Meaning & Story
Cruella is a name of literary invention — created by Dodie Smith for her 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians and its Disney adaptation. The name is a portmanteau of cruel and Ella, making it an explicitly villainous name. As a pet name, it is given with irony and great affection to a dominant, dramatic female pet who runs the household on her own terms.
Cruella is the ultimate name for a cat or dog who is deeply aware of her own magnificence and expects the world to organize itself accordingly. She is not actually cruel — she is merely a strong personality with a clear vision of how things should be. Pets named Cruella tend to be dramatic, imperious, and privately very loving with the select few who have earned their approval. The name acknowledges the power dynamic honestly, and that kind of self-awareness is genuinely admirable.