It’s midnight on a Monday and I cannot sleep because I’m wondering where Jim Davis’s “Garfield” got his name because, as someone who has been studying President James A. Garfield, the question comes up a lot. So obviously I did some preliminary research.

According to multiple online sources, “Garfield” was named for Jim Davis’s cantankerous grandfather James A. Garfield Davis. I checked cemetery records and James A. Garfield Davis was born in October of 1880, the same year James A.Garfield was the Republican nominee for president

In conclusion, I can only surmise that “Garfield” was named for Garfield Davis who was in fact named for Garfield. Therefore, Garfield the cat was essentially named after Garfield the president who, presumably, also hated Mondays. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

(President James A. Garfield died on Monday, September 19, 1881)