# How did you decide what to name your Pet?



## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

Exactly how did your pet acquire its Name? What motivated you to NAME your Dog or Cat? Was it a family affair? The NAME it already had if shelter or given to you? Did you alone decided the name? It looked like its name? Its fun to see how everyone actually decided to give their pets their names!​


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

:biggrin:The first dog we ever had was Ginger. She was 1/2 Shepard and 1/2 Husky. It was just my husband and me at the time. We saw a little ginger color on her very slight on her neck and well that was it . I just thought gee Ginger and that was that it was me who named her and it stuck!
Our 2nd dog we had a Dalmatian wonderful dog family dog we got when we had 3 of our 5 kids. When we picked her up and brought her home our kids were young then and well she was a Dalmatian and yep the name out of the kids mouths was Sparky like all Dalmatian LOL! Well with the kids picking the name (which no I did not want to name a Dalmatian Sparky at all) the name stuck. She was a beautiful dog and well deserving of the name Sparky. The kids named her and she loved them as they loved her!
Our Beagle was named Lucky by our one daughter the 4th child here! I have said this story before but so cute! We tricked (gee bad mom and dad but really not) the kids and told them we were getting a couch and well gee brought home a beagle puppy! We picked him out of four puppies and our one daughter said that he must have been really Lucky. Well Lucky it was LOL!
Our yellow Lab Sandy came from people who said their kids had allergies (sorry repeating this) but anyway she was Sandy with them and all we did was replace the Y with an I so shes Sandi here! Could have been creative and renamed her but she was so use to Sandi we just stuck with it and its fine!
Our chocolate lab was a conglomeration of all the kids and me trying to think of a name that wasn't affiliated with anything chocolate! We collaborated together and my son 2nd in line said Roxi and my 3rd daughter in line had said this too Roxi was it we said she's A Roxi kind of girl LOL ! and She's my Velcro dog!
Then we got our ori~pei` 1/2 shar pei 1/2 pug pup! We went on this one 3 kids my youngest son the fifth one my middle daughter #3 and my younger daughter #4 and my hubby and myself named him! Well actually what happened is my hubby really should get all the credit because he is a Jeff Gordon race car fan#24! And as we were debating about what to name the pup Charlie, Chubbs, Just random names My husband comes up with gee we should name him Gordon you know after Jeff Gordon! Ugh I am not a race car fan but my 3rd daughter said gee that would be fair since none of us can decided on the name we were all like its going to be what I want She intelligently said let Dad name him and well there you have it Gordon syuck! And hes befitting of the name he zooms around the yard like a race car at times LOL!:biggrin:
Well that's it LOL so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:tongue:


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

My husband is from Poland. We knew we wanted a Polish-ish name, but it was hard to find one that little ol' American me could pronounce. 

So my husband broke out his little black book from back in the day.

I'm pretty sure Ania (pronounced ON ya) is named after an ex-girlfriend. :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Champ already had his name, and I thought about changing it (every other Champ I've ever known has been barky and obnoxious, so I wasn't a fan) but he knew it so well, I never bothered, and still to this day don't like his name.

Grissom was a suggestion from an ex, and I hated it when he brought it up, but when I picked him up the day I got him, my friend and I were discussing what to name him, and I said, "Andy wants to name him Grissom" and at the sound of his name, his ears perked up and he tilted his head... apparently he liked it. Never had to really teach him his name since that day. 

Annie's name came to me in a dream, as cheesy as that is. I had a dream years ago that I had a female Boxer, and her name was Annie... so when I got her, that was it. She was Annie. 

Chesney is what I would want to name my skin-kid someday, if I ever even have any. But, my husband hates the name for a kid, so I just named the dog that!


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## kevin bradley (Aug 9, 2009)

Harry was hairy. So he was named Harry.

Itty was little Real little. So she was named Itty Bitty.

Murphy...I just liked the name Murphy.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I named Emmy after one of my favorite actresses/singers (Emmy Rosum)

I named Bailey after the town Bailey, CO since I grew up around there.

We named Akasha after the character (queen of the damned) in Anne Rice's vampire series, and is 100% fitting for her! But most of the time we call her Murphy LOL, because she "murphs" or at least that is what is sounds like!!!

Jon named Shiloh from a suggestion from his mom, which was a cross of her two parents names (CHEYenne and cherOkee).

BUT NOW we need your help the name of our new addition!!!! Our top names so far are:

Zuri (means beautiful in Swahili, also a "family" name since my grandma named her favorite dog this back in the 60's, but was named this for Zurich so "Zuri" was pronounced with a German accent to it)
Tora (means tiger in Japanese-since she is brindle/tiger striped)
Morgan (as in Captain Morgan :biggrin: )


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

Fun reading all the responses SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!! Theres tons of folk on here so there will be alot more responses! :smile:
Danemamma08~ I like Zuri the meaning is just right on!:smile: When a animal is beautiful and so appealing the name such as Zuri is so appropriate. But then as always pick what you like of course and the name that suits you best! But I still like Zuri!:wink:


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

Oh, this is a fun thread! :biggrin:

My husband and I were dating back in college almost 11 years ago when we got Lucky. There was a farmer outside of the Walmart selling GSH Pointer puppies for $20.00 bucks (remember, this was before I knew any better...). Lucky was the runt of the litter and we both just fell in love. My husband named her Lucky because he knew how lucky she was to be going home with us.

Duncan took us both several months to decide on. At first we were going to name him a Russian name (Kazimir, Kaz for short), but then my husband didn't want to name him that because it was a name too similar to our friend that has a Black Russian Terrier's name (Chaz). So we went in circles on many other names and could never agree. Then one night we were watching a basketball game. Hubby's fav. team is the San Antonio Spurs. Tim Duncan is one of his favorite players. I suggested the name Duncan and we both just loved it.

:biggrin:


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

I wanted a unique name. I didn't want just any name. It had to be perfect for a big, powerful, working dog. I thought about Tank or Diesel or Zeus. But to me those didn't fit a snow dog. I was reading one of my science books and came across Aspen, which is a tree. Aspen is also the name of the town I want to visit really badly. Aspen is the perfect name for him. People have told me "Yeah, he looks like an Aspen" or "what a perfect name for him."


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## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

Zoey, her breeder was calling her Zola which meant "Lump of earth", but I had always like the name Zoey for a little teeny "prissy" dog 

Shellie, we had a client who had a missing golden retriever for almost 4 years when she ended up at the shelter and they called us to verify owners information on the microchip, and it ended up that it was the missing dog...anyways she was reunited with her owner due to a microchip, and Shellie was the dogs name so that's what I named Shellie.

Georgie, that was his name when he came to the vet clinic I work at for adoption, and I just liked it so I kept it. Although he is most often called Georgie Porgie 

Heather


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

Well, Meatball was my first cat. He was obsessed with food, couldn't get him away from me while I was eating. But originally, he was named Merlin, because I was with an ex that we had gone to a Renaissance fair recently and totally wanted to make him the wizard kitty that we took with us next time. Anyways, broke up with the loser and he ended up with my parents while I bounced around. My dad renamed him because mum let him get fat. They had a friend with two cats named Q-ball and Eight Ball, so they thought it was fitting to name him Meatball. Well, to my great displeasure at the time, it stuck.

Tricksie we got in September, and we were preparing for Halloween, my favorite holiday of the year. She is all black with haunting, green eyes. And we SWEAR she was born of Friday the thirteenth, because she was EVIL! So we wanted a Halloween themed name for her. Searched for about a week before I thought of Tricksie, which is basically for trick-or-treat, or being tricksy. I love the name now.

I decided on Amaya's name before I got her. I wanted something Japanese themed, because I'm really into the Japanese culture, and I wanted it to be original. Well, I came across three names that I liked, Shiori, Sayuri, and Amaya. Everyone voted on Amaya (because they could pronounce it), and it was my favorite as well. So that's what she was named. Amaya means "Night Rain" in Japanese. It fits so well, because at the time, when I got her, I was in such a horrible spot, so it's kind of symbolic of an old period in my life that's supposed to be gone now.

Ryou we also decided on before we got him. Adam is obsessed with dragons, and since we were doing the Japanese theme, that's what we named him. His paper name is Little Dragon, because he's such a little goof ball. The name fits him, though, because he's such a spitfire.

Kuso, well, you guys all know the story. We got him, and he was such a handful, with beginning signs of dominance and possible aggression, especially food aggression. So of course we needed something obnoxious and crude, and sticking with the Japanese theme, I looked up the word for $**t, because he is such a little $**t, and it stuck, and he fits it so well.

Theus, we bounced around with for a long time, about a week as well. Nothing was really fitting. My friend wanted me to name him Linguini (actually, it turned into Fettucini Linguini Alfrado Bob, which I was NOT naming him!), and it was cute, and he loves food, but it just didn't fit his fiery personality. I looked up many Greek gods, heros, titans, etc, but if the name was decent enough and easy to pronounce, the character didn't fit him. I tried Gizmo on for size, but then two people told me they had cats named Gizmo when they were kids, and I just didn't want something so unoriginal. So it was back to the drawing book. Tried out Loki, would have been perfect, but I remembered a friend has a cat named Loki. So I settled on shortening the name of the Greet Titan, Prometheus, who stole thunder from the gods. It was perfect, is perfect, and fits so well. And no one can say it isn't original. XP


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

We didn't have much time to decide on a name for Mollie the ACD cross. I've always liked downunder names like Bonzer, Bluey, Bindi, Sui, Matilda, Sydney, Max (as in Mad) or boating names like Dory. But my lord here had a stroke a few years ago and can't remember 'complicated' names so we went with plain old Mollie, or Mol for short.
Windy the cat was a rescue originally called Winnie. Funnyingly, neither of us could remember that name, it kept getting the 'M' from Mollie becoming Minnie. However, the other half's ex already had a cat called Minnie, so, uh, no. He then suggesting calling it after his mother, Josie as he reckoned he could easily remember that name. Right, as if!
So, as we are into sailing stuff, he came up with Windy, which I really like.


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## harrkim120 (Feb 2, 2010)

Luke (boyfriend) had Showa before I met him. He came with that name from the ASPCA. He kept it because Showa is also a shock and drive train manufacturing company for motorcycles which Luke is big into. He said "it was meant to be." LOL His nicknames are "Showanator" and "Douche."

Brady was named by the ex because I honestly hate coming up with names. He was named after Tom Brady of the Patriots (I am originally from RI). I don't much care for the name, and I don't think it fits his personality, but I feel as though it's too late to change it now.  His nicknames are "Brady Pants" and "Mr. Pants."

And you guys know about Pandora. One of my students couldn't keep her anymore so I took her. She came with the name Sammy or Samantha which I hated. Luke and I toyed around with names for a few days after looking at numerous lists and narrowed it down to Pandora or Ares. Then we asked everyone what they thought (including you guys :biggrin and everyone liked Pandora. So that's what she got. Her nicknames now include "The Woman" and "The B$t#h." LOL Yeah...you guess why...


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## Guest (Jul 15, 2010)

Gunther is a German name and my father's side of the family is 100% German so there's Gunther ......

Savannah was named after the city in Georgia that's just awesome and I love so much.

Joey was named by my son and my son introduces Joey as his little brother, too cute!


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

These stories are all so cute!Gee we could all get a book deal here~ on our ways we named our dogs and cats or PETS!!!!!! Good title too! LOL:biggrin: Can't wait to hear more stories! Love them all! Gee aren't we a clever bunch here!:tongue::biggrin:


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## yuffie (Jun 22, 2010)

my fiance and me were on our way home after getting our first dog from the pound. i wanted a unique name and we both like playing video games together, which has a lot of unique names, especially Japanese ones. i told my fiance to list some female names from video games and Yuffie was like the 4th one he said. after he said that name, which i hadn't heard before and came from one of the final fantasy games, i was like, that's her name! YUFFIE! it seems to suit her well because it rhymes with scruffy lol. although some people have trouble with the name when first hearing it and think its yuppie, yufie, or yucky :0, or call her yaffie (my dad does that lol). but i love her name!


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## killertomato (May 27, 2010)

My boyfriend, who had recently started skateboarding again at the age of 36, was really on the fence about getting our pup. So I tried to sway him with, "you could name her after a skatepark... Kona." His response was, "that's a bicycle company too." He's a big bicycle freak too. I think that sold him.  (the secondary fact is that I love me some coffee and shes coffee colored, so Kona works for us many ways.)


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## northdog (Jun 26, 2010)

*I've had 3 dogs in my adult life*

First dog, when I was single and thought if I ever had a baby I'd name her "April". Since marriage was unforseen at that time, and I got a poodle pup, I used up that name on the dog. When I had my first daughter, alas...I couldn't name her April since that was my dog's name. Oh well, there were other good names.

Second dog - 9 years ago. I got a collieX pup, and my teenage/college age kids wanted a unique name - in another language. A friend studying Greek suggested "Zao" (Zay-oh), he said it meant "life". He took too long to find another option, so Zao it remained. She was a wonderful dog, but unfortunately, she got kidney disease and we had to say good-bye to her at age 8, when it became terminal last December - proof that the name isn't a guarantee.

Third dog - I got another collieX last March from the Shelter. She was 4+ months and they had called her Veronika. I was for sure going to change *that* name to something more appropriate. But in signing her out, they made a tag with her name and phone #, so I had to decide in 30 seconds. I thought that she may be familiar with the name Veronika, so I just shortened it to the last part - "Nika". In retrospect, I think that after that long in the shelter, I could have called her 'puppy' and she wouldn't have known the difference. I like "Nika" but when I tell people, they often hear an M instead of an N and call her Mika - not to complimentary for an ESL teacher, as I thought I had clear pronunciation.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

I love reading these!  CorgiPaws- I LOVE the name Grissom. LOVE IT I might have to steal it for a future dog lol.

I'm not particularly original, and I end up saving names (mentally) for the future of dogs/animals I've met in the past and liked their names lol.

Cooper was named after a golden retriever at the barn I used to ride at. I liked the name. Makes me think of a big sweet doofy jock, which is totally what my boy is.










Abbie came with her name. Not really a fan. I love the name itself, but there's so many darn Abbie's in the world, and I tend to like slightly more original names. And it just doesn't seem to really suit her. Her full name that I gave her is Abigail Hound, but most of the time I call her Doodle. I started calling her Abbadoodle one day, and now just Doodle, and it's stuck. Sometimes I consider making that her new name, but my friends & family would murder me, since I spent the first two months of owning her switching her names around to find something that fit. 



















Murphy came from the breeder with the name "Aro". I wanted something sweet because he's SO sweet and such a goof. My friend had a horse named Murphy, and I always thought it was cute, so that's how I came up with that. So now he's Murphy/Murph.


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## APM (Jul 15, 2010)

Our new aussie puppy is spotted on one side and solid on the other. When my husband brought her home my son, Levi ( 3 ), was playing with her in the living room then they came in the kitchen and he looked at her and said " Hey she is shady in here " (he was seeing the solid side) and I thought what a perfect name sooo Shady it is! :smile:


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## StdPoo Dad (Jun 7, 2009)

I got Seamus about 3 years ago. He's a red (now apricot) standard poodle. I like Celtic names, I came up with Seamus. It fits him *perfectly* He's a little ***T sometimes, just like you'd expect a Seamus to be.

I got Teaghan about 4 months ago she's a black Standard. A good friend of mine came up with the name. It also fits her perfectly. I like the names, not very common, yet simple to pronounce.


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## harrkim120 (Feb 2, 2010)

meggels said:


> Murphy came from the breeder with the name "Aro". I wanted something sweet because he's SO sweet and such a goof. My friend had a horse named Murphy, and I always thought it was cute, so that's how I came up with that. So now he's Murphy/Murph.


OMG he is gorgeous!!! I think I might have to steal him!!! :biggrin:


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Thank you lol! I'm quite smitten with him myself!


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## dobesgalore (Oct 21, 2009)

My latest, Copper came about because she is a red merel australian shepherd with copper colored markings, and I drive a copper colored jeep wrangler that she rides in with me on a regular basis. So, Copper just jumped out at me.:smile:


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