That was my first reaction: what? Cats know names. Then… ohhh. Because it’s just her and the cat. The cat wouldn’t know your name if no one else is there to call you by it. Then, felt a bit sad. But not too sad, because cats are better than people anyway.

ikr, iirc cats are hard to study bc they dgaf. Also it’s not likely that you hang out with your cat while saying your own name. But if you have a couple people in the house and they call each other by name, it’s possible the cat knows those sounds to be associated with the respective person.

Also, the cat “names” you according to your smell and the sound that you make while approaching, besides your visual appearance. They likely have some kind of cognitive representation that ties those percepts with their memories of your shared history. But it’s true that they don’t have a constructed symbol system that they use to share that representation with other creatures.

I came here to say this! I don’t have cats, but my dogs know other people’s names even though I never taught them those names directly!

Animals are smarter than humans realize.