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.
Cats have sensitive hearing and hate loud noises, so it makes a lot of sense that a quiet whistle would work better than loudly calling out. Things like “pspsps” and “ksksks” get their attention too because it’s not very loud but has a lot of high frequencies that they can hear well.
They seem to like when you talk to them in a calm voice. They might not understand sentences, but they do recognize sounds. They’ll look at you funny if you suddenly start speaking a different language.