How To Choose Pet Names (Not That Kind of Pet Names, Sugarlips)
October 23, 2012 § 75 Comments
You have to be careful when you choose your pet’s name.
People can be judgey about pet names. (Present company included, I admit. If the first thing I find out about you is that you have a cat named Mr. McWhiskerdoodles, I will probably not seek out more information about you, because I’ll already know you like to needlepoint Kleenex box covers and watch The Bachelorette in a non-ironic, hopeful-romantic way, and we will probably not have much to talk about.)
Plus, whatever you pick is what you’re stuck saying 500 times a day for the next however many years your pet lives with you. And you can’t just set your pet free in the woods when you get tired of the name, because — whoa — talk about people getting judgey.
Having gone through this process just recently with a new puppy, I found that a good way to get a feel for whether the moniker you like will really work is to practice making an introduction with the name you’re testing out.
For example, you might do a test run on some tough-sounding dog names:
Oh, hello neighbor. This is my dog, Spike.
This is my dog, Chainsaw.
This is my dog, Venomous G. Razorface.
Nice, but probably not a fit for our little one. None of us around here are all that tough, and we want her to feel like she fits in.
You could try out some delicate, feminine names:
This is my dog, Daisy.
This is my dog, Baby Powder.
This is my dog, Nipple.
Nope.
Maybe borrow a celebrity baby name?
This is my dog, Apple.
This is my dog, Banjo.
This is my dog, Tennessee.
OK, those actually work great for dogs. That should tell you something, celebrities.
If you have two pets to name, you could do a fun pairing, like:
These are my dogs, Shrimp and Grits.
These are my dogs, Dark and Lovely.
These are my dogs, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.
I would have loved to do something like that. But one new addition was really all we could handle right now, what with an elderly dog at home, too. Alas.
We’ve always used people-names for dogs. I don’t know. It’s just what we like. Some names, however, don’t translate well to pets:
This is my dog, Cheryl.
This is my dog, Linda.
This is my dog, Angela.
Basically, if the name sounds like a late-middle-age woman who still calls working out “aerobics” and eats WASA-bread and cottage cheese for lunch, it’s a no-go.
Our puppy is a beagle, by the way. But no, we didn’t consider Snoopy. The problem is, I *know* it would be just a matter of time before I started calling the poor thing Snoop-Dog and referring to her water bowl as her “gin and juice” and making her star in rap videos and all sorts of other inanity. So I just had to head myself off at the pass there.
Ultimately, our family went with a first name we all really liked for the pup, and then our kids jazzed it up with a little Presidential history. Then we took one look at her and thought, OH, totally. Yes. So with no further ado, I’d like to introduce…
Eleanor Roosevelt
The fact is, there are so many possibilities here for nicknames – Ellie, Roo, Rosie, FLOTUS – that the little creature will probably never know what her name is anyway. Oh, well. We tried.
Eleanor Roosevelt? I can’t tell if you are being for real or not. I think you have just become one of “those” people. Drat, and just when I was starting to like you. Sigh….
If by “those” people you mean the ones with sweet little puppies named Eleanor, then yes. TOTALLY one of those. Thanks for reading.
Oh, I forgot to mention our pet’s names. They are:
Sunny, Blue, Sophie, Fiona, Cindy-Lu, Annabelle, Mamfy, Mali, Milky, Punkin, Nick, Charlie, Minnie, Alice, Genevieve, Pippin, Finnegan, Elfie, Ozzie, Frex, Crope, and Tibbett. I’ll not list the chickens….
I love the name Eleanor. My pup arrives in 2 weeks and my three young daughters want to name her Eleanor.. She will be named after our last dog who passed away in December. Her name was Rigby.
So sweet.
Perfect name. We went thru the whole processes about a year ago. and came up with Wolf. It was perfect because he is very much a pack animal and spend most of his day hunting small critters. It is surprising how the names fit them.
Is that Wolf in your photo? The name definitely fits! Cute.
Yes it is. He was only about 6 months in that photo.
I love it. I went back and forth between literary references and regular people names, and ultimately decided on Murphy. And he is SUCH a Murphy. EllaRoo is adorable, and congrats on the new family member
Oh, Murphy’s an awesome name. And I think you may have just picked our winning nickname with “EllaRoo”!
Perfect post. Funny + puppy = complete package.
Thank you!
great name! We have a Winston (Churchill) a Black and tan Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and want the next one to be Roosevelt.
That’s fabulous! For your holiday card, you could put a little piece of paper in front of them and pretend they’re drafting the Atlantic Charter together.
I am going to name my next dog Captain Steve so that on Talk Like a Pirate day I can say, “Ayyy, where be Captain Steve?”
Ha! Good plan. Although really, you could say that in the mirror to yourself right now, couldn’t you… Captain Steve?
Well played madam, well played… Our dog is named Fruit Loops. That was his name from the pound. We call him Loops. It’s kind of like calling Andre the Giant ‘Tiny’. He weighs about 100 lbs and thinks he’s a lap dog.
Fruit Loops — that is a FANTASTIC name!
Love you post. Eleanor is so cute!
I have been giving a lot of thought to getting a dog. My two favorite breeds are the Berner and the Newfie. However, I have decided that a Beagle would be a much better fit for me, especially since I am a first time dog owner (current owner of cats). I have been searching my local shelters and found 3 dogs that are a possibility! Now I just have to take the plunge.
Good luck! We are huge fans of the beagle breed. They are sweet and friendly and playful (much like labs and goldens), but not so big that they’d drag me behind them like a kite if I tried to walk them on a leash. Sort of a big dog personality in a little dog body. Hope your cats take it OK!
Thanks!
That is a concern: my cats reaction. I have 5 cats, all rescues, so I am a bit concerned that introducing a dog into the mix could stress them out. I need to move slow on this as i’d hate to adopt a dog from a shelter, only to have to give it back. I do not have any dog experience so I think it would be best if I did not adopt a puppy.
Good call. Maybe a doggie playdate or two to start!
She is a nugget. I love the name!
Thanks! Hope your doggie’s doing well!
Adorable! The name and the puppy. Ellie is awesome but i like FLOTUS the best! We have a beagle mix, Sadie, who is usually known as Sades, Sadie Lady, Sadie Mae, Sadie Hawkins. I also have a feisty black cat named Rocky, who has many nicknames but his middle name alternates between Dammit and Jesus depending on what kind of trouble he is in or causing at the time. We should have named him Shameless.
“Shameless Jesus” has a ring to it.
When I got my dog as a puppy I thought naming her would be next to impossible. And then I took one at her and decided she was a Maggie. And she was for 12 wonderful years. I have a cat now who I did not name. She was a shelter cat and someone decided for me that her name would be Tigger. I like calling her Tig.
P.S. Your puppy is damn cute.
Thank you!
The names always evolve anyway! We found our cat on the street as a kitten and called her Flea (she was covered in them!); now she’s Pete, Pipigirl, Roo-Roo and many more. I think the previous suggestion of EllaRoo is fab and your new addition is adorable
Thanks!
cute dog
we adopted a golden retriever when he was three, already named Buddy. It’s perfect. he’s 95 lbs, dumb, friendly, fun, and protective. We have two kittens named Monki (female), and Alfie (male)…blame my children for their names.
That’s quite the crew!
Went to Cuba in 1999, drank lots of mojitos, came back, got a puppy from the pound a couple months later, named her Mojito in honor of that sassy Cuban rum drink. After two days, I changed it to Mojita because an o at the end of her name made her sound like a boy. Love your blog, makes me laugh.
Love that one! Thank you.
Eleanor is a lovely dog. It’s such a great name that never occurred to me! I wonder if my daughter would mind being renamed? She’s probably pretty used to Mitt by now, though.
Ha – thanks!
Cutest puppy ever! Her coat looks like velvet. Knowing her predecessors’ names, Eleanor is perfection. Love the nickname possibilities too.
Thanks! She’s a softie… when she’s not rolling around in the dust of the backyard, anyway.
Great!. It’s so important for a pet to have a proper name. Our cat is Kingsley Shacklebolt (in UK this is probably as prestigious as Eleanor Roosevelt, it being the name of the head Auror and eventual Minister of Magic in the Harry Potter books) Gets shortened to Kings, or Shacklebunny
Very distinguished!
We don’t have a dog yet, but when we get one, everyone will have a say in deciding the name. Dogs that are named by kids are almost always terrible. Adorable dog!
Ha! Yes, this one was largely guided by mom and dad.
She’s a beautiful little puppy! I think Eleanor Roosevelt is an awesome name
Thanks!
Our dog is Olive, after the kids’ book, “Olive the Other Reindeer.” Somewhere along the line, my wife added a middle name of Petunia. And then, just recently, she earned the knightly title “Squirrel Slayer,” during an unfortunate incident with a rodent in the backyard. Now I just call her “Slayer.” She loves it.
I love Olive Petunia, Squirrel Slayer. I can only call her the whole thing.
What a great name. As Sopranos freaks, we had “Carmella and Tony.” But Carmella passed. Now Tony has a mistress named Piper.
Nice!
I’m with you on the naming your pets “real people names” I’ve got dogs named Marie and Chelsea and cats (one being a slightly high-jacked neighborhood cat >_>) name George and Eleanor.
Also, your puppy is so cute!! Beagles are lovely! (Honestly though I wanted to name Marie, our beagle/lab/thing, Bagel ahahah)
Great names!
Beautiful pup and a great name!
Thanks so much!
Beagles are the best! I think Eleanor Roosevelt has distinction as well as enough syllables that you can come up with almost endless nicknames. My current beagle, Cooper, unfortunately has lots of rhyming nicknames, usually involving poop. He doesn’t care……..that I know…….what if he’s like the dog in The Art of Racing in the Rain….??…:) Just discovered your blog today. It’s awesome. Keep it coming!
Cooper — love that name.
And so glad you found your way here. Thanks for reading!
Eleanor is adorable! It’s so tough to pick pet names. My brother chose to name the sweetest dog in the world Killer. When we got a new puppy, I took it upon myself to christen him. He is Jake the Worm. I wanted a dog with a title and when the vet came back with the worm diagnosis, it was easy to see what his title would be. It wasn’t until years later that I discovered my dad had added another name, Pirahna, after the Worm. I would assume this is a direct result of the puppy teeth, but you never can tell.
Jake the Worm. I love it. At least no one was calling him “Jake the Tequila Worm.”
Not yet anyway. He’s more of wino anyway.
Named my cat Harvey Danger last year, and he’s been living up to it every day since.
Awesome.
Our two cats were Bonnie and Clyde and the names were very fitting! They were “Little Outlaws”! Sorry to say, we don’t have them anymore.
Great names!
Eleanor is a perfect name for your pup; it fits! We have cats, Jack O’Lantern (he’s Irish) and Poppycock. I think the next one may need to be named Chainsaw. That’s just too good a name to pass up. Although, I see shredded furniture in Chainsaw’s future.
Hubby said if we ever had a kid we should name him Nimrod to see if kids really do grow up to fit their name. “We could call him ‘Roddy.’”
Thanks! I’m thinking Chainsaw would be good for a teensy tiny floofy poodle.
She’s so cute!!!! Congrats! Enjoying the blog, by the way. It’s the only blog I’ve ever followed. Hilarious. Sara
Sent from my iPhone
Thank you! That delights me. And you even commented!
I know I have given you a hard time about ER, but consider the source. We had a black lab named Indiana Jones “Indie” by my young son and my “other” son having brought home a yellow lab one Christmas gave in to my demanding a Christmas name, so she is Holly. The next year 2 very black cats joined the family-Jingle and Belle! It’s always Christmas at John’s house.
I am so sleep deprived that I just sat here looking at “ER” and wondering what conversation was had about the Emergency Room.
Ugh, I want to squish that puppy! Not in a creepy Lennie of Of Mice and Men kind of way, but holycow she’s cute! And I feel the need to share my puppy naming story. You didn’t ask, but still… K, so we had this neighbor, who just got a puppy. And this puppy was disgustingly cute. Like, so cute it made me want to vomit. So, we asked them where they got him, and they told us that their mother’s dog had just had a littler. She still had the runt, and they would try to see if we could have her. So, a few days later, knock knock at my door, and there is this neighbor with the ittiest little bouncy ball of fur I had ever seen. She was a 3 pound, 6 week old yorkie poodle mix, with puppy breath and big brown eyes… Okay, I’m getting teary eyed, because I no longer have her. I miss her more than I ever thought possible. So I’ll cut to the chase. We named her Carabella, because it was like a feminized version of a caramello candy bar. She was caramel colored on bits of her face, chest, and tummy, and chocolate colored on her back and the top of her head. We called her Cara for short. The end.
Sounds like a cutie!
OMG, why am I just now finding your blog? The light in my life just came on. I know you are super popular but I hope it’s at least a little exciting that you have a new stalker-fan.
If the stalker fan is you, then yes, I *am* super excited. So glad you found your way here — thank you!
Good name…it kind of suits her. The missus is desperate to get cats, and suggested we name them Elephant and Castle, after that (in)famous part of London. I had to point out that if Castle then died unexpectedly, we’d have to explain to any and all visitors why we had a cat called “Elephant.”
True. But that’s a great pairing!
First pet names are crucial for children. It has to be something that they will remember as it will be an online security question for the rest of their lives. And, if you believe Tiffani from my 7th grade English class 36 years ago, it will be the first part of their “stripper name”. Just add their first street name as the last name.
Ha! Good point.