You might have noticed that over on the “Pet Names I’m Sick Of Hearing” thread, the vast majority of overused pet names are happy, upbeat, often old-fashioned people names – there are (too) many Sammys (a Shepherd) and Mollys (a mix) out there. Annies and Maggies, Maxes and Jacks rule the dog world – bowing only to a few happy, upbeat, contemporary names such as Bailey, or popular old-yet-new-again names such as Chloe, Zoe, Charlie, and Sophie.
I have liked the trend toward naming your dog as if you were naming a family member – because these are lovable names, and your dog IS a family member.
But as the thread suggests, maybe we have gone a bit overboard on The People Names For Your Companion Animal trend. I was doing this before it was popular, but I find myself now drawn to names puppy names such as Cupcake or a kitten named Inky. These are truly old-fashioned, in the sense that this what people used to name their pets.
What do Berries think? Would you name the new puppy Fluff Bucket or Bunny Hop – or would you rather find a good, solid people name – that has not been used by five of your friends for their dogs? How about the fresh nature names? Do you like Breeze or Cedar or Harbor or Ocean for a dog?
What do you think of using frillier, fancier real people names for pets? Adelaide. Florence. Jerome. Sebastian. Clarissa.
I like the thought of being able to use a name that I love, one that it completely suited to my pet, but a name that I couldn’t use for a child. I don’t like the “Fluffy” type of names - because I can’t imagine they “belong” to the pet, that they completely “suit” the cat/dog/rabbit/bird…
But I have a cat named [name]Lenin[/name]. I guess it does not fit into any of the name-types you suggested.
My dog is named [name]Stanley[/name] [name]Elmer[/name] (we call him [name]Stan[/name], Stanny, [name]Stanislav[/name], and Stanjay, as well as doggles, doglas, woglas, etc.). Definitely a person name, but not something you’d usually hear on a kid or a dog. It suits him perfectly.
I can just see a dog name [name]Stanley[/name]! It’s perfect somehow. My family had a dog named [name]Ralph[/name] once, and that worked, too, probably rather the same way… We used to sing to him the song, “What’s It All About [name]Alfie[/name]?” But with [name]Ralphie[/name], of course.
My deceased pets were boxer [name]Jagger[/name] and shihtzu [name]Francesca[/name] ([name]Frannie[/name].) My current pets are boxer [name]Finnegan[/name] ([name]Finn[/name]) and shihtzu [name]Pollyanna[/name] ([name]Polly[/name].) Yes, we like shihtzus and boxers! I didn’t pick ‘people’ names on purpose… They were just names I liked but not enough to ever use on a child. Especially for the shihtzus, I thought [name]Frannie[/name] and [name]Polly[/name] were cute, fun, but not over done. I also have two turtles named [name]Tod[/name] and [name]Tulip[/name]. [name]Tod[/name] was named after my dad’s childhood pet turtle, (mainly as a joke.)
I don’t have much of an opinion on pet naming… except that I am often bored by what others name their pets. ([name]Duke[/name], [name]Precious[/name], gag me.) Some great pet names I’ve come across: [name]Roxy[/name] (cat), [name]Simba[/name] ([name]German[/name] [name]Shepherd[/name]), [name]Boss[/name] (G. [name]Shep[/name].), [name]Pedro[/name] (Chihuahua.)
PS, I’ve always thought it would be hilarious to name a dog something like [name]Dennis[/name] or [name]Jeffrey[/name], just to get people’s reactions!
I tend to not like calling animals by human names.
If I have a dog, I want to give him a bunch of named, a la [name]Thomas[/name] O’malley, but have them spell out DOLCE, and then just call him Dolce. I’m a name nerd and I want to have my naming fun.
My boyfriend’s dog is [name]Buddy[/name], which I find so boring, but they were kids and all. His brother’s dog is [name]Bella[/name], which is bleh to me.
