In defense of
Webster_1913, Pussy must have once been used as he said; "an endearing name for a girl". Otherwise the movie industry would never have gotten away with "
Goldfinger", a
Bond movie in which the main
female's name was
Pussy Galore.
However Webster_1913 also describes "pussy" as "a pet name for a cat". Nowadays pussy is more an alternative name for the domestic feline rather than a pet name for it.
There is also the most current use of the term: an alternative name for vagina