Pet Names

I think that the huge array of names that people give their pets is amazing.  We have much more freedom in naming our animals, as people are likely to be more tolerant of odd names than they would be with our children.  And I was just thinking (yes, probably overthinking) that there are several naming conventions for animals.  I've probably used most of them throughout my life.  So here is my collection of animal naming conventions, for a not-very-serious Saturday morning post.

Food names.  I have a friend who always uses food names for her animals.  "Salsa" and "Popcorn" are names that come to mind.  I started out with the food naming convention because I myself have used it:  I named my first cat Peanut.  I was four years old at the time.

Physical Feature names.  These are names that focus in on one of the animal's physical features.  Blackie, Onyx, Star, Blaze.   I've used this one as well:  a white cat became Snowball, and later, a nearly feral black and white cat with white paws became Boots.

Famous/Legendary/Mythical names.  This is a personal favorite of my husband's.  He picked out the name Argos for our greyhound after the hound that faithfully waited for Odysseus to return.  (Though I say that the hound got a raw deal out of life.)  I think that this is probably a favorite naming convention.  I've met dogs named Loki, Thor, Odin, and I'm sure that there are plenty of other names out there.  We also have a cat, Romeo, named after one of the main characters in that oh-so-famous Shakespeare play.  We may name our second greyhound, still only in potentia, Cabal, after King Arthur's hound.  Jeff is still working on me with this.

Human names.  This is a personal favorite of mine.  I guess that it makes an animal easy to identify with if they have a name that I associate with "normal."  Charlotte and Annie, two of our cats, are examples of this.   I can't take credit for naming them:  the shelter actually did that, but the names were perfect for the personalities of the cats so I didn't change them.  I've also named a Suki (later changed to Susie) and a Wendy.

Iconic animal names.  Fido, Rex, Simba, Killer, Spike.  All names that have been used for a long time for pets.  I've had a couple of these in my life:  I named my very first horse Prince, which seems very iconic of all names horsey, at least in the realm of little girls, and later named an orange kitty Simba.

Behavior Names.  This is how Bit got her name.  Her actual name is Q-bit, short for quantum bit.  Jeff named her this because of her kitten-like ability to be, against all laws of nature, in multiple places at once.  Another that I have heard recently is Frisky.

I'm sure that there are plenty of other naming conventions that I'm not thinking of, at 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday, with my Suda-fed addled brain.  In fact, blame this entire post on the Sudafed.  :)  No, seriously, as someone who has been labeled a "word nerd" in the past, I think that things like naming conventions, history, etymology, etc. is fascinating.  I think that pet names are probably very telling of someone's personality, since, as I stated before, we don't face as much public censure if we get creative.  (I'm sure, for example, that we would have gotten grief if we decided to name a human child Romeo or Argos, or heaven forbid Loki!)

So, I hope that you enjoyed.  What naming conventions do you typically use?