The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter, It isn't just one of your holiday games;/ You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter/ When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES./ First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,/ Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,/ Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey—/ All of them sensible everyday names./ There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,/ Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:/ Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter—/ But all of them sensible everyday names./ But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,/ A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,/ Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,/ Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?/ Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,/ Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,/ Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-/ Names that never belong to more than one cat./ But above and beyond there's still one name left over,/ And that is the name that you never will guess;/ The name that no human research can discover—/ But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess./ When you notice a cat in profound meditation,/ The reason, I tell you, is always the same:/ His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation/ Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:/ His ineffable effable/ Effanineffable/ Deep and inscrutable singular Name. /The Naming of Cats by T.S. Eliot