I love my little cat. The idea of names and using words seems extremely silly to me.
My cat's real name is "wwhhq." It is a sound that is completely different than any word or sound I ever use. I also have a low volume high pitch whistle I can make that is barely audible to me and consists of a specific quick up-down-UP tone. She can hear that over any white noise and will usually respond, at least, more usual than most cats I've owned or been around. I'd call it a 90% response rate. No one else in the house can generate that kind of response from her, especially with a silly anthropomorphized name. I've gotten to the point where all words directed at an animal seem like unnecessary nonsense. They are only responding to tone and actions. So, I figure why not simplify my vocalizations to make my communication entirely on her level of tones and actions making my intent more clear and easy to interpret. It has worked really well for me over the last 9 years with my current cat. I don't think I will speak to a cat ever again.
I'm a bit of an oddball because I named a lemon tree and I talk with it. But even then, I don't think that this behaviour towards cats is silly, it's just humans harmlessly following their own instincts. Cats chase small things, spiders weave webs, and we humans talk.
And even if the response rate might go down, I don't care too much about it. I just make sure to include a few key words and/or sounds into what I'm talking, emphasise them when speaking with my cats, and make them iconic. At least for things that matter. (Granted, I use German with one of my cats, but that's for another reason - to keep myself from forgetting the language.)
