Cleo ranks at #192 with 561 entries, and the name carries an unusual amount of regal weight in its two short syllables. It is a diminutive of Cleopatra (and to a lesser extent Cleo as a standalone), and the Egyptian-queen association sits underneath every use of the name even when owners are not consciously thinking about her.
The Cleopatra echo, often subconscious
Cleo lands disproportionately on cats — the Egyptian-cat connection is doing real work, even when owners are not thinking about Bast or the historical reverence for cats in Egyptian culture. The 1963 Elizabeth Taylor film Cleopatra and the 1995 Disney film Pinocchio (where Cleo is Geppetto's goldfish) are real but secondary anchors that thicken the texture without dominating it.
One counter-reading: a smaller share of Cleo pet owners pick the name purely for its sound — the open-vowel two-syllable shape (CLEE-oh) — without any conscious reference to Cleopatra. The same sound-driven instinct shapes Zoe, Coco, and Luna, which all feature similar open-O endings.
Where the name lands
Black cats, gray cats, sleek cat breeds (Russian Blues, Siamese), and small graceful dogs over-index on Cleo. The name reads as elegant in a way that the diminutive register does not always achieve, which makes it a frequent shortlist name for owners who want something pretty but not cute. The Cleo baby name page shows the human chart, where the name has been climbing slowly since the early 2010s. Owners cross-shopping similar regal-female names also consider Luna and Nala alongside Cleo before settling, with the final choice often coming down to which name fits best alongside other pets in the household.