol	from golgol-georida, to purr	cat word
Gareurrang	가르랑	ga-reu-rrang	from gareurrang-gareurrang, the loud purr	cat word
Salgeum	살금	sal-geum	from salgeum-salgeum, the soft-padding steps	cat word
Kkori	꼬리	kko-ri	tail	cat word
Suseom	수염	su-seom	whiskers	cat word
Balbadak	발바닥	bal-ba-dak	paw pad	cat word
Samsaek	삼색	sam-saek	three colors; the calico coat word	cat word
Look and character: coat words, the magpie, and three temperaments
Eollugi	얼룩이	eo-llu-gi	from eolluk, mottled; the tabby	look word
Jeombagi	점박이	jeom-ba-gi	spotted; the speckled one	look word
Hoisaek	회색	hoi-saek	gray, the color word	look word
Geumbit	금빛	geum-bit	gold light; the shine of a ginger coat	look word
Eunbit	은빛	eun-bit	silver light; the gray shine	look word
Munui	무늬	mu-nui	pattern; the stripe word	look word
Kkachi	까치	kka-chi	magpie; the black-and-white luck bird	look word
Bora	보라	bo-ra	purple; the dusk coat	look word
Aegyo	애교	ae-gyo	the charm word; the cat who performs	character word
Saechim	새침	sae-chim	prim; the standoffish charm	character word
Yamjeon	얌전	yam-jeon	well-mannered, quiet; the polite cat	character word
Famous cats and cat Korea: broadcast cats cited as broadcast, culture words receipted
Seunghwan	승환	seung-hwan	the acting cat of SBS TV Animal Farm, 2014 (real broadcast cat)	famous cat
Tungi	퉁이	tung-i	the famously round TV cat of the same show (real broadcast cat)	famous cat
Jipsa	집사	jip-sa	butler; what Korean cat guardians call themselves	cat culture
Gantaek	간택	gan-taek	the choosing; when a cat adopts you	cat culture
Gilgoyangi	길고양이	gil-go-yang-i	street cat; the alley register	cat culture
Koshort	코숏	ko-syat	the Korean shorthair, 코리안 쇼트헤어 shortened	cat culture

Why Nabi is the default

Korean cat naming starts at a butterfly and stays cute. Nabi, 나비, is the classic the way Tama is the classic in Japan: so common it reads as "cat" before it reads as "butterfly". The meow words follow it. Yaongi is a whole meow turned into a name, and Nyangi is the affectionate kitty word, the -i suffix doing what it does across Korean pet naming: Sundungi, Bokdeongi, Badugi, all endearments made from plain words.

The register is visible on television, not just in folklore. The long-running SBS show TV Animal Farm has given Korea cats worth knowing by name: an acting cat called Seunghwan, a famously round one called Tungi, even a jjimjilbang regular named Nabi. The 2001 film Take Care of My Cat, 고양이를 부탁해, put the phrase itself in the culture. The famous rows above cite the broadcast, not legend. For the full sound-test method, the how to name a pet guide walks it.

Which lane fits your cat?

Match the lane to the coat and the character. The food lane works when the coat matches the snack; the endearments work for any cat that owns the room:

Your cat, the lane that fits, starter names
Your cat	The lane that fits	Starter names
Orange and round	the food lane	Bam, Goguma, Cheese
Gray or silver	the food and look lanes	Jadu, Hoisaek, Eunbit
Calico	the classic and cat words	Nabi, Samsaek
Soft and quiet	the endearments	Mongsil, Sundungi, Yamjeon
Runs the household	the character lane	Bokdeongi, Aegyo, Saechim

The culture side and the mirror

The human-side tradition owns the roots; this page owns their cat uses. The given-name tradition lives on the korean name generator and the culture names grid, which link back here as the pet-name uses of the same roots. The mirror list is japanese cat names: Tama and the mi-ke calico where Korea puts Nabi and the samsaek. The species-neutral grid sits on the pet names hub, and the generic table is cat names.

The sibling list is the dog: korean dog names keeps the seasons, the sky and the Jindo receipts, and this page keeps the meow.

Korean cat names questions, answered

What is the most common cat name in Korea?

Nabi, the butterfly word, is the classic. It is the name Korea defaults to the way English defaults to tomcat names: everyone knows it, half the street cats seem to wear it. After Nabi the lane forks into the food words, Chamchi and Bam, and the endearments, Sundungi and Bokdeongi. Every lane is receipted above.

Are Korean cat names different from Korean dog names?

The lanes split, and the split is the receipt. The dog side kept the sky and the calendar: Bom, Dal, the seasons. The cat side got the meow words, Yaongi and Nyangi, the endearments, and the bigger food lane. Words like Bori and Gureum travel both ways, so they live on the korean dog names page and are linked, not repeated.

Is it okay to use these names outside Korea?

Yes, with the receipt attached. These are ordinary words: butterflies, potatoes, purrs. Nabi means butterfly, and a butterfly-soft cat anywhere can carry it. Keep the hangul and the gloss together, and the name stays honest wherever it travels.

Where this data comes from. Hangul and glosses follow standard Korean dictionaries. The classic and endearment names follow documented Korean pet-naming convention. The famous-cat rows cite SBS TV Animal Farm broadcasts as broadcast culture, not legend. The calico word samsaek is glossed as the coat word only. Where every name's receipt comes from →