What’s in a Name?

Just like anything else, naming your pet reflects  your interests, feelings, and creativity. So why is it that we come across so many of the same named dogs? From Princess to Fido, what’s wrong with a little creativity where you can have it? Our animals are an interesting conglomeration of names. We have three dogs: Seraphim, Butterball and Mouse; four cats: Lokie, Chrono, Winnie and Arthas; and finally a chinchilla named Gusgus.

Not only does everyone have their own names,  but they have nick names galore. When Seraphim is being good, and not getting into something I really don’t want her to she is normally referred to Goobies,Goobs, or Goobers. This is because every time she drinks she holds water in her mouth then lets it pour out all over my floor. Its been like this since day one. Butterball generally goes by Butter. The cats go buy a variety of things, and so does the chinchilla. Each name in our house has been thought out to the letter.

What will fit? Look at your house, do you have animals already? Is there a theme and do you want to keep that theme? Is there a cool name that wouldn’t be good for your baby, but you can name your dog? Then do it. In the end, a dog’s name is a reflection of the owner. My mom recently got a dog, and she named it Duke. To me he looks like a little polar bear, and I automatically thought of renaming it Coke, or Cola on her.

Just like humans (haven’t you ever met a person that you would swear their name was something completely different than what it really is?) you can look at a dog and almost guess their names, and then be blown away by the considerably drab alternative the owners have chosen. So I challenge you, what’s in your dog’s name? Or if you are still looking for that perfect pet, please…No more Princess, no more Duke. Find something that’ll suit them completely.

So what’s in a name? How’d you come up with your names? We didn’t look at baby books for our names. Before my husband and I had become a couple I had a cat named Chrono and a chinchilla named Gusgus. Chrono was named after a character in a video game, while Gusgus was off of Walt Disney's Cinderella, he reminded me of the fat mouse named Gusgus.

My husband had Mouse when we met, and if you look at this tiny dog, you’d agree he’s smaller than a mouse. Lokie was the next in line, my husband’s take on Chrono’s name was the god of War, so thus he named our ginger cat Lokie after the god of mischief. When we moved out to the country I finally got my desire to get my husky. My 3/4 Siberian Husky 1/4 German Sheppard cross, Seraphim, was named after an elite group of angels.

Winnie joined the family next, he was a farm cat that we got off of my mother-in-law, and came with the name. Arthas is named after the current World of Warcraft Expansion’s end boss, Arthas Menethil. Butterball was originally named Nympth after the cute little wood fairies, however seeing as we consistently called her butterball, for her rather round shape the name stuck as Butterball.

So as you see, a name can sprout from anywhere. Be it from inspiration from your favorite movie, down to the looks of your new friend feel free to allow your puppy’s name to be creative, and unique. After all they’re with you for 15 to 20 years, why not have something that stands out from the crowd?