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wtf is cat-names?

sindresorhus/cat-names — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-08-02 · repo last pushed 2024-04-30

275JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5DormantLicenseSetup · easy

TL;DR

A tiny package that gives you a list of the top 100 cat names, with options to get all names at once or pick one at random. Also works as a command-line tool.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      List of 100 cat names
      Get a random name
      Command-line tool
    Tech stack
      JavaScript
      JSON data file
    Use cases
      Placeholder names in apps
      Pet-adoption sample data
      Chatbot personality quirk
    Audience
      Developers
      Vibe coders
    Scope
      Frozen and finished
      No new names accepted

Code map

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Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Populate sample pet profiles in a pet-adoption app with random cat names.

REASON 2

Give a chatbot a random cat name as a personality quirk.

REASON 3

Use placeholder names when prototyping a game or website.

REASON 4

Get a quick random cat name from the terminal without writing code.

What's in the stack?

JavaScriptJSON

How it stacks up

sindresorhus/cat-namesgaearon/react-blessed-hot-motiondavidvkimball/vaultcms
Stars275276282
LanguageJavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript
Last pushed2024-04-302017-11-17
MaintenanceDormantDormant
Setup difficultyeasymoderateeasy
Complexity1/54/52/5
Audiencedeveloperdevelopervibe coder

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Just install via npm, no configuration or external dependencies needed.

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

Wtf does this do

cat-names is a simple package that gives you a list of the top 100 cat names. You can use it to grab all the names at once, or just ask it to spit out a single random name. That's the entire product, no hidden complexity. At its core, the project is just a static list of names stored in a plain data file (JSON, which is essentially a text format that organizes information in a way computers can easily read). The code wrapped around that file gives you two straightforward options: retrieve the full alphabetical list, or pull one name at random. There's also a command-line tool version, so you can run a quick command in your terminal and get a cat name printed out without writing any code at all. This would be useful for anyone building an app, game, or website that needs placeholder names or random name generation. A developer testing a new pet-adoption app could use it to populate sample profiles. Someone building a chatbot might use it to give the bot a random cat name as a personality quirk. It also belongs to a family of similar packages, the creator has built parallel ones for dog names, Pokémon names, superhero names, and others, so if you needed random names across several categories, these tools follow the same pattern. The notable thing here is how deliberately small the scope is. The creator has explicitly stated they won't accept contributions adding more names. It's a finished, frozen utility, not a growing database. That makes it dependable (it won't change unexpectedly) but also means you're limited to the 100 names already included.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Install the cat-names npm package and write a Node script that prints a random cat name to the console.
Prompt 2
Use the cat-names package to create an array of 10 random cat names and display them in a simple HTML list.
Prompt 3
Show me how to use the cat-names command-line tool to print a random cat name directly from the terminal.
Prompt 4
Write a small Express API endpoint that returns a random cat name as JSON using the cat-names package.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is cat-names?

A tiny package that gives you a list of the top 100 cat names, with options to get all names at once or pick one at random. Also works as a command-line tool.

What language is cat-names written in?

Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes JavaScript, JSON.

Is cat-names actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2024-04-30).

What license does cat-names use?

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

How hard is cat-names to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is cat-names for?

Mainly developer.

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