--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Cats must have three names-an everyday…" description: "\"Cats must have three names-an everyday name, such as Peter; a more particular, dignified name, such as Quaxo, Bombalurina, or Jellylorum; and, thirdly,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/423/t-s-eliot-633_cat_cats-must-have-three-names-an-everyday-n_2909082.png" --- # Cats must have three names-an everyday name, such as… ![“Cats must have three names-an everyday name, such as Peter; a more particular, dignified name, such as Quaxo, Bombalurina, or Jellylorum; and, thirdly, the name the cat thinks up for himself, his deep and inscrutable singular Name.” quote by T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/423/t-s-eliot-633_cat_cats-must-have-three-names-an-everyday-n_2909082.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/423/t-s-eliot-633_cat_cats-must-have-three-names-an-everyday-n_2909082.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/423/t-s-eliot-633_cat_cats-must-have-three-names-an-everyday-n_2909082.png) > “Cats must have three names-an everyday name, such as Peter; a more particular, dignified name, such as Quaxo, Bombalurina, or Jellylorum; and, thirdly, the name the cat thinks up for himself, his deep and inscrutable singular Name.” [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cats are given three identities: a common name, a formal dignified name, and a secret self‑chosen name reflecting their inner self. **In simple terms:** Cats have three names: everyday, formal, and secret self‑chosen. Key Takeaway Recognize the hidden self in others. Themes identity self perception Mood playful reflective Type literary observational When to use this quote - pet naming - character analysis - literary study Key Concepts anthropomorphism symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What name do you think your inner self would choose? - How does a formal name shape behavior? A Different Perspective The secret name may never be revealed, limiting true understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cat/) [Cat Thinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cat-thinks-2474693/) [Cats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cats/) [Cats Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cats-names-4161784/) [Everyday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everyday/) [Funny cat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny-cat/) [Inscrutable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inscrutable/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Names Everyday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names-everyday-4180153/) [Particular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/particular/) [Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peter/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thirdly Cat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirdly-cat-4180152/) [Three](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three/) ## Related quotes > [“Cats can get by without names. We go by smell, shape, things of this nature. As long as we know these things, there’re no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/cats-can-get-by-without-names-we-go-by-smell-shape-things-of-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Your dog thinks you're a god. Your cat thinks the dog's an asshole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/your-dog-thinks-you-re-a-god-your-cat-thinks-the-dog-s-an-asshole/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [My cat thinks your pussy stinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/superprim/my-cat-thinks-your-pussy-stinks/) [Superprim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/superprim/) > [Cats names are more for human benefit. They give one a certain degree more confidence that the animal belongs to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ayckbourn/cats-names-are-more-for-human-benefit-they-give-one-a-certain-degree/) [Alan Ayckbourn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ayckbourn/) > [The naming of cats is a difficult matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-naming-of-cats-is-a-difficult-matter/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/who-can-believe-that-there-is-no-soul-behind-those-luminous-eyes/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [A cat's got her own opinion of human beings. She don't say much, but you can tell enough to make you anxious not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/a-cat-s-got-her-own-opinion-of-human-beings-she-don-t-say-much-but/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [By and large, people who enjoy teaching animals to roll over will find themselves happier with a dog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-holland/by-and-large-people-who-enjoy-teaching-animals-to-roll-over-will-find/) [Barbara Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-holland/) > [Cats possess so many of the same qualities as some poeple that it is often hard to tell the people and the cats apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/cats-possess-so-many-of-the-same-qualities-as-some-poeple-that-it-is/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Dogs seem more photogenic than cats. In photos most cats look like sociopaths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demetri-martin/dogs-seem-more-photogenic-than-cats-in-photos-most-cats-look-like/) [Demetri Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demetri-martin/) > [If the claws didn't retract, cats would be like Velcro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-fogle/if-the-claws-didn-t-retract-cats-would-be-like-velcro/) [Bruce Fogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-fogle/) > [The cat seldom interferes with other people's rights. His intelligence keeps him from doing many of the fool things that complicate life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-van-vechten/the-cat-seldom-interferes-with-other-people-s-rights-his-intelligence/) [Carl Van Vechten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-van-vechten/) > [If you want to write, keep cats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/if-you-want-to-write-keep-cats/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Women do not snore, burp, sweat, or pass gas. Therefore, they must Bitch or they will BLOW UP!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/women-do-not-snore-burp-sweat-or-pass-gas-therefore-they-must-bitch/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A cat determined not to be found can fold itself up like a pocket handkerchief if it wants to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-j-camuti/a-cat-determined-not-to-be-found-can-fold-itself-up-like-a-pocket/) [Louis J. Camuti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-j-camuti/) ## More by T. S. Eliot > [The Nobel is a ticket to one's own funeral. No one has ever done anything after he got it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-nobel-is-a-ticket-to-one-s-own-funeral-no-one-has-ever-done/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Dear Mother, I am getting on nicely in my work at the bank, and like it ... I want to find out something about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/dear-mother-i-am-getting-on-nicely-in-my-work-at-the-bank-and-like-it/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, But the faith and the love and the hope are all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/for-love-would-be-love-of-the-wrong-thing-there-is-yet-faith-but-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [We must always take risks. That is our destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-must-always-take-risks-that-is-our-destiny/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [All significant truths are private truths. As they become public they cease to become truths; they become facts, or at best, part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/all-significant-truths-are-private-truths-as-they-become-public-they/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [When forced to work within a strict framework, the imagination is taxed to its utmost and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/when-forced-to-work-within-a-strict-framework-the-imagination-is/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/honest-criticism-and-sensitive-appreciation-are-directed-not-upon-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/desire-itself-is-movement-not-in-itself-desirable-love-is-itself/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [ the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary. \[He\] falls in love or reads Spinoza, and these two experiences have nothing to do with… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-ordinary-man-s-experience-is-chaotic-irregular-fragmentary-he/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [We had the experience, but we missed the meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-had-the-experience-but-we-missed-the-meaning/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The end is in the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-end-is-in-the-beginning/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [You have learned enough to see that cats are much like you and me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/you-have-learned-enough-to-see-that-cats-are-much-like-you-and-me/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different than that from which it is torn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-good-poet-welds-his-theft-into-a-whole-of-feeling-which-is-unique/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [It's strange that words are so inadequate. Yet, like the asthmatic struggling for breath, so the lover must struggle for words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/it-s-strange-that-words-are-so-inadequate-yet-like-the-asthmatic/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Every end is a beginning...And every beginning is an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/every-end-is-a-beginning-and-every-beginning-is-an-end/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) [Explore all 433 T. S. Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) ## More Cat quotes > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Okay, so I'll admit I'm curious. Big deal. We both know what that leads to. Dead cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/okay-so-i-ll-admit-i-m-curious-big-deal-we-both-know-what-that-leads/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) > [One reason why my memory decays is that I have three cats, all so loving and insistent that they play cat's-cradle with every train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/one-reason-why-my-memory-decays-is-that-i-have-three-cats-all-so/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [It's an interesting fact that fewer than 17 % of Real cats end their lives with the same name they started with. Much family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/it-s-an-interesting-fact-that-fewer-than-17-of-real-cats-end-their/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [The dog is guided by kindly instinct to the man or woman whose heart is open to his advances. The cat often leaves the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/the-dog-is-guided-by-kindly-instinct-to-the-man-or-woman-whose-heart/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [If you ask me to tell you anything about the nature of what lies beyond the phaneron… my answer is “How should I know?”……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-gardner/if-you-ask-me-to-tell-you-anything-about-the-nature-of-what-lies/) [Martin Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-gardner/) > [Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou ow'st the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/is-man-no-more-than-this-consider-him-well-thou-ow-st-the-worm-no/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [In the olden days in England, you could be hung for stealing a sheep or a loaf of bread. However, if a sheep stole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-harding/in-the-olden-days-in-england-you-could-be-hung-for-stealing-a-sheep/) [Mike Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-harding/) > [Kittens can happen to anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gallico/kittens-can-happen-to-anyone/) [Paul Gallico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gallico/) > [I think if you keep the box closed long enough you do kill the cat, actually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-think-if-you-keep-the-box-closed-long-enough-you-do-kill-the-cat/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“All right, you deadly little ghostlings,” I muttered. “Mama says go back to bed! - Cat”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/all-right-you-deadly-little-ghostlings-i-muttered-mama-says-go-back/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [Man wishes woman to be peaceable, but in fact she is essentially warlike, like the cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/man-wishes-woman-to-be-peaceable-but-in-fact-she-is-essentially/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [There are videos I used to take at home, pretending to be a newscaster, interviewing the teapot or my house cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-wagner/there-are-videos-i-used-to-take-at-home-pretending-to-be-a-newscaster/) [Alex Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-wagner/) [Browse all 2,996 Cat quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cat/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Cats must have three names-an everyday name, such as Peter; a more particular, dignified name, such as Quaxo, Bombalurina, or Jellylorum; and, thirdly, the name the cat thinks up for himself, his deep and inscrutable singular Name.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T. 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