Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 18

Thread: Pet naming

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Windham, Vermont, USA
    Posts
    40,828

    Pet naming

    When you name your pet, do you look for a common name, popular one, or more unique? Just curious, as of course when processing nominations, I often have to make sure it isn't a "Daisy" or a "Bailey" or a "Chewy" that has already been featured before! And today's Dog of the Day has the same name as kak's kitty whose 1 year gotcha day anniversary is today!
    I've Been Frosted

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    California
    Posts
    11,778
    When we named our current pets we tossed around names and my boyfriend had to be able to shorten it to a nickname (Zo, Tagg, Paiz and well Jax is just Jax!). And we both had to like the name. We didn't care if they were too common or too unique, we just went with whatever. Well, Taggart was already named at the shelter and we liked it so we kept it.
    Our goal in life should be - to be as good a person as our dog thinks we are.

    Thank you for the siggy, Michelle!


    Cindy (Human) - Taz (RB Tabby) - Zoee (RB Australian Shepherd) - Paizly (Dilute Tortie) - Taggart (Aussie Mix) - Jax (Brown & White Tabby), - Zeplyn (Cattle Dog Mix)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Illinois, USA
    Posts
    28,379
    I'm surprised Cassie even knows her name because I call her so many other things... a friend calls her Cassie Lassie, which got shortened to Lassie and then to Lass; she gets called Madam when she is being mischievous; Bug- I have no idea where that came from ("Hi, bug!"). A lot of the time she gets called the Princess because she eats before I do, she generally walks in front of me when I am going from room to room, and at night she is so funny, she expects me to let her settle into her sleeping spot before I lie down. Yes, ma'am. My nephew's cat Winston was like that too- he had a billion permutations of his name and he knew all of them referred to him. (and he was equally good at ignoring each one when he wasn't getting what he wanted)
    Praying for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine, and around the world.

    I've been Boo'd ... right off the stage!

    Aaahh, I have been defrosted! Thank you, Bonny and Asiel!
    Brrrr, I've been Frosted! Thank you, Asiel and Pomtzu!


    "That's the power of kittens (and puppies too, of course): They can reduce us to quivering masses of Jell-O in about two seconds flat and make us like it. Good thing they don't have opposable thumbs or they'd surely have taken over the world by now." -- Paul Lukas

    "We consume our tomorrows fretting about our yesterdays." -- Persius, first century Roman poet

    Cassie's Catster page: http://www.catster.com/cats/448678

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    My life is God filtered :)
    Posts
    14,052
    All of my cats were adopted and came with their own names which I kept. Nevertheless, I have a word document with a whole list of potential cat names - some I've heard on the TV and some on the internet. They are all names that "speak" to me.....
    Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand and strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO HOO - What a Ride!
    --unknown

    Sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see
    --Polar Express

    Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened.




  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    Happy Valley, Utah
    Posts
    12,552
    I like more unique, but I prefer shorter, easy to pronounce names. I really like my dogs names...okay well I didn't name Killer, and I wouldn't have named him Killer but it suits him in an opposite way. But the huskies names Nebo, Keva, and Skya I came up with and I think they are unique and fit them. I have a list of names somewhere on a computer I've come up with for future dogs.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Methuen, MA; USA
    Posts
    17,105
    I like to see what the pet's personality is like, and then try to get a name to reflect that.

    Of my bichons, Lacey is the only one I named. All the rest already had names, being rescues. Lacey is a rescue as well, but she was found roaming the streets, so we have no idea what name she went by for her first 5 years. She is a soft mellow personality, very feminine and dainty -- and of course the bichon coat is lacy - like, too!

    The cats are where I got to name, and their names reflect personality and what was occurring when they joined our family. Sparkle brought some sparkle into life, it was just me and RB Mr. Amber Cat ("Amber") and Amber was becoming a lazy pudgy boy. She sure took care of that! He heeee.
    .

  7. #7
    Laylas name came from the Eric Clapton song. Always loved that name and it seemed to be just right for her.

    Jakes name came from the Pirates of the Mississippi song Feed Jake.

    Missy was named by my the children of a coworker who I got her from at three months old. It seemed to fit her so I kept it.

    Angel was named by the rescue and I kept it.

    Tessa's name is Contessa, also named by the rescue, and I call her Tessa.
    http://petoftheday.com/talk/signaturepics/sigpic9646_1.gif
    Forever in my heart...
    Casey.Ginger.Corey.Mandy.Sassy
    Lacey.Angel.Missy.Jake.Layla

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Oklahoma
    Posts
    1,749
    I prefer more unique names, and you can probably tell which pets I named and which were named by other people.

    Khaith the cat, Towser the pup, Wilhelm the rat, Adelaide the cat, etc. I am just drawn to names I haven't heard a million times. Then again, if an animal joins the family that already has a name and I'm not fond of said name, I normally don't change it. I hated my tortie Martha's name for the longest time. My sister's friend named her and I just thought it was one of the worst names for a cat. It eventually grew on me and I can't imagine her with any other name. Plus, its fun singing "Martha My Dear" to a cat! lol

    The only animal that got a name change upon joining the family is Gir the cockatiel. Her original name was Ariel, but on the drive home my sister renamed her Gir, which fits so much better.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Knoxville, TN
    Posts
    9,541
    I try to use Disney names for all my pets , though there are a few exceptions.

    Lily - TigerLily from Peter Pan.
    Domino - 101 Dalmatians
    Snow - Snow White

    Jake was named by Michael, Fred was named after Freddy Krueger, Rosie I'm not sure if I got that from a Disney name or not, Hershey is named after the candy, Tallulah is a kooky kitty and needed a kooky name.

    It always comes down to personality, lol, but Disney names are my favorite!
    ♥Bri [HUMAN]♥
    ♥Lily [POMERANIAN], Brennan [APBT], Bailey [APBT/HOUND MIX]♥
    ♥Tallulah[CALICO], Domino [TUXIE]♥
    ♥Peach [RAT], Pepper [RAT], Phoebe [RAT], and PipSqueak [RAT]
    ♥Salvatore [BETTA]♥


    “Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be,
    because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.”


    In Loving Memory <3
    Roxy Lily Brennan
    Facebook TigerLily Photography

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Markham, Canada
    Posts
    203
    Our first dog came from a breeder who had called him Jesse. That didn't seem to fit but we wanted something that sounded similar so we called him Joshua.
    The next two were rescues and we figured they had already had to learn one new name so we kept them the same.
    Rocky was given up by his owners.
    Louie was a stray given that name by the sanctuary.

    I miss them all.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    my own little corner
    Posts
    410
    For the current herd:

    Zingo Furrburner--named after a dungeons and dragons character
    Oatmeal--that is the color of his furr
    Scooter--when he was still outside he would block the door. So we started saying "come on, scoot!"
    Turbo--my husband had to pull her off of the turbo charger of his truck where she ran and hid. she was less than 1 pound and severly ill. He swears there is still kitten poop on the turbo charger
    Splotch--she looks like somebody took handfulls of paint and threw them at her, causing different splotches of color on her coat
    GT--stands for Garage Talker. I had gone out one morning to feed the backyard cat and came in to tell my husband "the garage is talking to me"..took us 3 days to finally catch sight of her.
    Momma--just fits, rescued with her kitten
    Doodle--the kitten. she was born around the 4th of July. So...yankee doodle dandy came to mind....she gets called Bug a lot for some reason. and Buggly....
    Itchy--all white cat with an apparent allergy to the sun. when she was still outside she would be crossing the street and suddenly have to sit IN THE MIDDLE and scratch....

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Delaware, USA - The First State/Diamond State - home of The Blue Hens
    Posts
    9,321
    I name mostly by personality, or country of breed-origin names. Myndi was an exception since when I got her at 10 months old, she already had the name of Mindy, so I just changed the spelling and added "Jo Kong" (from her mother and father's names) when I sent in her AKC papers.

    Sparky - definitely a personality name. He was such a bright little flash of light in my life.
    Sherbie - he was orange and white - orange sherbet
    O.C. - "other cat", since Sherb was already here

    RB Lhasas:
    Tai Ling Soo - breed origin. Called her just Tai for short
    Wei Wooli Bear - "Wei" was part of his grandmother's name, and "Wooli Bear" because he was big like a bear and fuzzy like the caterpillar. We always called him just Bear or Boo-Boo Bear
    Scooter - he was a rescue and already named

    RB Meezers:
    Ming Blu - I thought it was pretty darn original at the time, but it's pretty common for Meezers as I have learned
    Sam - he was already named when I adopted him, but a very fitting name for a Meezer
    Suki - just Oriental sounding

    Cockatiel:
    Rocky - because he thought he (which turned out to be a she) was tough like Rocky Balboa

    Mortimer was a BIG tuxie I adopted at about 6 years old and already named. It did suit him tho.

    And some others way, way back:
    Inky - black rabbit
    Smokey - gray rabbit
    B.R. (dwarf bunny rabbit)
    Cinnamon - terrier mix named for her fur color
    Dusty - gray cat
    Spook - dark gray cat
    Peanut - very tiny cat
    Snuffy - my first ever cat which I acquired after I married. Hubby was in the Marine Corps at the time, and a "snuffy" in the Corps is an enlisted man of very low rank, so the name was quite appropriate!

    I've forgotten a few - but you get the idea..............
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Wolfy ~ Fuzzbutt #3
    My little dog ~ a heartbeat at my feet

    Sparky the Fuzzbutt - PT's DOTD 8/3/2010
    RIP 2/28/1999~10/9/2012
    Myndi the Fuzzbutt - Mom's DOTD - Everyday
    RIP 1/24/1996~8/9/2013
    Ellie - Mom to the Fuzzbuttz

    To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
    Ecclesiastes 3:1
    The clock of life is wound but once and no man has the power
    To know just when the hands will stop - on what day, or what hour.
    Now is the only time you have, so live it with a will -
    Don't wait until tomorrow - the hands may then be still.
    ~~~~true author unknown~~~~

  13. #13

    I try for "unique" plus something that represents the kitty's individuality

    Plus there is the "official" name, the shortened nickname that I customarily use, and with my current trickster, on occasion, when he is being particularly fractious - or catlike - some words that are not his name and cross the line into the "expletive deleted" zone

    So here goes:

    My first kitty (now at the RB) was officially named Dominick because with his tuxedo he called to mind a Dominican monk, and someone commented that he looked like a sleek dominatrix (gender notwithstanding.) But I called him Nicky or Nickythecat.

    My current kitty is a silver gray tabby - ergo Dorian Gray - although I call him Dorry, Dorry-boy, whatever.

    Both kitties were privileged to attain COTD status

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Copenhagen, Denmark - GMT+1
    Posts
    15,952
    Fister got his name when we visited him in the yard. John simply started calling him Fister, and it stuck. We didn't know that he was coming up to live with us and hadn't searched for names. Fister is what you call someone who you don't know the name of - I think like Buster in the US. I didn't like the name to begin with, but it grew on me.



    "I don't know which weapons will be used in the third World war, but in the fourth, it will be sticks and stones" --- Albert Einstein.


  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    Happy Valley, Utah
    Posts
    12,552
    I have to add, after being a pet groomer for years I don't want to use common names even more because I get sick of hearing them so often. Half of the shih tzus are Oreo (if they are black/gray and white) or Gizmo. There's a lot of them named Bear too. Bella is a super common female dog name, any breed of dog. I can probably think of at least 10 black labs named Sadie (anyone know why that is? Seriously almost every dog named Sadie is black and usually a lab). Lots of dogs named Buddy, mostly small dogs. Lots of huskies named Koda, Dakota, etc. Oddly enough the past year or so we're getting a lot of girl dogs named Max, not sure what that's all about. Then of course we have the beagle named Beagle, yorkie named Yorky, why would you do that I guess I just don't get it. I'm not saying I hate any of these names just saying I don't want to name mine anything common. It's funny when somebody calls and says "Is Max done?" and we have to ask them their last name or type of dog because we have like 3 named that in one day.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Copyright © 2001-2013 Pet of the Day.com