When we acquired this handsome, blue-eyed fellow—a tabby / Siamese cross— six years ago, we had to name him. We went through various famous blue-eyed men: Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman, Brad Pitt, Jared Leto… (It was long enough ago that I don’t think Roger Daltrey even came to mind.)

But none seemed quite right until we thought of this fella, Eric Dane:

Or, as his Grey’s Anatomy character is nicknamed, McSteamy. The gray-ish hair, the solidity, the air of mischief… It all just really seemed to match our cat. (“Wow. He really does look like McSteamy,” my Mom said, on first seeing the cat.)

And so we have a cat named McSteamy. Six years later, the name remains the source of either much delight or much confusion, depending on how much the person first hearing the name knows about Grey’s Anatony.