Cat Name Liberty

by lisa
(Los Angeles, California, USA)

Liberty, a Siamese mix, showed up on July 4th of 1999 and had four kittens 10 days later. None were Siamese marked and we kept mom and two kittens, Noot an Orange tabby and Callie, a polydactyl long haired calico. Liberty seemed to fit and we shortened it up to Libby.

Editor's note: I decided to dig up some facts about liberty.

Liberty, of course, means freedom, and is derived from Middle English. In the US, as well as around the world, one of the most recognizable symbols of freedom is the Statue of Liberty in New York. Dedicated on October 28, 1886, it was a gift to the American people by France.

The statue was engineered by Gustave Eiffe, and designed by Auguste Bartholdi. It was designated as a National Monument in 1924.

The "artificial life form" called Data on the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation had a cat named Spot on board the Starship Enterprise.

Spot was originally played by a Somali cat named Liberty Valance. There was a casting change on the show at some point, and Spot was later played by two orange tabby cats named Monster and Brandy. The public information on this is sketchy, and there are some conflicting reports on how many cats and of what type played spot.

You may recall a movie called The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance from 1962 starring James Stewart and John Wayne. Another movie, this one from 2002, starred Linda Fiorentino and was called Liberty Stands Still.