Meaning & Story
From the Chinese Mao - most simply meaning cat in some regional Chinese dialects. Also the family name of Chairman Mao Zedong. As a pet name the cat connection makes it charmingly self-referential.
Mao is a name with delightful layers. In several Chinese regional dialects it literally means cat, which makes naming your cat Mao an act of poetic self-reference that never gets old. He is probably dignified and slightly imperious, as cats named after leaders tend to be. Mao surveys his domain with calm authority and expects things to be run his way. They are.