Is there any “people” names you associate with animal names, you find it bizzare that a person would name their child that? [name_m]Say[/name_m], for instance, you had a dog called [name_m]Jack[/name_m] and your boss has a baby boy and names him [name_m]Jack[/name_m]. In your head, all you can think is “but that’s my dog’s name! You can’t name him that!”
I have had cats called [name_f]Clarabelle[/name_f], [name_m]Bob[/name_m], [name_m]Seamus[/name_m], [name_m]Jack[/name_m], [name_u]Gus[/name_u], [name_f]Acacia[/name_f], [name_f]Athena[/name_f], [name_f]Peggy[/name_f], [name_f]Polly[/name_f], [name_f]Molly[/name_f], [name_u]Sammy[/name_u], [name_m]Leo[/name_m], [name_u]Hunter[/name_u], [name_m]Stuart[/name_m], [name_f]Pippa[/name_f], and loads more.
I have had a dog called [name_u]Jet[/name_u] and currently have one called [name_u]Jo[/name_u].
[name_f]My[/name_f] bff has a dog called [name_f]Poppy[/name_f] and a cat called [name_u]Frankie[/name_u] (girl). Another friend has a dog called [name_f]Jade[/name_f].
For me, these (for the most part) are no longer “people” names.
[name_m]Clifford[/name_m], [name_u]Riley[/name_u], [name_u]Bailey[/name_u], and [name_f]CoCo[/name_f] will probably forever be dog names in my mind, just because they are such popular names for dogs. But for the most part, there’s just no longer a clear distinction between dog names and people names. I know dogs named [name_u]Finley[/name_u], [name_m]Finnegan[/name_m], [name_u]Max[/name_u], [name_m]Jack[/name_m], [name_f]Molly[/name_f], [name_m]Huck[/name_m], [name_u]Kerry[/name_u], [name_m]Atticus[/name_m], [name_m]Seamus[/name_m], [name_f]Lyla[/name_f], [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], [name_u]Lexi[/name_u], [name_f]Daisy[/name_f], [name_u]Sutton[/name_u], [name_u]Remy[/name_u], [name_m]Archie[/name_m], [name_m]Baxter[/name_m], [name_u]Jameson[/name_u], [name_m]Deacon[/name_m], [name_f]Pandora[/name_f], [name_f]Jezebel[/name_f], [name_f]Olive[/name_f], Livi, and [name_u]Izzy[/name_u]. The list could go on forever…
I’m [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] and my brother is [name_u]Sam[/name_u] and when we were children in the 70s and 80s these were definitely dog names. [name_u]Bailey[/name_u] is always a name that screams “dog” to me!
I’d suggest [name_m]Felix[/name_m] and [name_u]Rex[/name_u] are very associated with animals for most people.
A lot of the names listed above aren’t “cat” or “dog” names. They’re “people” names that have been appropriated by others (someone you know) and that’s why you personally think of them as animal names. But most people certainly wouldn’t think of [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], for example, as “a dog’s name”.
[name_f]Sadie[/name_f] and [name_u]Bailey[/name_u]. I’ve had a cat named [name_f]Athena[/name_f] and although I think it’s pretty for a human it seems more like a pet name to me.
But then again I’ve met a few dogs with my name [name_f]Lacey[/name_f].
[name_f]Sadie[/name_f] is very much a cat name for me too, had a [name_f]Sadie[/name_f] kitty in childhood. [name_f]Ella[/name_f] and [name_u]Charley[/name_u] are dogs in my family. And idk if anyone’s ever gone by the nn [name_m]Rocky[/name_m] besides [name_m]Sylvester[/name_m] Stallone but that one is definitely all dog.
This thread remind anyone else of [name_u]Indiana[/name_u] [name_m]Jones[/name_m]? “We named the dog [name_u]Indiana[/name_u].” “I’ve got a lot of fond memories of that dog.”
[name_u]Max[/name_u], [name_m]Oscar[/name_m], [name_m]Rufus[/name_m] are all dog names for me, [name_f]Lily[/name_f] and [name_m]Felix[/name_m] are/were my cats names. Though an old maths teacher did name her cats [name_f]Sophie[/name_f] and [name_f]Tara[/name_f], I think any name could become a dog name, especially with association. Although if I was honest [name_m]Felix[/name_m] is the only name that I think of as an animal name, thanks to the cat food and my brother’s cat I no longer see [name_m]Felix[/name_m] as a person’s name, though that be said if I meet a [name_m]Felix[/name_m] then maybe that would change.
[name_f]Coco[/name_f] is all dog to me. Or stripper. Similar to [name_f]Candy[/name_f], which is delightful on a collie.
[name_f]Roxy[/name_f]/[name_f]Roxie[/name_f] I like for a daughter but I know plenty of people find it doggish, which does bug me somewhat. Of course other people like [name_u]Bailey[/name_u]/[name_u]Bayley[/name_u] for their child and I find THAT very very doggy.
I met a sibset of children named [name_u]Ruby[/name_u] & [name_u]Rex[/name_u] and I repeated it (with how adorable they were) to my husband, and he grunted “the mother must have thought she was having cavaliers” (meaning these: Cavaliers)
If I like a name I’ll probably continue to even if I meet a dog by it.
I don’t really name my own pets people names though unless there’s some weird story behind it. I called a cat [name_m]Jack[/name_m] but he was [name_m]Jack[/name_m] O’Lantern. Kids named [name_m]Jack[/name_m] aren’t weird because I named my orange cat after a pumpkin.
I don’t have any pets, but I grew up with [name_f]Enid[/name_f] Blyton’s Famous Five books, so I kind of find that [name_m]Timothy[/name_m]/[name_m]Tim[/name_m]/[name_m]Timmy[/name_m] is a dogs name (that’s wearing of a bit now though). And my old head teacher had a dog called [name_f]Flora[/name_f], who she brought into school, so that’s definitely a dog name in my mind.
Rosabell was my fav name when I was 5 which I then christened our cat with. [name_m]Just[/name_m] heard that someone used it for their little one and all I could say was Meow.
I also think it is sickly sweet like something a 5 year old would come up with. And that rings true for all the [name_f]Belle[/name_f]/a names.
So many of the names that are popular for boys in the UK just now seem like dog names to me - [name_m]Jack[/name_m], [name_m]Ben[/name_m], [name_u]Max[/name_u], [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] etc. I know dogs with all these names and it’s all I can think of when I hear them for children.
My animals have all had people names (except for Periwinkle, but he went almost exclusively by Perry). I’ve never really thought anything of it and the names remain people names to me. I loathe names like ‘Fluffy’ and ‘Squeaky’ etc.
Kirsty (dog), Gemma (cat), Odette, Coco (rabbits), Leonidas, Archimedes, Ezra and Perry (rats).
I do agree however, with a PP who said there are names that people might consider ‘stripperish’ but work excellently for animals. Like Coco and Candy. Title names also work well too, King/Rex or Caeser or Kaiser.
the ones that stick out to me as “dog names” are:
[name_f]Molly[/name_f]
[name_f]Maggie[/name_f]
[name_u]Max[/name_u]
[name_m]Clifford[/name_m]
[name_u]Bailey[/name_u]
[name_m]Zeus[/name_m]
[name_f]Roxie[/name_f]
I think most of the names people are suggesting, are “people” names that you or someone you know has used on a pet and so you associate that name with that pet. For example, I have had pets named [name_f]Cleo[/name_f] (cat), [name_f]Dora[/name_f] & [name_f]Chloe[/name_f] (rabbits), [name_f]Lilly[/name_f] (cat), [name_f]Poppy[/name_f] (cat), [name_u]Robbie[/name_u] (hamster) and [name_u]Roscoe[/name_u] (dog). So, I could never used these names on people. However, if someone told me they had named their daughter [name_f]Chloe[/name_f] or [name_f]Poppy[/name_f], or their son [name_u]Robbie[/name_u], I would not think “but that’s a cat/dog/etc… name!”. Only exception is [name_u]Roscoe[/name_u], which I think is very much a “dog” name. Other names I associate with pets and would never use on people are [name_m]Jasper[/name_m], [name_m]Rufus[/name_m] and [name_m]Felix[/name_m].
[name_f]My[/name_f] dog’s name is [name_f]Gemma[/name_f] too! I never really thought about that name for a child before we named our dog though, so I’ve never tried to picture it on a baby.
To me, [name_u]Bailey[/name_u] is the ultimate dog name. I had at least 4 friends with dogs named [name_u]Bailey[/name_u] growing up, so I’ll never be able to be swayed on that. I know not everyone has the same associations with the name, but I feel terrible for babies named [name_u]Bailey[/name_u], I’ve seen two of my friends name their kid that on facebook in the last year or so!
