What you named your pet(s) and why.

[emmasart]

I was wondering what other people name their pets and why.

I rescued a sick female green iguana, who my vet gave a 50/50 chance of living.

I named her Fighter (after seeing a pet lion named the same in a Christian Jacq novel) with the hope that she'd fight to get better and live a long life. She did and is now queen of our house. :)

We now call her Fifi for short, mostly because it made my DH cringe the first time I used her nickname. :)

Anyone else want to share?

[endymion411]

when i was little, my mom got me a turtle that i ended up having for 15 years. i named him dasher because when we first brought him home, he was freaked out by everything and used to "dash" quickly under the tv or under the sofa for protection :) once he got used to walking around the house, he would only really run if he was hungry and we shook his food tin.

all the other pets i've had, we've rescued from people who wanted to get rid of them, so we kept the names they already had.

dh has promised me a puppy once we move out of the city and into an actual house (though who knows when that will be!), so i'll be on the lookout for names.

[greenbunny]

We have two adopted rescue cats, and we changed both of their names.

Bella used to be "Beauty", which was actually part of her insanely long registered cattery name. I'm sorry, but that will always be a black horse to me; the name had to go. So we changed the ethnicity to reflect her adoption into an Italian family. It isn't an exact translation, but the basic idea is there.

Summer used to be "Jasmine". DH hated that name because he had a particularly wretched student last year with that name, and it had bad associations for him. Our close friends have four cats, and their most recent addition was a kitten the guy found in the woods on a fishing trip in the fall, so they named her "Autumn". Since they are our cats' "godparents" we decided our cats are like cousins to each other, so we chose another seasonal name.

[lawyergirl25]

When we got our first cat at the humane society, we were told that his name was Woody. I just felt that Woody was a truly awful name and refused to call him that. On the other hand, I always thought Max was a great name for a cat, so we went with that.

We adopted our second cat this past fall. When we brought him home, we couldn't believe how much smaller than Max he was - it's a combination of Max being so big and fat and the new cat being naturally small. We started calling him Little Guy, because we couldn't figure out a good name for him. That continued for about 3 weeks, and finally I said - okay, let's just keep it. Then Little Guy turned into LG, which finally turned into Elgie.

So there you have it - Max and Elgie.

[maxandmolly]

Molly was just......Molly. I had planned to name her Allie, like, AlleyCat. Didn't fit. And all of a sudden, she was just....Molly.
I actually wanted to name Max, Barney. As in Barney Rubble. He reminded me of Barney Rubble when he was a kitten. But I got shit about the big purple dinosaur, so I dropped that one. I adopted him on a Thursday, Saturday I rented Liar, Liar. The kid's name was Max. And I looked at him, and went, ok. Maxwell Zachary, to be exact.
When I adopted Maggie, she had to be an M. By then it was my thing-I belonged to a couple online communities with my username of maxandmolly, and she had to match! I had her named before we made it out the door of the shelter. She just looked like a Maggie to me. Well, Maggie May. She lives with her grandma & grandpa now though, and they call her Pickles half the time. I hate it when they do that. She still knows who her momma is though, and who rescued her from doggie jail, and what her real name is.

[karlatta]

We have Maverick - named after Tom Cruise's character in Top Gun. (He was named a few years ago, before TC went totally bonkers.) Maverick was "Lucky" when we got him from the shelter, but we both disliked that name and changed it pretty quickly.

We also had a Winnie - named after the girl next door in The Wonder Years. We were trying to go with naming our pets after characters in movies/TV shows we watched when we were younger. Winnie's name was "Maxine" at the shelter.

We have Meg. She already had her name and we couldn't come up with anything better for her. We usually call her Meg-Pie, though, because we find it easier to call out a two-syllable name than a one-syllable one.

[sublime311]

Are you ready for a book!? lol

My childhood pets:
1. Guite (pronounced goo-tea) was a Chihuahua named after a beloved cousin named Augustine (Guite was his nickname).
2. Snoopy - a black and white fox terrier mix named after the cartoon character because I loved Snoopy and the color was right!

My young adult (through current) pets:
1. Sid a budgie named after Sid Vicious. He was named "Pee-Wee" when I got him, but I was much too cool for a name like that! lol He passed away in 1995, I think.
2. Pooh is an orange and white female cat who was also a rename. When we got her as a 6 month old, her name was "Edwina"... Oh yes, I wouldn't make that up. I named her Maggie (after the Simpsons character), but that didn't stick. I called her all kinds of nicknames like Bunny (for her funny bunny kick moves when she played) to "stinky poo girl" when I cleaned her litter box. Finally, the name Poo stuck, but everyone assumed we meant Pooh because of her orange color so now it's Pooh. The end. lol
3. Kitten was a black and tan tabby. We adopted her as a wee kitten and named her Carly after Carly Simon, but that name didn't stick! I had a problem with this early on, apparently. Anyway, we always ended up calling her Kitten to differentiate between her and the Pooh, our older kitty. It just stuck with her. She got out of our house in 2004 and never came back. I'm still heartbroken.
4. Luna is a Germ. Shep./Pitt/Chow mix. I named her Luna after a famous tree (http://www.circleoflifefoundation.org/inspiration/luna/) in the Redwood Forest in CA. A lady named Julia Butterfly lived in this tree for years in protest of the forestation of the ancient redwoods there. She spoke a lot of the relationship she had with the tree and said that the tree's name was Luna. Anyway, I was always moved by the story and Julia's work, so I named my puppy after the tree. I also think it's a cool sounding name. I met a little girl named Luna who got a big kick when I told her I had a dog named Luna.
5. Raven is a black lab/chow mix and is also a rename. She was a member of my best friend's family, but we decided to adopt her when they couldn't keep her anymore. They originally named her America because she was born 2 days after 9/11, but called her "Perita" which is basically "doggie" in Spanish or "Bonita" - depending on the member of the family calling her. I couldn't stand either, so I decided to rename her (she was a year old). I wanted a name that would fit her and also sounded good with Luna. As soon as I saw the name "Raven", I thought it was perfect!
6. Howard is a BIG grey tomcat. I named him Howard after the teddy bear in "Sleepless in Seattle". I LOVE that movie and love the way Meg Ryan says "well, hello Howard" when she meets Sam and Jonah at the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day. Cute! Plus, it's a bit of a huffy name and this cat is a bit of a chubby grump so it fits!
7. Gomez is a BIG black tomcat and brother to Howard. We named him Gomez after the father in the Addams Family. He has big googly eyes just like the character! He's pretty eccentric, too. It just fits!

[chocolate_truffle]

We have two Burmese cats, Moka and Java. They're sable brown and we like coffee, so there you go. Growing up, my family had a Siamese cat named Cocoa. Evidently, I have a hot beverage fetish and it manifests itself in the names of my cats. :p

My mom is the absolute worst when it comes to naming pets. She named her dog "Chewy" because it chewed on things. Her cats are Blacky, Whitey, and Mama Kitty -- you can probably guess why. ;)

[honeygirl]

Our dog is named Dante. An italian name b/c he is an italian greyhound.

I've had two cats, both were named by their first owners.

When I was in HS I had a teddy bear hamster named "bubbie the wonder hamster". He was big and fluffy thus the "bubbie" part, and the wonder hamster was added b/c he was super smart. :) You know, smart for a hamster at least.

My childhood rabbit was named "Syndey Lopper". He was a holland lop thus the sydney loper part, but it was also close to cindy lopper who was famous at the time.

[KK812]

Our cat is taffy, she was seriously named "Uganda" when we adopted her. The shelter in this area picks a theme each month, and names all the incoming animals(july 2004 was obviously countries)...DH & I threw names back and forth, and somehow he came up with the supreme master of the universe. Then the artist formerly known as the supreme master of the universe. First letters are: TAFKATSMotU=Tafkatsmu, taffy for short, or tafkat. Men :rolleyes: After we got a bunch of weird looks for that story, we just tell people we named her that bc she's an orange tabby.

Tinkerbelle (min pin) was NOT named after Paris Hilton's dog. She was born August 9, we were married August 12 in Disney World, and she was the runt, weighing in @ 2.5 pounds when we took her home at about 2 1/2 months old. She's Tink, or smellbelle usually :D

[Sazoo]

Here are a few of the pets I've had who have name stories worth telling:

*Once when I was a kid we got a hamster. On the way home from the pet store, my mom said I could name him. So...I decided to call him Winchell, which was the name of a donut shop we passed by on the way home. :p

*When I was about 12 I had 2 goldfish, which I named Blondie & Dagwood because I loved that cartoon & used to read it in the newspaper every week. :)

*My mom adopted a new kitten about a month before I went off to college my freshman year. For some reason I had my heart set on calling her Chica, but my mom overruled me (primarily since it was mainly her cat since I was going away to school) & decided to call her Delilah. I thought that was the most ridiculous name ever for a cat, & for the first few weekends I came home to visit I continued to call her Chica. :p Eventually Delilah morphed into Deli & I gave up on the whole Chica thing. A few years later when my mom passed away I gave Deli to my mom's friend because I couldn't have pets living with me on campus. She kept the name Deli, only now she spells it Delly. Jeez, now that I think about it, that cat is about 14 years old now! :eek:

*About a year after I graduated from college I finally broke down & adopted a new cat (despite my cat allergies). I named her Pepper because she is white with grey spots on her head & a few other places - kind of like salt & pepper. ;) Then, a few years later, I adopted a kitten & immediately decided that she needed a spice name so I could have my "Spice Girls". LOL! After running through Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Paprika & some other equally dumb name ideas, I realized that Ginger was perfect for her. :)

[TX Sweetheart]

Childhood pets:
Tippy & Kilty: terrier/dachshund mix (Tippy) and boarder collie (Kilty) who were already a part of the family by the time I was born so I have no idea where the names came from
Poochie: terrier/poodle mix we adopted from the SPCA at age 3 (her age, not mine LOL) so we didn't want to change her name
Blackie (1): black stray cat who "adopted" us and I wasn't all that creative with names
Blackie (2): black cocker spaniel my parents adopted after Poochie died... had a brother named Whitey (yep he was a white cocker spaniel LOL) who was adopted before her... she's like 10 years old so there was no changing her name LOL

Current Pet:
Maximus: miniature dachshund pup we got from a friend of DH's at 8 weeks so we were free to name him whatever... we looked at tons of name sites (even ones specifically for pets) and DH came up with Maximus out of the blue.

[Rico'sAlice]

Out German Shepherd came from the rescue with the name "Porsche" like the car. We were not inspired to change it, but I spell it as Portia instead.

Husky-mix we took as a puppy I named Anyanka (Anya for short) after the BTVS character.

Out other doggy was named Jo-Jo by the girl who picked him up off the street. We lived with her for several months and then toom him with us when we left, so we were already used to calling him that. So we never changed it, even though I don't really like the name. Mostly we call him Schmoe. (Like Joe Schmoe)

[tlew12778]

I named my mom's cat Sasquatch bc he had HUGE feet when he was born. He still does. When he was little he used to trip over them.

Once we had a cat named Kitten bc we found her and we didn't know her name.

We had a cat named Puzzle bc he was calico. His brother's name was Butler bc he was black and white and he looked like he was wearing a tux. Likewise we had a female cat who was also black and white so we named her Missy (my brother thought it was the female version of a butler for some reason).

Our cats are named Romeo and Casanova. We picked Romeo before we ever saw him. We chose it while FH and I were watching Romeo & Juliet. A friend of mine picked Casanova bc he thought it went well with Romeo.

[Tandis]

In, oh, let's say 1992 or 93 I read an article about some a lioness at some zoo giving birth to triplet white lions. The zoo named them Faith, Hope and Love in the Zulu (or maybe Swahili?) language. Anyway, tandi means love in Zulu. I thought that was rather cool, so when I adopted my dog in 94, I decided to call her Tandi. Of course, for the longest time people thought I named her after the Radio Shack computer. :rolleyes:

As for my cat, well I wasn't planning on keeping her when DH brought her home, so I just started calling her the generic "Kitty." Now, six years later, she's still here and she's still called Kitty because I never got around to thinking up better name. However, the name is usually said three times really fast, in a high pitch voice, while wiggling your index finger at her. So really she thinks her name is a finger wiggle. :p

In the past, I've also had a Muffin, Fuzzy, Daisy, and Mollie for dogs, a Miss Kitty (notice a trend?), and birds, Sweetie and Caesar. Then there were the fish (Penelope, Oscar and Izzy), the ant (Ivan), and the stray cats I randomly name throughout the neighborhood (Snowball, Charcoal, Granite, Cheeto and Tom Kitty).

[fuzzy]

When I adopted my three male cats, I was living with my roommate, who had two female cats (yeah, we have five cats in a small two bedroom apartment. GAK!). Her female cats had names related to music/musicians we liked (Layla -- for the Clapton song and Sara -- Bob Dylan's former wife), so we tried to continue with that line of thinking:

Floyd for Pink Floyd.

McGee for Joplin's "Me and My Bobby McGee"

I had one cat left to name and I just couldn't find a name that fit. He was (and still is) a supr vocal/whiney cat. I got him right around the time when Meow Mix had their commercials where a cat named Baxter called his owner and meowed in the phone, asking for food. The meow sounded just like the kitten I had, so his name ended up being Baxter.

Scruffy was a female stray cat we had living in our backyard. We used to refer to her as "the scruffy looking cat outside". Soon that got shortened to Scruffy. When we finally adopted her (or, more accurately, when she adopted us) my husband insisted that we keep the name Scruffy. I still hate it, honestly, and think she should have something more dignified, like Cleo, but...he and Scruffy have a really tight bond -- she's kind of "his" cat. So if he wants to keep the name, so be it.

Daisy Jane was from a song by America. We loved and always said our first dog would be Daisy Jane, long before we actually had a dog.

My horse's "barn name" is Freddie. He came with that name and it totally fits him, so I didn't change it. His registered name is Natural by Design which isn't my fav show name, but it kinda fits him, so I kept it as well.

[wendalah]

We have had three dogs--two of them were rescues and came with their names: Kenny (now deceased) and Smokey. We kept these names because Kenny just looked like a Kenny, and Smokey answered to that name. (We also thought Smokey was cute, if popular. He's a gray poodle.)

Our black poodle is named Runner. Before we got him, DH and I were sitting around being silly, trying to think of the dumbest name one could come up with for a dog. We started throwing out things like "Fetcher! Sitter! Walker!" and yes, Runner came out of that.

When we got him, I said, "He is Runner!" DH said, "Oh God, we can't name him the stupid dog name!" But I insisted and that's his name! A lot of people think it's cute and want to know how we thought of it. I don't usually feel like going through the whole story so I just say, "He loves to run!"

[LaughAtlantis]

Our black poodle is named Runner. Before we got him, DH and I were sitting around being silly, trying to think of the dumbest name one could come up with for a dog. We started throwing out things like "Fetcher! Sitter! Walker!" and yes, Runner came out of that.

My husband and I tried to think of dumb names for dogs too! We went a different route though, with names that had *nothing* to do with dogs - and sometimes nothing to do with names either. We liked Phyllis, Gladys, and Ebenezer, because they were so not dog type names. Then we thought that Garfunkel would be a good name - with Funky as a nickname. We moved on to random other objects and words like Spackle, Artichoke, and Timber. Ultimately, we wound up rescuing a Basset Hound that we call Bacon. Somehow, it fits him.

[Freckles]

Hazy---Black cat with grey undertones. so she just had a hazy coat if you will. Most black cats have shiny black coloring, but her coat was different.

Rhubarb---Orange Cat. The color of Rhubarb Pie.

Kermit My husband gave me this kitty for our 1 Year Dating Anniversary. I wanted to name him Sinatra, since he has huge blue eyes{i.e Old Blue Eyes}, but my husband came-up with Kermit and it stuck, so he is Kermit the Cat.

Sedona---She has a red coat like the red rock mountains of Sedona, AZ. My husband & I spent our first Valentine's Day there, and we have many wonderful memories there.

[tgr68]

Racer~Our only non-Celtic name. He is part tabby, so he's got the stripes on his head. We decided they were racing stripes, so the name "Racer" came about. The funny thing is that he's slower than molasses now! LOL!

Keiran~Racer's biological brother who is all black. Kieran means "little dark one".

Brenna~Our black lab who's name means "raven-haired maiden". Her middle name is Grace because she is uber klutzy!

[snowzilla]

My childhood pet was a tabby cat, aptly named "Pepper".

We now have a miniature poodle named "Dexter", but people don't realize that we named him after the lead singer of DH's favourite band at the time, The Offspring. We get all sorts of comments about his name, "Like, Dexter's Laboratory?" No, not like Dexter's Laboratory.

We didn't realize how many "Dexters" there were out there in Petsville until we named ours Dexter. We honestly thought we were being original. :p

[nektarine]

PK, which is short for Pretty Kitty. he was born in our backyard in the bronx as a feral cat, son of Pretty Princess and Paulie Walnuts. long story - but Pretty Princess is the DAD, and Paulie Walnuts is the mom!

i always like hearing people's nicknames for their pets. our cat's name morphs into some interesting variations!

[msnicolea]

We have a pet tarantula. DH has had her for 17 years!!!!!, ever since he worked at a pet store during high school. Her name is "Cash Money." DH is just a little bit into rap and hop hop. :cool:

[fuzzy]

Her name is "Cash Money." DH is just a little bit into rap and hop hop.

HEE-HEE!!!

I love it! :D :D :D

[NotDesperate]

My Papillon's name is Cosmo. It just came to me in the car ride home and I thought it was cute and fit him well. At first it was going to be Foxy, which is cute, because he looks like a Fox but I thought it was hard to say and maybe too girly. Cosmo is a fun name :)

[kemaji]

Growing up we weren't all that creative when it came to our pet's names. Our first cat's name was Black and White. Our next cat was named by my sister, but her nickname stuck when my mom put a cow bell around her neck to keep her from stalking birds. The bell never worked, but my brother and I insisted on calling her Cow because it pissed my sister off and eventually everyone else did too. I don't even remember what her original name was. Our last cat was Hobbs (he was a big grey tabby) that my mom called Killer because of his hunting ability and I called Stinker (mostly to piss my sister off again).

We had a number of rats growing up, the first two were Rosie (girl) and Jennifer (boy). That was the only name all three of us could agree on. My last rat was named Sparky.

We were given a cockatiel named Peter from some friends who didn't like how messy he was and when we got a second one, we named him Re-Peter.

DH and I have a dog named Dakota, which was his name in the shelter. He answered to it and DH liked the name so we kept it.

When we get a cat (someday) I want to name him Miles. I would love to have another dog named Mango, but DH thinks that is the stupidest name ever for a dog. I just like the sound of the names together, they sound like they could be best friends and/or partners in crime.

[Lanapoo]

Mel - His name was "Gus" when I adopted him. It just didn't fit him. I think they named him that because he is a big fluffy gray cat. But it just seemed like such a grumpy name for such a sweet boy. Mel Gibson had a new movie out when I got him so I just named him Mel :o Original, huh?

[kalogrias]

First real pet -- a cat named Skatoulis. That means "little shit" in Greek -- we were living in Greece at the time, and my mother rescued him out of a tree in a local village because she thought I needed a pet...long story short...the cat had all sorts of goopy crap coming out of his eyes, and my parents thought he looked like a "little shit". It was shortened to "Skat the Cat". I looooooooved that cat.

My dog -- her name was Ramu. Another one of my mother's names. Ramu/Ramah was the head Rabbi of Poland in the sixteenth (?) century; we're Jewish and my mother was given the dog as a present on a business trip to Krakow...seemed to fit somehow, though she also came if we called out YOU loudly...she was a black cocker spaniel-schnauzer mix, and lived to be 16. The center of our household for many, many years.

[ManteoChik]

Our Black Lab is named Duchess. She's named after an airplane...lol. Usually only those who are in aviation catch on to it - others just think it's some "royalty" themed name.

I think our next lab will probably end up being named Cessna...(after the airplanes) or Makira, which is the scientific name for a Blue Marlin.

[albrez]

Little and Foo Foo are my cats. Their real names are Maggie and Abbie. Maggie is Maggie because she has a prominent black M on her head between her eyes and I figured she needed an M name. She became Little because she was small (obviously). She's not so small now though weighing in at 18 lbs.

Abbie/Foo Foo/Floopdy was Abbie because, well I'm not sure why. I was a stoner back when I got her and would sing lame songs to her. Little Rabbit Foo Foo was one of them. It then became Little Kitty Foo Foo. Hence Foo Foo. My mom calls her Floopdy because her boyfriend thoughts that's what her name was and now it just stuck. (and fyi-Foo Foo is about 23lbs)

After I typed this I realized I really need to get a life. Please, someone tell me I'm not the only crazy that sings to their cats.

[QueenofCA]

Our Italian Greyhound is named Ziggy Pawdust. The nickname for the breed is "Iggy" (or IG) so originally he was going to be Ziggy the Iggy. But my DH is a singer in a rock band, so he liked the whole Ziggy Stardust thing, but we thought that Ziggy Pawdust was more appropriate! :D

[shopaholic]

I just have a turtle right now. His name that we call him is Speedy..his full name is Speedy George.

Speedy because well...he is a turtle. I am sure you can figure it out :)

George because I just think thats a funny name and I would always name objects George (my plants)

[emmasart]

Please, someone tell me I'm not the only crazy that sings to their cats.

You arn't. I need to get a life also. I sing to my iguana. My defence for that is that i usually do it to calm her down when we're in the car on our way to the vet... So really, its only for Fifi's sake. :rolleyes:

[shopaholic]

I sing, talk and actually carry conversations with my animals. My turtle actually talks back to me

[ignutzz]

Let's see, there's been Seedwah & Poupon, Sampson & Delilah, Joel, Runty, Smokey, Ashes, Charlotte, Chloe, and now, Henry. Those are the cats we had growing up, most of them named after famous characters, foods, or extra digits.

The cats DH and I have/had are:

Gordon He came with that name and we loved it. Plus, he was old and already knew his name so why confuse him.

Oliver Big orange tabby cat. It just seemed to fit him (also, I think it was a subconcious thing from the animated movie Oliver & Co.)

Rosie Oliver's sister a grey/white/orange tabby. When I first let her out of the carrier the day I brought her home her nose was bright pink (which happens when she gets really warm or stressed out) and the name just popped out of my mouth and stuck.

Brizlo This one is hard to explain. It's a bizarre conglomaration of DH's nickname, Bronco, and a bastardized pronunciation of his last name. :rolleyes:

[IrishMeg]

I like people names for animals, so that narrowed it down. I also ruled out using anything I would ever consider using for a child. I was always really drawn to the name Oliver but I just didn't see naming a baby that. I was reading People's 50 Most Beautitful People the day I got him. There was a guy in it named Olivier Martinez and I thought "Oliver!" It fits him well.

[PookiePrincess]

My cat's name is Fancy. I'm a big Reba fan, so when I got her, I wanted to name her something Reba related. So my friend who was living with me thought of the name Fancy. I loved it!

We adopted a gray kitten last summer who came with the name Shadow. My husband re-named her Ryoki (pronounced Rio-oky). He got that from an Anime cartoon named Tenchi. Ryoki was an animal that was a cross between a cat and a rabbit and turned into a spaceship. It also means "dragon king" Yeah, he's weird (my husband, I mean). It was hard to get used to that name, but I'm okay with it now. When people ask her name, I have to tell them how to pronounce it and tell the back-story on it.

[kam]

Bailey - he's orange, we're Irish, easy.
Sommer - came with the name. She knew it, we kept it.
Nala - she was "kitty" for over a week.
Ally - we were watching "Ally McBeal" while trying to name her. We really liked "Abby" but my brother already had a dog by that name.
Piper - we always liked the name since watching Charmed, so why not. It's a cute name, especially for a cute dog. And we thought "Phoebe" was too difficult for the other animals to comprehend.

[TazLuv]

Our pride and joy's name is Molly, my DH chose it because he liked it and thought it was original for a dog. Of course since we named her that we've heard of tons of other dogs with the same name, but it fits her so well.

[LadyD088]

I've had Moonstruck and Sunshine and Jenny - all parakeets when I was younger.

We now have Baxter Bailey Brown. He originally came to my mom with the name Wilber but he CERTAINLY didn't fit that name. My DH came up with Baxter, my mom came up with Bailey and there you have it. He's really my mom's dog but has really grown to be the "Family Dog". He's our Triple B Threat!! LOL

[trestlegirl]

When I was three I had goldfish named Nankin and Tootie. No clue where those names came from!

My childhood dog was named Mumford the magic after the Amazing Mumford on Sesame Street. (I was five.)

I have three evil cats. Nick, so named because my ex had decided for a while that he wanted to change his name to Nick...so he gave the name to the cat instead. Nick's brother had no name other than "grey kitten" until one day a Duran Duran song was on the radio, and he became Simon, after Nick Rhodes and Simon LeBon...I can't believe I named my cats after a cheesy 80's pop group! My little girl is named Bullet because for the first year of her life, she was so skittish that all we ever saw of her was a brown flash as she ran by, faster than a speeding bullet. Now that she's a normal, friendly cat, we usually call her Miss B.

[LSirola]

Our first cat Charlie---we thought about it for 2 days before choosing his name. We looked in the bible, in name books, asked people for suggestions. It was either Charlie or Yoda. I'm so glad we went with Charlie. (my husbands middle name is Charles.)

Mickey---I don't actually remember. We had a long time to wait for him, we paid for him when he was only a few weeks old and had to wait until he was 8 weeks old to come home with us. So we had lots of time to decide on a name. One day we thought of Micky, and it stuck. But the vets office spells it Mickey, so now we do too..

Sammy---We were waiting for our table to be ready at Olive Garden, and took our pager into Petsmart. There was a purebred Flame Point Himalayan in there named Sammy. We decided to think/talk about getting him over lunch. We came back to the store an hour later, and he had already been adopted. So we kept the name to give to our next cat. So when we found the next cat that we wanted, we knew right away that we would call him Sammy.

If I ever get a girl cat, I'll name her Belle.

[la_bride_2004]

Kinu (pronounced "key new") is the name for our little male toy fox terrier. My husband's grandmother named him- it means "silk" in Japanese. Totally fits him!

Angus this is my little yellow parakeet. I wanted a very weighty Scottish name.

Montrose or Monty (may he rest in peace) this was our other parakeet- named for the city where we bought him.

Nina my female toy fox terrier. She has a long pedigree name and was in the show ring, but when I took her on, it's the first name that popped into my head, and also just fits her!

[Ade]

Guinness, Sierra and Stella - all named for beers. Started with Guinness since he is black and tan and grew from there.

K.C. - Kitty Cat

[Smittenk]

Our chocolate lab is named Barley Boddington.
Barley for what is in beer and Boddington fopr the English beer.
He was born in England!

[jellybeany]

I have an orange cat named Scotchie. We started with Butterscotch because of his color and it go morphed into Scotchie.

Our Beagle mix is named Daisy. We picked that name because she is all black but has four white paws that reminded me of daisy petals.

[WisWis]

My cat is named Pele. I named her after the Hawaiian Volcano Goddess, NOT the soccer player... I get so tired of that question! She can be a bit tempermental, so I think the name fits her very well!

Our two dogs both have people names. Our terrier (terror) mix is named Moira; we mainly call her Mo. Our Great Dane is named Tobias, or Toby. He is definately a Toby - the name just fits him. We picked names that we both liked but wouldn't want to use for human children.

[Chimichanga]

We have a black lab named Zeppelin. DH thought it would be funny to name him after the "black dog" song the band sings.

My sister has a chihuahua named Carlito because she thought it sounded "gansta." His "girlfriend" is Coco - she was named before she got her.

I had a dog growing up named Roxie. I named her that because as a puppy she used to eat rocks.

[nawsgirl]

Miss Kitty Dukakis, a multicolored cat, adopted my family when I was about 7 or 8- she was named for the ex- MA governor's wife who once drank rubbing alcohol :)

Basil, Sybil, and Manuel- all Siamese, named for the British TV show "Fawlty Towers"

Napoleon- my mom's black standard poodle, so named because of poodles being French, etc.

Isabel- DH's and my 1st Siamese, named for the hurricane because we got her the same weekend, but sadly she died about a year later :(

Lola and Max- DH's and my current Siamese, the former named for the song "Lola" by the Kinks about a cross-dresser and come to think of it, I don't know what Max is named for, DH picked that one!

[Byrd's Boogie]

My yorkies name is Zoe named after my favorite Sesame Street Character :D

I used to have a cocker spaniel named Mikey From the old commercials "give it to Mikey, he'll eat anything". When I first saw him he was eating styrofoam :rolleyes:

[imagirliegirl]

My girl cat is named Princess. It just suited her from day one.

My boy cat is named Griffin. Partly because I like the name but figured I'd never have a kid I would name that. And partly because I love the Family Guy and their last name is Griffin.

[Rosebud]

I have two cats, both of whom were abandoned when I adopted them.

I found Lucy in the parking lot of a grocery store and she obviously didn't have a name. She's a tortoiseshell with really bright red patches of fur, so I named her Lucy after everyone's favorite redhead, Lucille Ball.

Beau was abandonded in an apartment building and the people who fed him there called him "Mooch" before I adopted him. I re-named him Bogart, after one of my favorite actors... but Bogart became Bo, and I just liked the spelling Beau better. Plus, "Beauregard" is a perfect full name to use when he's been bad and is getting a talking-to. :p

[Rosebud]

*Once when I was a kid we got a hamster. On the way home from the pet store, my mom said I could name him. So...I decided to call him Winchell, which was the name of a donut shop we passed by on the way home. :p

Similar story: when my best friend's little sister was 5 she got a pet fish. Her mother said little sis could name the fish-- so little sis looked around on the kitchen counter where the fishbowl sat and said "Magazine!" It was the first thing she saw. Her mother said, "no you can't call a fish Magazine!" So little sis looks around again, notices the fruit bowl and says, "Apple!" Her mother gave up and was just like "fine, whatever, call the fish Apple if you really want to." My best friend and I always used to joke about what a dumb name Apple was. And then Gwyneth Paltrow named her baby Apple, which we all found freaking hilarious.

[climberchic]

You're going to laugh. My dog's name is Coolio. My brother named her for a song. It's an indie song so I don't have the lyrics online, but it goes something like:
"My girlfriend has a dog
it's name is Frank
but when she's not around
I like to call it Coolio
Because everyone wants to know a dog named Coolio..."

[meggers]

We have a miniature schnauzer whose registered name is General Dwight D. Eisenhower (we just call him Ike though). DH is a big history geek and I thought it was quite a name for a small dog.

[Ilovemygeek]

We have a miniature daschund named Roxy and a German Shepherd named Bowser. I wanted a little daschund named Roxy so I could call her Roxy Doxie. It's stupid, I know. The fact that it rhymes appeals to me for some reason. :o My DH is a classic video game nerd, especially the Mario Bros. series (hence my avatar), and he has always wanted a macho dog named Bowser. Of course, his 'tough' dog is the biggest wuss in the world and does not quite live up to his villainous name.

[Kanga]

Roxy just because I like it

Jazz - Actually was supposed to be jasmine until she turned into a he (that's my story and I'm sticking to it:o )

Reggie - After Reggie White, am x lineman for the green bay packers. He's a white persian, and I wanted something more original than fluffy or snowball.

[maplekitty]

When we brought our cat home from the SPCA, we were talking about how this day was his new "birthday". Curt mentioned that it was International Talk Like A Pirate Day, and I said "what? you want to name him Pirate?!!?" And he said "no....how 'bout Captain?" And it just sort of stuck, he's our little Pirate cat, Captain.....yyyaaaarrr!!!! :D

[jbenny75]

My first cat came home right around the time my DH got his Harley Davidson motorcycle and she was a badass little thing (still is bad!!) and she was also black, so we named her Harley.

My second cat is named Casey. I'm not sure where I got that. We call her Fatty most of the time anyway.

My first dog- DH and I couldn't agree on a name. He's a Doberman, so we were going thru German names, cool sounding boy-dog names, we couldn't come up with anything. My friend and I were brainstorming and we started going off of his color, which is Red. She suggested Killian, like Killian's Irish Red beer. We went with that.

When I got my second dog, a female dobie, I thought Bailey (as in Bailey's Irish Cream) would be cute with Killian, so we went with that.

So we have two German dogs with Irish names.

[jimmysgirl424]

Our kitten's name is Kosmo, named after the Kosmo Kramer character in Seinfeld. He earned the name by being an eccentric, slightly dysfunctional but very lovable (like Kramer!) kitty when we brought him home. :D

I also have two White's Tree Frogs that I named Dori and Marli, since I had just seen Finding Nemo when I got them. Dori is a direct take from the movie, Marli is an adaption of the character of Marlin.

[BrownEyedGirl]

I have two pups. Our first born is Emma. We actually named her after dh's grandmother! We get grief from our parents all the time...."you wasted a perfectly good name on the dog..." She's my first child and I don't mind "wasting" the good name.

Our second born we named Zaphod...after Zaphod Beeblebrox in The Hitchikers Guide books (waaaay before the bad movie, which by the way mispronounces the name) He died of Parvo when he was just a pup. So

We got our third shortly after Zaphod died (after lots of bleach and steam). We were trying to figure out a good name for him and almost decided on Wally (dh went to Wabash College, where they are referred to as Wally...well, plural, but I'm not sure how to spell that) Luckily he was such a sweetheart and a little buddy to everyone, we ended up naming him Buddy.

So now we have Buddy and Emma...our children.

[Tonysweetie]

We have 2 cats (just got our 2nd today) We named our boy kitty Maximus. And our newest addition 10 weeks old named Cleo. DH named both our kids.

[mkvh]

We have two male labs, a yellow and a chocolate. After much debate, we decided on Rudy for our first, the yellow. Not very original, but he is named for the mascot at the university where DH got his masters degree.

For the second (chocolate), we knew we would continue with the theme, so he is named Rocky for the mascot where I got my MBA. Although we usually just call him Rock.

We would have nowhere to go with a third pet! It would be time for a new theme.

[gayle]

Sunny, my Golden Retriever. She was so named because she is a sunny color, and she has a sunny personality, and, she is the sunshine of my life!

[MLA]

Tucker -- My burly tabby. He just looked like a Tucker the first time I saw him.

Seymour -- My other kitty -- He's white with gray spots. The spot on his head looks like he has his hair parted in the middle. It looks sort of like a nerdy haircut, so I gave him a nerdy name.

Holly Hobby -- My first cat. I got her when I was 4 -- the reason for that name should be pretty obvious. We called her "Holly" for short.

[Maggie8202]

Haley Rose-- My Golden was named after the dog at my DH's firehouse that had just passed from bone cancer. Her name was Halligan (which is a tool firemen use to open doors). One of my DH's friend from the firehouse also named there yellow lab after Halligan and her name is Holly. We picked her middle name because when she was a puppy she had the LONGEST lashes and every used to say how pretty she was... just like a rose.

Riley Storm-- My MIL's golden (was dh's until he moved out). When we got Riley we couldn't think of a name for him and then a song from our favorite bar came on the radio and we thought it was perfect. The bar's name was Riley's. His middle name is after the town he was born in... Stormville, NY.

[newsjunkie]

We named our family's first cat, a gigantic tuxedo cat, Smeagol, the other name for Gollum from Lord of the Rings (family is HUGE into that movie!). We have a fish pond in the backyard and when we first got him we would joke that he would eat the fish in there- "So juicy sweeeeet". Surprisingly, he never did, although he has brought home every other manner of dead animal...

When I moved out on my own I adopted an orange tabby kitten. I originally named him Gandalf to keep in with the theme but it just didn't suit him. He REALLY acted like a baby lion so I named him Simba. Common, I know, but it works.

My fiance and I adopted another kitten a few months ago, a tuxedo, and she HATED Simba and hissed and growled at him the moment she met him. (He was barely aware she was in the room and when he finally figured it out he wanted to play!) Her whole face would contort and look really evil and scary so we named her Samara, after the scary girl in The Ring. It is a really pretty name aside from being appropriate. :)

[usafwife]

We have our fair share of animals.

Horses:
Jo ~ She was already nicknamed that (actually JoJo) when we bought her. Her registered name is different though. Not sure where the Jo came from because it's not in any of her registered name. Dark brown (actually called bay)/chestnut paint mare though looks like a quarter horse.

Sissy ~ Her name is actually Sister Sue but we just call her Sissy. She's a brown or bay and white paint.

Jack ~ He is a dark chestnut with black on his legs, mane, and tail. His full name is Jumping Jack Flash because he was a jumper when we first got him.

Lucky ~ He's our new little guy. He is similar in color to Sissy. Lucky is a nickname that was taken from part of his registered name.

Dogs:
Wolfgang ~ He already had that named when we rescued and adopted him. We call him Wolfie for short.

Sakari ~ She is a Siberian Husky and we wanted to have a name that fit the breed. We searched high and low before we found one that we liked. She is red and white.

Juneau ~ He's an Alaskan Malamute and we wanted to have a name that fit him as well.

Cats:
Tigger ~ We got him after his mom abandoned him and his brother and sisters. He is a dark orange and white tabby. We thought that he sort of looked like a tiger but decided to name him Tigger instead (he also shares some of the same characteristics as Tigger from Winnie the Pooh).

Sassy ~ She holds her own ground and isn't afraid of anything or any animal. She is very sassy and hence her name.

We also have a new black rabbit but we haven't named him yet.

[whitlockan]

Shadow because the coloring of his "mask" on his face shadows back.

Jester because hes such a clown, **cough** or do I mean idiot...>LOL!

[Niko&Troi]

http://images1.snapfish.com/34693%3A346%7Ffp33%3B%3Enu%3D327%3B%3E943%3E768%3E WSNRCG%3D3233678356569nu0mrj

Asien is the smaller dog, she is beagle/rottie mix. Fully grown at 50+/- pounds. I got her name out of a German/English dictionary, it means Asia.

Sophie found us. I "asked" her her name and that was the first thing that popped into my mind.

[jc0000]

Sadly I have 4 animals now, two dogs and two cats:

Coda - 105lbs Rott/Shepard mix
Cujo - 15lbs miniature pinscher (he just thinks he's a 100 lbs dog that rules the world)
Jackson and Jake - Two kittens I more or less inherited from my ex after she abandoned them.

[schmeevee]

aston is named after the hotel we stayed at in hawaii (aston waikiki) during the time hubby proposed. (he proposed on ko'olina beach). we wanted something meaningful to both of us. it totally suits him!

[nolagirl]

I have two dogs, Jesse and Otis. Jesse was already named when I got him, so I didn't feel right about changing it. I named Otis after Otis Redding......I am not really an oldies music kinda girl, but I LOVE Otis Redding. I always swore if I ever got a dog his name would be Otis!

[rileyandfredsmom]

Oh my...well, here I go:

Cats:

Riley: Named after Riley Hern, one of the first 3 players to be signed in the NHL.

Cleo: She was 6 years old so we kept her name. Although we call her CleoCatra sometimes!

Fred: I just thought it was a cute cat name. Everyone makes fun of me for it though. :rolleyes:

Simon: He is a big grey baby that appears to be a little cross-eyed. He reminds me of the cartoon character from Sesame Street or Electric Company or somewhere...I can't place the cartoon but I remember this little guy that had big glasses and walked around with a book. So, he's Simon.

DOGS:

Andy: A Daschund Mix...DH picked out the name. This was the first time I was ever truly stuck for a name, glad DH was there.

Charlie: At the rescue his name was Thadeus but we couldn't come up with anything better. Then, one day I was talking to my sister and since he is a lab mix, she suggested 'Charlie'. Don't know why his being a lab mix mattered but that is what she said so, as we didn't have anything better, it stuck.

[Etoile]

Dog: Hua Tai-tai, which in some chinese dialect means Mrs. Flower, because she is a chinese dog (pug sharpei mix) and her coloring is called flowered instead of spotted. We call her Tai-tai.

[mommydearest]

Dog: Betsy--she came pre-named from the shelter and we couldn't come up with anything better. She's a Rott/Lab mix.

Cat: George--he reminded me of a student in my class who was very inquisitive and always smiling. As a kitten, George loved to play and it just fit. The funny part is that my cat George is white with tan spots, and the real human George is African-American.

[Yvangeline]

My dog Lita is named after a professional wrestler. Not my choice ;)

A lot of people ask if she's named after Lita Ford, though.