How did you choose a name for your current dog(s)?
This is always a fun topic of conversation among not only dog people but all pet people. I love to hear everyone’s stories. Sometimes the person had the name picked out months or years before they found their perfect pet and sometimes it came to them the second they met (or saw pictures of) their new dog, cat, turtle, or bird.
You all know Indiana and Davinia and I will tell you how they came to have their names but there were pets in my life way before they were ever a consideration.
There was Tillie the Turtle he (or she) came to us the size of a quarter and lived a pretty long life. I was about 4 when we got Tillie and while I have no idea how I came up with the name I am guessing that Tillie the Turtle sounded like a great name at the time.
Then there was my little Black Lab. I called her Cinderella. I was maybe 5 at the time that we got her and must have either just watched or read Cinderella. I have always been very into Disney and the name suited her so Cinderella was the little black Labrador.
Tramp a chocolate lab (another Disney character name) and Elvira Mistress of the Dark a Black Lab were next a few years apart. I think that both came along after Cinderella went to the Rainbow Bridge. Not sure which of the two came first I think we got Elvira when I was in 5th grade but but not sure when Tramp came along. In 1992 Hurricane Andrew blew through Miami and got our house. While it was being worked on we lived in a trailer on the front driveway. Even though no one thought that Tramp and Elvira could have puppies somehow it happened and while we lived in the trailer Princess and Howler were born.
Princess got her name because she was like Princess and the Pea she was very particular as a young puppy and things had to be just right for her to sleep. It was like she could feel an itty bitty bump in the blanket and couldn’t fall asleep. Howler on the other hand never really learned how to bark but he was great at Howling. For his entire life Howler would do his signature call anytime an emergency vehicle went by with its sirens on. I always thought he would make a good mascot for the Fire Department.
My Freshman year in College my parents got two Rottweillers a week or so before Thanksgiving. By Thanksgiving they still didn’t have names so at dinner we came up with the names Fendi for the girl and Kahlua for the boy because of their coloring. I wasn’t really in their lives much at all considering I was already in college when they came along but when I did see them they were happy friendly dogs.
Davinia was next though actually it was supposed to be Xenia (a full sister but different litter then Davinia) but bringing a puppy as an engagement gift to live in Washington Heights, New York in a 4 floor walk up while I was in my final year of college never really flew with my parents and she stayed in Germany. A few years later Davinia was born to the “D” litter and her breeder named her thinking she was going to be keeping her. Davinia was the runt of the litter and routinely got pushed away from her food by the other dogs so her breeder thought it would be best if she went to live in a quieter household. She flew escorted fom Germany to NY at just about 9 months old to live with us. Since Davinia was older and already knew her name I decided to keep it. Though I think it fits better if you call her Lady Davinia.
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Then came Indiana. Indiana was born into “i” litter and so I needed to come up with a name that began with an i though in reality she could have had a registered name that began with an i and a seperate call name. The list came down to Ice Cream which would have been a horrible name for her or any dog at least in my opinion. India which I still really like it just doesn’t fit her at all and Indiana. Indiana really worked for her because one of the very first pictures if not the very first picture of her that I saw was of her with some of her littermates where she was standing on top of a rock. Indiana is a Tom Boy like to roll in the mud and get dirty. She likes to climb on rocks and have adventures except when she wants to be a Diva.
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE A NAME FOR YOUR DOG?
DO YOU HAVE NAMES ALREADY PICKED OUT FOR FUTURE PETS?
This post is brought to you by our sponsor Nutro Knowledge Network. Questions that they pose to our community is a way for them to say hello to and engage with all of you. Nutro feels that in order for the brand to know what the people and pets they want to serve need and want they themselves need to get to know the pets and their families first.
I already had a name sorted. I don’t know why but i always liked the name Sheba and when we went to look at the puppies there was only one left luckily it was a bitch because i didn’t have any boys names sorted. She definately suits her name.
My previous dog Cherry‘s name was also suggested by my son. Cherry was a liver-spotted Dalmatian, her spots were like ripe cherries. Actually his first suggestion was Peter Pan – not quite sure where that one came from but it didn’t stick (phew!)
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I named my Maltese after the South Park character Butters because he was so sweet, but a little spastic
Our dog Trixie was “Pixie” at the shelter, and I’m pretty sure they chose the name for her based on her pretty little face and smily personality (which existed even at 8 months old, with her puppyhood being spent in a shelter–she was pulled 3 days before her kill date by the no-kill shelter we got her at).
My husband wasn’t fond of the name Pixie, and when it became clear that it didn’t suit our little one, Trixie was an easy step. For one, it sounded similar, so if she’d gotten used to Pixie, it was easy for her to get used to Trixie. Plus, my favorite author Dean Koontz had a dog named Trixie, so it was a name that worked for me. What’s more is that my husband races cars, and we joke about him being Speed Racer, and there was a Trixie in that cartoon too! So it worked for him too 🙂
Not that it matters… we rarely actually call her Trixie any more. It’s now Trix, Princess, Furface, Poopie, Pooh-Bear, Snuggledog, Cuddlebear, Dog, and a variety of other nicknames LOL
I don’t currently have a dog but I really really want a Great Dane named Dante!! I have no idea where the name came from but it suddenly popped into my head as the perfect name for a Great Dane, so no noone in my family is allowed to use that name! It is reserved for the day that I will eventually get my puppy!
I wanted to name my lab Shea, after Shea Stadium because I’m a big Mets fan but the guy I bought her from last name was Shea! I didn’t want him to think I name my dog after him so I went with Wrigley instead, after my second favorite baseball team.
I don’t have a dog but my sister has one and named her COCO for COco channel,lol
We just blogged about it because Dakota’s name was voted for to be the main hero dog in Amy Shojai’s new mystery!! (Lost and Found)
I had always liked the name “Dakota” and I googled it to see the meaning. It means “trusted friend” and when I saw that it was a “no brainer!”
I don’t really know how any of our dogs got their names (lassie, muffet, hoover, molly, brandy) but they sure fit once the tag was stuck on them!
My first dog was a miniature poodle and my sister named him Pepe after Pepe le Moko, a 1937 film about a gangster from Paris who hides in Algier’s Casbah.
My current dog, a mixed Bichon and a few terriers, is named Binimin Yacov, Hebrew for Benjamin Jacob. I call him BJ which is also how my synagogue is known.
I’ve never had a pet of my own… huge allergy issues… but my daughter did have a little blue beta fish when she was younger… and she (at 4) was in her direct association phase… and the fish was Bluey…
I wish I could name our dog(s). We’ve always adopted our pets, so the dogs already came with a name BUT if I were able to have a new puppy, I would probably need to look at it and choose a name based on its appearance.
However, I do like “famous names” for dogs. Like imagine having a Labradoodle called Lionel Ritchie; or a basset hound called Alfred Hitchcock!
I inherited one dog through marriage so he was already named and the other (a yorkie) was a baby when I got him and was all black and brown and a little girl at the store side he looks like a Snickers bar so the name Snickers stuck!
When I decided to get a dog I wanted a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I approached a well-regarded breeder and told her I really wanted a female Blenheim. The breeder told me she would pick the right dog for me from the litter, after she asked me A LOT of questions about my life. When we visited her home, she had Blenheim, Ruby, Tricolor and Black and Tan Dogs. I imagined all the different names I would give the different colors.
Ruby-Reba McEntire (or just Reba)
Tricolor-Paul McCartney (Mac)
Black and Tan – Guinness (Guinnee)
The breeder picked a Blenheim male for me. The litter had a bug theme-his name was Bugsy, his brother, Cricket, etc….
I ended up naming him Pumpkin-as it is a term of affection, and of his orangey coat.
Besides, Bugsy reminds me of a 1940’s gangster…nothing I associate with Cavaliers.
🙂
When my children were little we adopted a 4 year old golden lab/retriever mix. Here owners named her Whiskey, they said because of her coloring (best dog we every had). Then we got a black lab and named him Jack. He got his name by drawing it from a hat, where we had all wrote down the names we wanted. About a year later we had a yellow lab that was a stay. No one claimed her so we kept her. We named her Brandy…why break the cycle right! They have all past away now, but that’s another story. I now have Molly, a Schnoodle. I named her that because she had kinky hair everywhere and it just fit, and because she reminded me of the show ‘Molly and the Comfy Couch’. I am not sure why. 🙂 We adopted Beauty, that was already her name so we kept it. The came Honey our Chihuahua. I named her Honey because of her coloring and she was so sweet.
Our choices are a bit tricky, as we have to go for names starting with J. Everybody’s names in our family start with J. It get’s confusing when we get mail for J. Rade (happens quite often)
So for Jasmine we looked for the most beautiful, sweetest, loveliest girl-dog name that starts with J.
For JD it was easier – Jasmine’s Dog = JD
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Brutus told me his name. 🙂 Actually he was named by the crack heads who had him before we rescued him.
Our 4 lb Chihuahua came to us with the name Idgy. We didn’t like the name but didn’t want to change it too much so named her Itsy : )
I chose Toby from the lead singer of a Christian rap band I liked and I chose Sushi after my brother’s dog we had as kids.
Good ‘Ol Google (LOL)
My dog Cynder Got her name because her coat is as dark as a cinder from a fire. Our dog Sheana was named by my brother after my grandparents dog that he loved.
I kept the name he was given when I picked Max up from the Humane Society
All of my dogs were already named when I adopted them and they knew their names already and they suited them.
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My sister actually named my dog. She had found him and we eventually learned he had been dumped. We had been writing a story about an imaginary dog named Cubby. I had another dog at that time named Bear. Cubby was to be Bear’s son. One day my sister called and said “I found Cubby” She brought this skinny, weak and timid dog to me. I’ve kept him and the name ever since. 🙂
Our one dog’s name is Valentino. He got this name because when he was born there was a white patch (he is black and white) on his back in the shape of a heart.
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We named our dog Obi after the Star War’s Obi-wan Kenobi. My boyfriend obviously picked it out.
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My first dogs growing up were Pappy and Dakota, I am not sure how Dakota got his name but Pappy got his name because he was salt and pepper colored.. When i was a soph in highschool and they passed away i got my dog now, her name is Jersey, we call her Jersey Girl 🙂 I am a big sports fanatic so I wanted to be a sporty name and it just fit her lol Just about a year and a half ago we got my second dog Ranger.. of course named after the Texas Rangers in the MLB. We on the other hand call him Ranger Danger because of all the messes he gets in haha. But he is the biggest BABY of all… he is afraid of the microwave, oven, storms, any kind of loud sound and FLIES! hahahaha we have been debating with the vet about putting him on antidepresents but i dont want to do that… :/
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The dog we just adopted had the name Blue. He had been in the shelter a bit, because his owner had just died. I didn’t have the heart to change his name, because he was an older dog, and had gone through alot.
Rocco’s name was chosen after the family’s favorite restaurant, Rocco’s Tacos.
Daphnie- her name is from her parents-scooby and velma
Teddy- he got his name b/c he looks like one
Mollie- her name is a spin on Marley and me
Kender- his name comes from the town he was rescued from
gizmo was named by our children
so we have a pit bull named Do Low, he was a rescue that the next door neighbor & his friends had been calling names like Moe, yo, & ones I cant repeat so since my hubby did not want another dog, we had to keep him on the down low, per my nephew; for a while, hence the name Do Low.
My daughter had the name picked out. She wanted a Saint Bernard named Bernard.
My dog Bebe was already named when I inherited her. She is an older dog & knows her name so there was no changing it. 🙂
My husband picked our dog’s name. When he brought him home he was the tiniest Chihuahua I’d ever seen, only a few weeks old. He wanted a name that would compensate for his tiny stature, and selected “Thor.” His full name is something I don’t even fully remember, like “Thor, Ruler of the Canine Universe and Supreme Master of All Cats.”
On the long drive home after adopting my puppy mill rescue/survivor, there was a song on the radio that I sang to her and it calmed her. I sang softly to her often throughout the months that followed while she struggled to transition to life outside of the mill. The song was “Sara Smile”, and her name became Sarah.
I didn’t even get to name my puppy. We already had a dog named Rosco so the new guy got flash. Yes I know dude of hazards.
I really can’t say how I came to choose names for my pets, they just sort of came to me when I spent time with them. Most of them are named after Anime characters or other characters I like. Either they remind me of that character in some way, or I just like the name. For example, I have a cat we call Toki. She’s named after Toki Doki (which all of their designs are funky and colorful) because she’s interesting looking and she has 2 different color eyes.
my daughter named our dog after sid vicious the punk rock star
My dog came with his name, Frankie. I use the more formal Franklin sometimes.
Well, we had a list of names and it took about a week. They were based on his looks and his early personality traits. In the end it was the sound of the name we went with. Bo, we liked the way it sounded.
i rescued both my dogs, Rags and Maggie and kept the names given to them
Our dogs names Pepper and Sandy we choose because of of the colors of their fur.
Our dog, Reeses, got her name because she is the colors of a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup! She’s a sheltie, so she has a mix of dark brown and a reddish lighter brown that look just like chocolate and peanut butter! It was never even a question – the first time I saw her, I said she looked like a Reeses! And it stuck!
My mom named my first dog for me. She just said he looked like a Zeke. When I got my second, I wanted something cute that went with it and since Buffy is one of my favorite shows, Xander was it. My cats just got random names.
We kind of pulled it out of the air and called him Little Man
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We rescued a yellow lab. Her name is Goldie…..she came with the name but its perfect for her!!!
Heidi is half weimaraner, a German dog so we named her Heidi after Heidi Klum.
A favorite tv show.
Belle is a cute name, and my favorite children’s Disney movie is Beauty & the Beast.
My dog, Cookie, was a rescue, so we left her with the name she was use to already. I figured it would be better to have 1 constant in her life at least.
My dog, Zoey, got her name from a little girl I know (no, the little girl doesn’t look like a dog!). 😉
My dog first belonged to my daughter-in-law she named him Rocky.
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We gave Max his name beacause.. he was so small when we got him, he could sit in my hand.. he needed a maxiumn strength name..lol
Our Black Lab was wearing a multi-colored collar when we got her…hence, my young daughter named her “Rainbow”
My terrier is Jack…after Jack Lambert…my black and tan chi is Rooney, after the Rooney family who owns the Pittsburgh Steelers…and my dane puppy is named Kitti, because we liked the irony of the massive -pony dog named after a cat 😉
These are some cute & funny responses!:-). My ex named the puppies he found Bonnie & Clyde. I got ‘custody’ of Clyde.
His shelter name was Winky, but we had to change it because he only has one eye…can you imagine a one-eyed dog named Winky?! That name seemed a little cruel. We re-named our shih tzu mix Dumpling because he has a white coat and is of Asian origin (due to being a shih tzu).
My husband chose our dog’s name
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