Meaning & Story
From the Old English place name meaning 'heath' (open moorland) and 'cliff,' made famous as both a character name in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and the classic cartoon cat.
Heathcliff carries two very different but equally compelling legacies: the brooding, passionate anti-hero of Wuthering Heights and the streetwise orange cartoon cat who always caused trouble in his neighborhood. For a pet, both associations are wonderful. The literary Heathcliff gives the name a dark romantic weight; the cartoon version makes it immediately lovable and a little troublemaking. Either way, a pet named Heathcliff is probably both more dramatic and more charming than the situation warrants.