"Bobcat" <bob_cattUNSPAM@hotmail.com> had some very interesting things
to say about Do our cats know their names?:

I'm sure Felix does. In fact, he even recognized his name before I
knew it *was* his name. When we adopted him, I was trying out various
names on him, with no reaction. When I tried Felix, he looked up at me
with obvious interest, so even a dense human :-) got the message that
that was his name [he didn't bother to react to Soldier, which is what
the shelter called him].

Persia "found me" back in January, 2001.  I tried to find her humans with no
success.  In the meantime, she managed to charm the pants off me so by day 3
I said out loud, "Well, I can't keep calling you 'cat'."  The name Persia
just popped into my head (beamed there by the mothership, no doubt).  This
pretty grey cat with green eyes was walking away from me at the time when I
said "Persia!"  She immediately turned around and ran to me.  And yes, when
I call her name, she knows what I'm saying.  She doesn't necessarily give me
more than a backwards glance to indicate she heard me, but she knows.

Persia makes vocalizations which I'm not supposed to understand.  However,
if I'm in the bathroom in the morning and she wants food, her meow changes
miraculously to, "NOWW!"  And if she wants out in her kitty-walk enclosure
on the patio, it's funny how her meow changes to sound like, "OUT OUT."  LOL

Jill

Yes, Jazz answers to all his names:
JazzyWazzybooboo
Jujubee
Fat boy
Sweet Baboo
Jaaaaaazzzzzzzzz

Jazz's mama

Until now all our cats knew their names.  Rosie even would come when I
called her. m Molly has yet to even acknowledge that she has a name.

Jo

No question with my three, although the name has to be precise.  Mr.
Clark ignored people who tried to call him "Clarkie", but might or might
not respond to "Mister".  Rhonda clearly knows her name.  Ding also
requires precision; a friend decided he looked like a "Ping" to her, and
he ignored it.

There is always the possibility, of course, that variations on their
name are heard but treated as disrespect...

Bandit knows quite a few words and phrases besides her name, ex. "Bandit
want her brushing (she starts purring before she even runs over to me to be
brushed)?", "Do my girlies want some tuna (gooshy food, turkey, chicken -
but she only comes for tuna and turkey)?", "Come huggers me (she comes and
snuggles next to me so I can hug her like a teddy bear)", "Go lay down (she
puts her head down and slinks off to the bedroom - this is when she's done
something naughty, and sometimes she'll turn around and sit in the bedroom
door and peek out at everyone by stretching her neck over the threshold)",
"Give me kissies (she comes and touches noses with me)", "Bandit want the
bugga belly (she runs away so I can't turn her on her back, stick my face in
her belly, shake my head back and forth, and say "bugga, bugga, bugga" -
LOL), etc., etc.

Jessie and Sammy also know their names and lots of other phrases, but not as
many as Bandit.

Demi is the dumbest dumb blonde you've ever seen - she's our Marilyn Munroe
of cats, and she's so dumb it's funny.  When she purrs it's sounds very
breathy and sexy, just like Marilyn!!!

Hugs,

CatNipped

I can't be sure if my two recognise their names or not. If they are both in
the house and I address Kitty by name, she will open her mouth and do her
silent miaouw.. On the other hand, she will also do this if I call her
"Pussy."
If BF is fast asleep and doing upside downy head he hears nothing.
Boyfriend will respond to his name if he is out and I invite him in "would
you like to come in, Boyfriend?"  He would.
If I do the same thing and call him "Boysie" he will respond in the same
way.  If I do a two tone whistle (which I've taught him by whistling it when
he has his food)  he will hurry inside too.
So, I don't know whether my two know their names or not, or whether they
just respond to a routine.

Tweed

All 7 do. However, some respond better to their nicknames than their
real names, i.e. Issa responds more to Lardbutt... :)

Absolutely they do. Even the kittens are starting to learn their
names. Shamrock knows if I'm talking about him on the phone with
someone (yes, I do talk about them on the phone. lol) and Bonnie with
all her feral traits, does acknowledge if I say her name.

I have discussed the matter wtih Baha, and she has told me she believes yes.
Actually, they tried quite an assortment of names to find the ones the
masters recognize and are willing to respond to.

This may have been discussed here, but cats make a bewildering
assortment of vocal sounds - meows, yowls, semi-barks, purrr-mrrrowws
etc. - and I wonder if in turn they can recognize the complex vocal
noises we make - let's say when we speak their names. When I say
"Sophie" to our latest kitty she may turn and look at to me, but the
odds are greater that she'll ignore me - a favourite cat ploy. This
can't be because cats have short-term memories. We adopted Sophie as a
stray over a year ago and ever since we've fed her dry food like the
other kitties. But if we run the can opener she comes running -
probably because her previous humans fed her tinned food. How about
you? Do/does your cat or cats recognize his or her name(s)?

Not only does Frank recognize his own name, he knows Nikki's name, too.
I know this because once, when the cats were both sitting on the window
sill looking out, Nikki was scratching the window pane (veeeerrrry
annoying!). I said, "Nikki!!", and right away, Frank turned to Nikki and
bapped her head. LOL! There's also the time we were visiting a friend's
cabin over the weekend. I let the cats go out on their own, but on
Sunday morning when we were supposed to go home, Nikki was nowhere to be
seen. I was in the garden with Frank, and said to him (really just
talking to myself), "Wonder where that Nikki is?" Frank immediately set
off, turned and miaowed at me to follow him. I did and to make a long
story short, he led me to Nikki. No-one believes me when I tell this
story, but I was there. I know what happened. I know that Frank is a
very smart boy.

---------------------<snip>----------------------

Mine seem to know them.  They just don't seem to care!

Regards and Purrs,
O J

Well, most of mine do, although Arthur is just starting to.  Merlyn
answers to "Arthur", too -- lol!  All the rest of them know their
names very well, but then, many of them picked their names, so they
should!

Cats, however, only answer to their names when they feel like it.  If
they don't feel like it, even if they know their names, they *will*
ignore you.  Unless it's dinner time, that is.  ;-)

Ginger-lyn

I am sure that all our cats know their names but I'm wondering how much
tonal variation in my speech patterns has to do with it; I've long known
that I say each of their names somewhat musically and each of their tunes
(and my intonations) are different.
Christine and Omar, Oreo, Midnight, Robin & Tucker

Oh, I think they understand every word - they just don't
choose to acknowledge them often!  (They certainly
UNDERSTAND "no" - but unless it's backed up with a reach for
the squirt-bottle, Meilisande seldom bothers to respond.)

I would say Nina does, as she comes to me when I call her. Okay, she
SOMETIMES comes. =o) Cesca and Pan also recognize their names, I believe.
Pan tends to respond best to "Pan my love" and Cesca likes "Cesca Bella."
SHe's not  all that interested in "Francesca."

Melissa

Vino definitely knows his name.  Only he ignores it when he feels like
it.  He's a very catty cat.
I have this self scratcher on the leg of my computer desk.  Vino goes
up to it and scratches the side of his own face quite a lot.  Often
I'll just smile but not say anything.  But sometimes I'll say: "Poor
Vino, has to resort to self-stimulation!  Why don't you come up here
and I'll scritch you!"  He'll look up and immediately get up on the
desk for his well deserved scritches.
When he's in his catty mood however, he'll just swivel his ears in my
direction when I call him, but he won't move.
--
Britta
Sandpaper kisses, a cuddle and a purr. I have an alarm clock that's
covered in fur!
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album