The origin of the name of "Unki"

When I posted about Unki's birthday, Eastern White commented:

what a cute name. what does it mean?

Rob and I felt like this was a blogworthy topic... so here we go!

Unki is short for "Unko Kitty". "Un" is pronounced like the number "uno".

Here is the original Unki:

He is a cat that Rob bought me a couple of years ago in Belgium while we were traveling through Europe. Rob came up with the name because he is the color of unko.

Unki came with us on several adventures.

In Unki's hometown of Bruges.


Unki is a fan of modern architecture. Here he is at the Schroeder House in Utrecht.


Unki also loves to travel the rails in style. Doesn't the plaid set his coloring off nicely?


Unki's favorite view in Germany, Neuschwanstein Castle.

Fast forward a year and we wanted to get a new kitten as a companion for Maggie. After a long search, we found a little grey cat with white feet, bib and underwear. We put our dibs on him about a month before we could actually bring him home. During that time, Rob decided to name him "Poirot" after this guy.

Who usually wears a grey suit with white gloves, white spats and a white shirt (I don't know what color his underwear is.)

But when we got Poirot (the kitten) home, he smelled like unko. And he was kind of a spaz. Not a fastidious Belgium private detective like his namesake. See?

A good view of his underpants. And try yelling "Poirot! Get off the table! Poirot! Get off of Maggie!" Unki just trips off the tongue.

So, in the end, our kitten was named after our stuffed cat. Did you figure out what unko means? Yep, unko in Japanese means poop! We are so classy.