What's In A Name: Abyssinian

The Abyssinians a breed of domestic shorthaired cat with a distinctive "ticked" tabby coat, in which individual hairs are banded with different colors.

It is named after Abyssinia (now called Ethiopia) the country from which it was first thought to have originated; more recent research now places its origins somewhere near the Egyptian coast. The Abyssinian has since become one of the most popular breeds of shorthair cat in the USA.