Several friends of mine have recently added new pets to their households, and I’ve been following their posts on social media about how they’ve decided what to name their new family members. I decided to ask more friends online to share their stories about how they chose their pets’ names.
I asked: “How did you pick your pet’s name? Tell us how you decided!”
I added: “First—what is the pet (cat, dog, rabbit, hamster, bird, fish)? Second—what is the pet’s name (full registered, nickname, many variations of the same name, maybe)?”
I detailed: “Why this name (or names)? What was your inspiration? Did you ask friends and family for help? When you picked the name, what did you hope it would convey to anyone who heard it? As it’s turned out, did that happen? Have people misheard or misunderstood the name?”
I encouraged: “More stories, please, about how your choice of a name has become important in your pet’s life! Thank you so much for answering. Join in and enjoy the fun!”
They came through with answers that fill this week’s blog and last week’s … and will fill several more!
Erin Saywell (Indiana) Soggy was a year-old dachshund in a bad home. My friend was organizing his rescue and transport to me … and was texting me his info. The one text stated that his name was Soggy. I just shook my head and thought, “What a weird name.” A few minutes later, there was another text saying, “OMG autocorrect! His name is ZIGGY, not Soggy!” We have another dachshund named Figment, who we call Figgy, so we just said “We’ll just call him Soggy, because it doesn’t matter, HE’S ONLY A FOSTER.” A few years down the road now, he’s obviously stayed with us, and kept his name. He loves water, so it turned out to be pretty apt. He’s an amazing dock diver! His registered name is Herart’s Ducking Autocorrect.
Photo by Erin Saywell
Marcy Britt (Washington) Rudy was born on 12/9/2023. One of ten puppies. The breeder called them the eight reindeer plus Nick and Rudolph. When I finally met him, the name Rudy just seemed perfect.
Teri Stripes (Washington) Vixen was born in the same litter as Rudy mentioned above by Marcy Britt. However, Vixen was named Blitzen, but her sister (who we thought we might get before falling in love with Blitzen) was named Vixen. We loved the name Vixen so we stole her sister’s name. Which fits perfectly on a spicy red head.
James Stripes (Washington) With our boxers, when we brought them home, they started exploring our yard, and my wife said we should name them for explorers. Maximillian Philip was part of the name of a European prince who explored the American West in the 19th century. We called him Max. His sister, Amy, was named Amelia Mary after the famous aviator who was lost in the Pacific. Our current Vixen was named Blitzen by the breeder. Another dog in the litter was Vixen. With their December birthdays, the breeder named them for Santa and his reindeer. We stole the sister’s name because we almost adopted her and liked the name.
Michaela Kelso (Washington) We have four cats and two dogs. One cat and one dog retained their shelter names, because they just fit them so well. Our other dog, a black female pit/lab mix, is named Blue. She was named by my daughter because we had another dog previously that my daughter wanted to name Ruby, but she was out-voted. That dog was white … We have one cat that is mostly white with some gray spots. Her name is Ash, because she looks like she fell in the ash bucket. Her full name is Aschenputtel, the German version of Cinderella. Our last two cats are brothers named Gibson and Fender. I had been wanting to get a couple of kittens, but my musician husband was against it. So I adopted them in secret and named them after musical instruments. He fell for the trick.
Rita Bierley (Ohio) Got a rescue dachshund (red, shorthair) and he was already named “Opie.” Got another dachshund that was nameless and double dapple (black, white, and brown), so I named him “Andy.” If you are old enough to know, you know! RIP to my two babies … they both lived to be over 20 years old (as far as we could figure).
Melissa McCue-McGrath (Maine) My three-year-old daughter wanted to name our new dog Soap. I was not interested, but thought kids should name the family dog. The day we went to pick up Soap, the dog, my daughter crawled into bed, snuggled with me and said, “Mama? We should name him Captain Love.” Hard no. I don’t want to call “Captain Love, come!” at the dog park, feeling like people would think us fans of 1970s pornography. She then looked up with her baby blues and articulated, “His nickname is Captain and his real name is Love because I love him.” That’s how we ended up with an invasive-species detection dog named Captain Love. He’s more than 10, and she’s now 12. They’ve been BFFs this entire time. He’s absolutely lived up to his moniker.
Photo by Melissa McCue-McGrath
Mandy Lorian (Wisconsin) Tugg looked like a Tugg. Circe was named after a Greek goddess/witch. Miles came with his name from the rescue. Zaya was named after a pretty bottle of rum. Bodhi was named after Patrick Swayze’s character in Point Break. Biggs was named for Biggs Darklighter, who bravely gave his life during the destruction of the first Death Star. Lola was named when The Kinks’ song came on after a week of arguing about what to name her.
Lili Chin (California) My first foster dog’s name was Jazzy. My second foster dog’s name was Rocky. So I decided to stick with the music/rhythm theme. When I adopted my dog, I named him Boogie, and now our cats are Mambo and Shimmy.
Jill Gibbs (Montana) Alastor, dog, flatcoat retriever—his litter theme was the letter M. My husband and I love Harry Potter, so I thought about M words in that series. His registered name is K’Mander Marauder’s Map and Alastor Moody is Mad Eye Moody in the books. I thought it very fitting that the spell to open the map is “I do solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” I think that is the mantra for most flatcoats. At times, I wish I had not named him that. Like Mad Eye, Alastor has vision problems in one eye.
Amos, dog, golden retriever—Amos’ was the “Bakery” litter. His registered name is Milbrose One Smart Cookie. As he is a golden, I hedged my bets for a very intelligent one. I sure got one. Amos is for Famous Amos, the cookie brand. You would think his name would be easy to pronounce, but a lot of people call him Amose instead of Amus.
Ian, dog, golden retriever—his litter theme was botanical names. This one was very hard as I had to do a lot of research. I knew I wanted his call name to be from the Outlander series. I thought Ian was a cute name. I searched and searched for a botanical name to go with my call name. I decided on the Forget Me Not which is the reason the heroine of the books started her journey. So, he is Milbrose Myosotis Asiatica.
I have always thought long and hard for my dogs’ registered names. Most originate from something I enjoyed reading or watching. I tried to integrate the call name from the registered name. My very first dog in my adult life started me on this path. Casey was a shelter rescue. Her name was Cassandra’s Last Hope. I adopted another dog from the shelter and her name was Cedaridge Lucky Day Magi May. Magi (Maggie) was her call name.
Don Hanson (Maine) The breeder of our golden pup wanted us to use their kennel name “Mariner” in her registered name plus the word “Freedom” because she was born on MLK’s birthday. I had been interested in the resistance movement during WW2 so I named her “Mariner Freedom Fighter.” I wanted her call name to have a connection so I asked someone from Norway on a golden listserv for the name of a female resistance fighter and thus she was named “Tikken” after after Norwegian freedom fighter and patriot, “Antiquity” Ida Nikoline Lie Lindebrække, who was nicknamed “Tikken.”
Sandie Hanlon (Massachusetts) My newest pup (border collie) is a female and I wanted a Girl on Fire theme. So I named her Sterling This Girl Is On Fire, call name: Sizzle. My three-year-old male border collie was a big pup and so was his dad Ty, whom I owned years ago. Ty loved you hard and would lick you and sometimes tackle you. But I couldn’t get upset because he was so sincere, I told him you’re such a Crusher. When his son was born, I named him Crusher, Sterling Get It Done. Magnum is my eight-year-old male border collie, Sterling Locked And Loaded. I kept seeing the name Magnum on billboards, the back of pickup trucks, and then one day a big Magnum ice cream truck passed me at a stop sign the week before I was going to pick him up. I took it as a sign and named him.
Elizabeth Bernice Scott (Washington) My standard Poodle is French, of course, so he is Jacques. And then there is Tom The Cat.
Hans Mansens (Netherlands) The way she, as a real feral, came to the city shelter on the end of the dogcatcher’s pole … fighting like a tiger. Of that group of three, she’s the only one that made the eye contact, “Help me.” As the principal trainer, I got the permission to have a go. She had to get vaccinated and bit me. And so started weeks of getting to know the humans. Each brave step at a time. I called her Napayshni, Nappy in short.
I’m from the Netherlands … my story [happened while I was] living in Israel. There I was the principal trainer at the city pound and co-founder of the connected adoption agency. I’m proud to have been part of a large group of dedicated volunteers. The name comes from Native Americans, my friend from the USA told me, and stood for bravery. And brave she was, to allow me to connect as her first human. She was placed in foster care but escaped all the time, so after the last time helping to find her, I took her in and she stayed until she passed recently. She was an old soul and eager to learn. I kept to an iron recall, knowing that it might save her life. The rest came naturally. She’s greatly missed.
NEXT WEEK: More pet guardians chime in with their answers to the simple question: How did you decide what to name your pet? Interesting answers, fascinating stories … more to come for several weeks!
