I thought it would be fun to hear what some of you have named your pets.

I have 2 dogs, George and Martha. We named George "George" just because we thought it was a good dog name, and Martha was sort of a joke (George and Martha Washington).

ScOtT

We named our cat Pumpkin, because she wandered in half-starved one October, and because she is orange and black.

I once had a dog named Frito. He was a big, blond, curly-haired herding dog. When he stood on his hind legs, he was as tall as me and I taught him to dance(no tux!) His name fit him well, even though my ex's previous dog of that name was a yappy little thing of the type that I like to drop kick. He disappeared the first day of deer hunting in his third year[sad emoticon]. I also had a cat named Galadriel, her son, Bombadil, Queenie, another dog, Beorn, 2 cats named Musa (Tarahumara for cat), a group of one of the Musa's kittens-Genghis Khan, Silvester, Greystone and Tisnada (covered with soot). Another cat, Leelanau, came to an untimely end in Los Mochis, Sinaloa Mex. It seems that a no-goodnik came to town offering $1.00 per cat so that he could sell them to a company that provided cat corpses for disection. That's the story I was told. This being an agricultural town not far from an ocean port, it wasn't long before the town was overwhelmed by mice and rats. The people put out poisons to get rid of the vermin. Unfortunately, this promoted a vicious circle in that any cats or kittens brought in from the farms invariably ate a poisoned mouse or rat and died. This was the fate of poor Leelanau. My first dog was Tammy when I was 5. The next was Gypsy. She gave us 29 puppies in 14 months. She died from complications following spaying. She got her name due to going into heat and disappearing for 2 weeks as soon as we got her. Thanks for making me think about all the animal friends I have had over the years.

consuelo

i'll answer your question if you post it over in weekly themes--no, wait, animal safari--where it belongs.

only teasing =) the cat's away anyhow.

i have a the sweetest little treefrog in the world named Hyla and another one that's not as friendly, named Shyla (i had another one, named StickyWicket--which one of the Board members came up with, maybe rapunzel? but it died ). my fishies don't have names, but they're cichlids.

there's more on the subject of pet names (as opposed to hypocorisms) at http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=miscellany&Number=19154

.

ok

I've always had a collie or collie mix named "Shelly". It started when I got my first dog when I was 6, a Sheltie, so we named her "Shelly." And since then we've always had a dog named that, although we'd vary the spelling, "Shellie," "Shelley." My favorite was the one I call, "Old Shelly" (a collie, golden lab, shepherd mix)...she lived 17 years before the one we have now. She was handed to me as a puppy in the entrance to a mall, and developed some intestinal disorder for which the vet had me cooking her fresh rice-and-beef meals as part of the treatment, so we bonded immediately. She was the best friend I ever had! Sadly, in 1992, defying the degeneration of old age, I had to have her put down. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life! I hugged her while she was injected and cried, "I love you Shelley!", and she went away in instant calmness...I guess she was ready. She rests in my garden now...the March soil was too hard anywhere else. I'm looking at her picture on the wall as I write this. Every March 21 I recite the poem I wrote for her over her gravesite. I'll always miss her!

Now I have Shellie ( a tiny Shetland Sheepdog), Milo (a husky/collie mix...what a handful!), and Ginger Cat ( a feral kitten that showed up in my yard 2 years ago and adopted me!...never thought I'd ever be a cat person).

We used to have fish, and we actually named them, but I can only remember the names of two of them: The Garbage Man (my older brother's fish) and Mister Know-It-All (my fish. I got the name from Rocky and Bullwinkle.)
Pi already explained our dogs.

I have always been a cat-man - there have been one or two rare moments when my household has not included a felinf riend, but the gap has always been filled as soonas decently possible. They have tended to come in pairs, except when we had a promiscuous female feline, who kept us provided with kittens for about twelve years. But notable pairs have been Huntley and Palmer (biscuit manufacturers in UK), Brandy and Soda, and the latest pair, Chaos and Darkness, two delightful pure grey cats (sadly, Darkness has left home and disappeared - I sincerely hope because he has found somewhere that serves three, rather than two, meals a day) We still have a tabby cat, Humbug, who is the daughter of a previous cat, a totally black one, who honoured us with her presence, and went by the name of Gothmog (you need to see "The Silmarillion" for the provenance of that one, NOT "The Two Towers").
Rather a long post, this - but it's your own fault; you shouldn't have got me on to this particular subject!

Peter - orange tabby cat
Zoe - brown/black tiger cat
Jeffrey - brown Newfoundland dog

Honorable mention: Katy - tortoiseshell cat, now departed

my one and only dog was a cocker sp. named Duffy that I had as a wee lad. it was choked out while still a pup by by a g. shepherd.

cats, former and present:
smith - a calico whose only litter included a calico we named jones, the last to be given away.
janey - a marmelade cat who I had wanted to name jam(my)
blossom - my daughter's first cat, who disappeared
teddy b.- also named by my daughter

last two lurcher dogs: Sandy and Sheba
(homed after the old "I am going to shoot all the puppies in the morning" trick!)
Before that another wonderful collie cross lurcher, extravagantly named Falstaff (in honour of his fat little belly as a puppy, and after Robert Nye rather than Will S)

Three current cats, dropped as kittens by crafty little tabby who adopted us a few days before:
Weed (cause he nearly died when mum deserted them at two days, and we kept him alive with a dropper) - now a sleek jet-black killing machine, who will deign to sleep upside down on his back on our bed, sometimes squirelling down under the sheets to sink his claws playfully into any convenient bits...
Grace: a beautiful lithe and effeminate mottled grey kitten who, er, turned out to also be a tomcat ; )
Badger: a strikingly handsome little lion, fluffy dark grey with white socks and chest, with the badger-striped nose. He sings whilst eating, with a hint of Siamese in the tones.


/drivel

We have two cats -- Killian and Finnegan, and good Irish lads they are. My wife has had nearly dozens of pets in her life, including a goat named Koko, a lamb named Easter and twin toy poodles named Coquette and Criquette.

Has anyone else heard of the method for determining the ideal name for one's drag queen persona (or exotic dancer persona, for the ladies)? It is your first pet's name followed by your mother's maiden name. Mine (Shadow Akins) is not very good, but my wife's is Brittany Thibault, which certainly sounds like a stripper's moniker to me. Anyone else care to reveal their secret personality?

the ideal name for one's drag queen persona

Loved that, Flats! But I somehow don't think my Fluffy Gardener is going to cut a rug in the Cage Aux Folles

exotic dancer persona

Calico Martin. Hmmm...


I've heard of this idea before, only it was called your "porn movie-star name" and was composed of your first pet's name followed by the name of the street on which you grew up. Somehow "Calico Hill Church" doesn't sound all that alluring either...

*I* heard as, put the name of your first pet and the name of the first street you lived on together to get your soap opera character's name.

Depending on which pet I chose (we had them both when I was young):

My exotic dancer name is Penny McDonald

and my soaper name is Pretty Boy Ackerson

Or maybe, my drag queen name is Pretty Boy. I'm a woman playing a man playing a woman. Wait ... this sounds familiar.

We named our puppy Spunki - "Spunky" for obvious reasons, with the last letter changed because she's female.

I see I am no longer the only Pi around here!

Irish Setter (F)- Irish Image, call name : Rosebud Belonged to my Grandparents but I always think of her as my first dog. My first real dog was Rosebud's son :
Irish Setter (M) Irish Image II, call name Charlie (Charlie McCarthy was popular personality at time).
Mini white poodle (F) JayCurt Bon Fete --Because I got her as a combo-birthday gift from sons, call name "Scamper" or "Scamp" renamed by my Jet-flying husband as "White Fang."
Black mini poodle (F) Miss Merry Mod call name Mod.
Grey cat (M) "Sailor" a GREAT cat! He lived at my house in summer when he discovered I had air conditioning and in other seasons between my house and neighbor as equally as he could manage it. Neighbor, the titular "owner" called him "Precious." He didn't deserve that ... I also sometimes called him "Chief" and he purred.
Chinese Crested (F) hairless, Pepsi, the sweetest disposition of any animal or person I ever met,
and finally, now, A Bichon Frise (F) "Pearl" a real Princess.
I have, at various times boarded cats of Character when owners went away for awhile. Just tended to own (?) more dogs as that's what I grew up with.

So : First pet and street name would be : Rosebud Nesmith Sounds too, too, terribly 1920's , dah-ling, n'est ce pas?

My new name would be Mr. Know-It-All Rainsford

Thought I might mention my cousin's childish pet names:

a rat called 'Ratty'
a black cat called 'Sooty'
a light brown dog called 'Honey'

And I heard that the pet+maiden was one's porn star name and that middle+street was soap opera name, producing:

Porn star: Potato Grohman (it was a bad name for a cat, but far worse for this profession)

Soap opera: William Appleton (perfect)

My soap opera name, then, would be Michael Jackson. Not to entralling, eh?

Porn star: Potato Grohman

Boy, he must be a real spud, with plenty of eyes for the ladies. Now starring in Dirty, Hairy

I heard the same rules as Hyla. As a porn star, I'm Tigger Mortenson. As a soap star, I'm Pernille Franklin.

And I'm dating a man named Michael Jackson, Brandon. I find him *plenty* enthralling myself!

And Sparteye? "Dirty, Hairy"? Ew...

I have a superannuated boxer named Shorts, and an extremely overweight manx whom we dubbed El Gordo. In the past I have actually owned a Vietnamese pot-belly pig whose name was Rasher O'Bacon. As Irish as Paddy's pig. I've always wanted to get an anaconda so I could call him Julius Squeezer.

Another great pig name would be Scrunchion. That is a Newfie word meaning pork fat, breaded and deep fried. It's such a cute word, though!