how did you name your pets?

We always had a reason behind our pet names.

Perro and Pancho, the two Labs I grew up with - Perro is Spanish for dog, Pancho is Spanish for Frank - my dad's name, who got the dogs for us.

Nyjinski, our cat, was named after a famous dancer because she had happy paws like no other cat we ever saw.

Fionn our golden Lab, well, that's obvious and not unique.
Lady our Springer, Prince our black dog, etc.

Xsara was named after a car. I thought Zara was a lovely name for a Labrador bitch, but my parents changed the spelling to match the car they were driving!

Harvey, my late horse, was named because when he saw a person, or even if you just called him, he'd stick his ears back. My mother took one look and said "Harvey Smith giving the two fingers to the judge". He horse Willow, though, well, we tried to talk her out of it, it's a mare's name, but she was adamant. We all call him Will or William anyway.

They called their new dog Sonny, think we are worn out with pet names. We've had about 40 cats.

We had: Ba loo, Smokey, Tubby, Thomas, Tommy, Tommy II, Midget, Pie, Panther, Marty, Mulder, Yardley, Corky, Mrs. Cochlan, Mr. T, Socks, PJ, Coral, Crown, Fluffy, Buttons, Palsy/Stripe, Nina, Cat/Flash... I am missing generations here, because I can't think of the rest.

I am not original in my names of pets - I got a young budgie, we called him JJ after JJ72. I got another green bird to keep JJ company, we called him Mark Greany, after the lead singer of JJ72. I had a blue bird called Sebastian, it seems every bird owner has had a Sebastian at some point, then my yellow hen bird, well, we called her Yellow Budgie. Very creative.

I have two adopted cats, they came with names. The black one is called Blackie, but George, well, had he not come with a name I would have called him Big Ears!

killwill

My daughter, she was almost 3 at the time we got our dog, named him Louie. I don't know where she got the name from but it suits him to the ground.

piperh

My 2 are Bonny and Clyde and they live up to their names with the trouble they get up to :rolleyes::rolleyes:

are you serious

I called my rottie Buddy, and he is exactly that my Buddy

falabo

1st dog: a golden Cocker Spaniel called Roux: refers to Roo in winnie the pooh as she is of the same colour and also Roux in French means ginger
she also responds to "chicken"

2nd dog: a black cocker spaniel named Maxi. she had that name when I got her and recognised it so didnt bother changing it. she was only a month younger than Roux but significantly smaller so I was calling her "mini maxi". now she is a bit taller than Roux but I still call her mini maxi.

together, I call them "GIRLS" to get their attention

orchidsrpretty

I have a white cat called Dubh,:o Was going to call her Bowie as she has one blue and one green eye, but thought it wasn't a cute enough name for her. Another cat called Lara Croft, really suits her as she is a adventreous:p

getz

my first puppy was called punky by the breeder,because he was knocking the other puppies about,so we kept that name,my next dog was two years old when we got her,she was called becky[after the beer,]so we kept that name. my next dog was also two years old when we got him,he was called buster we kept that name.my next dog we called teddy because he looked just like a teddy bear,the dog i have now is called TJ,short for teddy junior.

TOOYOUNGTODIE

i called one female terrier, Molly, dont know why but it suits.

called by male patterdale, Chucky after the scary doll in the movie Childs Play, anyone that seen the movie and with a patterdale will vouch its a perfect name for one!!! They are stone mad

x3wiggles

I have a baby kitten called Binx! He's named after the character Thackery Binx from Hocus Pocus as he seems somewhat wise yet loves to get up to mischief!

kylith

Mine are called Rani and Tegan after Doctor Who characters, because I'm a huge nerd. I chose those particular names because in rescue they were called Rosie and Tootsie and I wanted to keep them as similar as possible. My goldfish tend to be called Mr. (something) after characters in books who are only known as Mr. Mr. Slant, Mr. Pin, Mr. Flay, that kind of thing. Unfortunately Mr. Slant and Mr. Miaggi died recently.

I'm intending to get a Betta (Siamese Fighting Fish) and I'll probably call him Talyn, after one of the ships in Farscape.

Oranage2

We got a dog of a person who could not longer look after the dog so he kept his old name -

Have a few fish - the pleco is called 'Chris' named by a friend who thought that fish had the best chance of living - Chris is now 10 inches long, nearly time to move him to the bath tub

Asphyxia

I've two dogs called Alfie and Rex.
Alfie got his name from the movie Alfie because he was so cheeky and escaped out of the pen lots when he was a pup

We started calling Rex his name while we were trying to think of other names :rolleyes: It just stuck in the end. Typical dog name for a typical dog

Tranceypoo

I always call my pets after favourite actors/singers/characters in films

So, dog I had when I was a teenager was called Nicky after Nick Heyward from Haircut 100

My last dog was called George Bailey as Its A Wonderful Life is my fave film

Current dog is called Archie because Cary Grant is my fave actor (real name Archibald Leech), other dog is called Lily, she was called that when we got her and as we were only fostering I didn't change it, but we're keeping her now and she nows her name as Lily, otherwise I would have called her Hattie (after Hattie Jacques)

Cat is called Babs and her sister (no longer with us) was called Sid after Sid James and Barbara Windsor, although we also call her Miss Babs after Victoria Woods character in Acorn Antiques.

Yes, I am a total saddo.

**Vai**

That is so detailed its unreal Tranceypoo! Made me laugh, not at you, with you!

My terrier, Frisky, is named after a JRT my late grandmother used to have when I was a kid and my GSD is called Kimba coz my girlfriend liked the sound of it. Doesnt always have to have a reason!

markc1184

My niece and nephew thought my dog looked like Scooby Doo so we called him Scooby.

Tranceypoo

**Vai** wrote: »

That is so detailed its unreal Tranceypoo! Made me laugh, not at you, with you!

!

I love any chance to bore people with my pet naming history!!!

getz

i know a little girl bully called tinkerbell

Sigma Force

Rocky (tiel) came with his name, Leena (collie) our sprog made it up when she was 3, Arwen..lord of the rings of course. Mr Binky.. wanted a name with 'Mr' in the front he was going to be peanut or butternut or doughnut but sprog came up with the binky and it stuck. Gets to be a bit drawn out esp. first thing in the mornin so usually just shout 'girls' to the lot of them but Binkys a boy but I figure he's neutered so I can get away with it plus he's such a big girls blouse anyway.

Cass

Both of mine were "adoptions" so the names came pre-attached. Ellie (Rottie) is simply a shortened version of her registered name (Elly Mai Queen) and she was given to me by a friend. He intended to keep her, but hada change of heart and offered to me. Sam was given to me when he was 4 months by a Neighbour that was emigrating.

Its no harm as i'm crap at picking out names. I usually let family of friends choose a name and just go with it.

As you can see they suffer the harshest kind of treatment (the rad was turned off that night ).

Zapperzy

I once met a tiny jack russell called Mr Big! Thats definitely a name I'm keeping in mind for the future!

Both cat and dog already came to me with names so I kept them. Smallies I like to name after cartoon characters, Bugs, Barney, Bert, Ernie and Dora! All the fish I had when I was younger had the usual assortment of Goldy, Jaws, Ping and Pong, can't even remember the rest but needless to say when I was allowed pick them they probably weren't very original.

mymo

My daughter wanted a cat from when she could speak (all my family had animals and she loved them), at 2 she decided she was getting a ginger cat and calling him Harry (no potter link she was too young), so I went looking and found kittens, one ginger but also fell for a grey tabby and decided I couldn't take one:rolleyes: without the other. When we got home, she said the ginger cat was not Harry, the grey one was, and she named the ginger one Jake (from the Tweenies kids program). Sadly Harry died 2 years ago, but we still have Jake 11 years and counting. We adopted another cat to keep him company that came with the name Toby, my daughter calls him Toblerone ('cos he nutty). It suits him.

The dogs, we named one Oliver (my daughter is a topgear fan), Ollie for short, and the little one was called princess Tiffany on her papers and since my girl was reading Terry Pratchetts wee free men at the time she insisted we keep the Tiffany bit. I refused to go out with a dog called Tiffany so we shortened it to Tiffi.

Growing up we had a rabbit called Buck Rogers(male), a guinea pig called Barnaby(Jones), fish named after flintstones characters and one called Tiddly widdly(it was very small when we got it), a cat called Tammy which my dad named after Tammy Winnett due to her lovely singing voice;) and many, many more.

MarthaMyDear

My King Charles is called Scarlett after Scarlett O'Hara from gone with the wind we had a King Charles when I was little with the same name and she was gotten when my mam was obsessed with the film! So ours is Scarlett the second!

I also had a King Charles/cocker cross called Heidi because when she was a puppy she used to hide behind everything!

jinxycat

Currently i've 2 dogs Millie which she came with and Hudson who I named after the wise old gargoyle from Gargoyles, a cartoon I used to love watching years ago on disney. Then I've a budgie called Archie, his name came about a competition where I asked everyone to pick a name and put it into a hat as I'd never owned a bird before and Archie was the name I had put into it lol.

In the past I'd a rottie cross with a german shepard called wolfie, my brother named her after the dog from treminator 2, a collie cross called Jordan who my brother also named, after Katie Price but you can imagine how embarrassed I was when my male friend who I had a huge crush on at the time was nick named Jordan found out what the dogs name was, we also had a german shepard called Pipa who my mam names after a home and away character.I'd a rabbit called Percy after Thomas the tank engine. A haster called levi, just always liked the name and another hamster called Angel after the vampire.

Like a previous poster i'd a cat called Binx after Hocus Pocus, Binx was a blue/grey colour. I'd a cat called Tiga, i shortened it from tigger in winnie the pooh. I'm sure there has been more but can't think of them at the moment.

Odaise Gaelach

My rabbit is called Rebel, after a pizza place.

Sofiztikated

When I was a wee lad, I had a Jack Russell, called Hitler. He had a little black spot of hair just under his nose, looked like a Hitler 'tashe, so that's what he was called. I was 5 when I came up with that. Always wanted to get a bulldog, called Churchill. (Way before that Oh Yes crap started.)

Had a beautiful Bassett Hound called Bess. Don't know why, just looked like a Bess.

My Giant Madagascar Day Gecko is called Kif, because he looks like Kif from Futurama.

Older cat is called Trixie. Just seemed like a Trixie. Had a previous cat that ran away called Cat. One of Trixies kittens (now a big fat tom) is Fred. Of the four kittens, I christened them Fred, Bob (then found out it was a female, so Bob (from Blackadder) or Bobbifer stuck til we parted ways,) Fred, Ringo and

Betta fish is called Flash, cos he's a flashy little git, with his red/blue/purple pearlescent paint job.

Firmly believe you shouldn't choose a name for a pet before you get it, that the name should come to you.

Kali_Kalika

My first dog (now RIP) was named Marley. That was after Bob Marley and not the sappy movie of a similar name! I had him for a year before the film came out and never heard the name applied to a dog once - after the film that's all you'd hear being shouted in the park. :rolleyes: And, of course, the constant asking "Oh! After the film! Right!" when asked his name :rolleyes: And the constant explaning that no it was after Bob with a real life :rolleyes: (roll of the eyes!)

My cat is a black & white "tuxie" (tuxedo cat) who's name is Floyd - after Pink Floyd of course! He's a boy so calling him "Pink" wouldn't have worked! He actually picked his own name When I got him I made a list of good possible names and sat in the living room calling the different names out to see if he'd react to any of them - he ignored them all! Jokingly my friend said - "Admit defeat and just call him Floyd - everything else in your life is Pink Floyd based so why not this?!" - so I called out FLOYD! and the lil devil sprinted down the hall and into my lap - so he liked it for sure - so Floyd he became!

My girl pup who I have now is called Kali - who's the Hindu goddess of eternal energy - she's a border collie/setter cross so it suits her and her buckets of energy perfectly! The only slight downside to her name is for some reason when asked what her name is and I tell them Kali - maybe its my accent when I said it :rolleyes: I don't know but a lot of people seem to hear her name as Kelly! :eek: So I've taken to saying "Her name's Kali -like short for Cali-fornia!" and that seems to evade the Kelly routine!:D

Karona

Had a JRT growing up, we went down the usual route of wanting to call her lucky coz she was lucky she was staying with us (we had another dog at the time) but instead my Mam came up with the name Penny, coz she didnt cost us a penny.

Our Labrador Puppy also had a lot of names thrown around for him, my nephew who is only 4 wanted to name him Scooby Doo, Me being mean told him no way, how about charlie and my nephew said no. My dad had recently bought my nephew a Rottweiller teddy called Duke so I said to my nephew how about Duke and he loved it, he was delighted that he's have 2 dogs called Duke.

My sister had a fish called Wanda, I also had cats. Named them Grumpy, Kitty and my favorite Prescilla. She had a hare's lip and didnt act very much like a cat so i wanted to call her elvis but we figured out she was a girl so named her after Elvis's wife.