How did you name your pets?

[IrishIroamed]

As I was pulling large thistles out of my garden yesterday it got me to thinking? Liz's Thistle is such a little cutie with a prickly name How did you name your pets or did they come with a name already?

I'll start:
Molly was originally Rosie at the shelter but it just didnt' fit her. After about a week, the name of Molly popped into my header and she had a new name. Molly=happy & fun to me.
Zorro was originally Oreck (like the vacumn) at the shelter, but seeing him immediately with the black mask on his eyes & face made me think of the the movies. Fits him too ~ all I know was that he was a stray and the shelter knew about him for 6 months but couldn't catch him. Zorro=mysterious (like his past).

[gingerK]

Oh where to begin? Buddy's reg. name is Bud No Wiser because as a pup he wasn't the smartest one of the litter. Jessa's name was Gun's JamochaJess because her father was named Top Gunner (Gun) and her mother was Jamocha Almond Fudge. Shooter's name was originally going to be New Shooter Coming Out because his father's name is Roll of the Dice but I changed it to Just Shoot Me Now because he's a lot of trouble! Tracker was named after a horse called Makin' Tracks; Mo was named Jim's Mopar Magnum (my son is a Mopar fanatic, it was his dog); Gun's registered name was Hunters Creek Top Gunner; Samantha and Molly were names we just liked at the time we named them; Duke came with his name and it fit him; Cocoa my son named because of her chocolate color. That's everyone going back over 30 yrs. Of course they all had nicknames-too many to list!

My two current rescue rabbits are Daisy (came with her name) and Petunia (to go with the flower named theme).

My horses are Cody (Mz Cody Bar Moore) and Tank because he looked long and lean like an oil tank car when I got him and my best friend wanted to name him "Bob"-NOT! (his real name is Robin Hood's Loot and they used to call him "Kingfish"-ugh!)

[mitch5252]

..
Abby got her name because George wouldn't let me name her Chloe or Zoe or Fleas.
..

[avalen]

usually it just gets picked for how it sounds and rolls off my tongue...however, Bandit came with his name and it stuck as
he was such a thief and if you were missing something, it would always end up hidden under my pillow. Pixie came with
her name and it stuck too cause she was so tiny. Gracie..well she was just as graceful as could be and I picked it because
the name rolled off my tongue nicely and she seemed to like it. Miss Maggie was a foundling and that name just popped
into my head that day and so she became Miss Maggie, Maggie for short. It didn't take but a couple days for her to like
her name.
Other dogs over the years, black lab was Ashley and she came with that name but I got the cocker spanial who was also
solid black and therefor to match the theme of the black dog, she was named Cinder.

[Acadianmom]

Our cats usually don't get a name until they go to the vet. The vet's office is big on names. lol Some of their names just seen to fit like Annie. Possie was kind of mousy grey when we found her as a kitten and my DH said she looked like a possum. She is now a gray calico. My son named Stinky and Pinky. Pinky has a pink nose. I named the two white kittens Snowball and Frosty because that's all I could think of when I brought them to the vet. Orange Boy is a orange tabby. His sisters are Gray and Hollywood. My DH named Hollywood because she is the color of the old Hollywood Gold horses. Gypsy is a long haired gray cat that is probably kin to Annie. They look alike. Ginger is kind of a tannish gray. Nicky is a tall, lanky gray cat. A couple of years ago we had 4 brothers that were 3 orange and white and 1 black and white. I named them Sylvester, Huey, Dewy and Louie. Dewy got hit on the road and Sylvester disappeared. Samantha is a black and white cat that I call Sammy. Zorro is a black and white that has black around his eyes so looks like he has a mask. Sweetie Pie is gray with white feet. I named the gray and white kitten I found in my rose bed Bitsy when I brought her to the clinic but now I usually call her Sissy. My DH said we couldn't have anymore cats so when a black and white kitten showed up I named him Zero. He had to have been someone's pet because he is so lovable. There is a long haired gray tom cat that I call Wild Boy. He's the only one that hasn't been neutered. I could probably catch him in a trap but we don't have any females that haven't been spayed.

My DH is worse about names than I am. We had 4 dogs named Jeff and 2 named Hank.

Martha

[SoCalGalcas]

My Casey did not have a name at the shelter. Casey just popped into my head. Suits her. Zipper was already named by the family who previously owned her. I usually just call her kitty. Lyn

[sharon]

Chewy was gonna be Pita (pain in the a**) and then she just looked more and more like Chewbaca....I keep thinking if I had given her a girly name maybe she wouldn't be such a Pita! All of my cats have been named Sam...male or female. That way I don't get confused. At one time we had 3 cats named Sam...Drove the vet nuts! LOL!




And then she grew into her ears...

[monik7]

Everyone of my animals got their name as soon as I saw them and a name popped into my head. I've never taken time to pick a name. Once a name pops into my head, that just has to be their name. I've had so many animals and the naming process has always been the same (Except for my horse Reno. She came with her name at age 3). Currently I have my dogs Krissi Marie and Abby (Abigail Elizabeth), and my cat Amy Elizabeth.
Sandi

[IrishIroamed]

Love the stories and finally - a pic of Chewy!

Mitch - totally understand George not letting you name Abby what you wanted. I had schnauzer pup (from a girl from work's litter) that was born without a tail. Mom wouldn't let me name him Keester. Geez don't know why not.

Sandi - I always said if I got another horse it's name would be Reno (mom's maiden name - I've known too many Nevada's )

[Bethers]

Peaches got named because I rescued her in Georgia. The rescue was calling her Vixen. I refused to keep that - and went through all kinds of names having anything at all to do with Georgia and she came straight to me when I looked and said Peaches - so named her Peaches and Cream - shortened to Peaches. Sometimes Peachy Keen, and if I'm mad at her, she hears the full original name lol

Moxie and Tips - Moxie got her name because she was a little spitfire. Tips got named by my brother-in-law before anyone knew we'd adopt him. He was in the shelter, lonely, big puppy - black with white tips and my bil immediately called him Tips. When we got home and my ex couldn't stop talking about that "Tips" puppy - well, we called, went back and the name had stuck.

Could give the names and reasons going back further - briefly last two cats - Misha, because he was graceful and Popcorn, self-explanatory - she would eat the entire bowlful off the stuff if it was left out.

[BayouLady]

Gypsy, blk lab mix, after a Stevie Nicks song
Chloe, cocker mix, after the perfume
Alexis, lab/rott, short for Alexandra, which means protector, nickname is Drama Queen
Beckam, dobie, named by his prior owner and since he did have a good life, I couldn't see changing it. Usually just call him Beck, also known as Pigpen and if you seen the amount of dirt he can bring in, you'll see why lol

Absolutely love the name Pita, I'll have to keep that one in mind

[dpf]

DH and I bought our first Boston before we had children (B.C.) She was so tiny that she fit in my coat pocket and of course she had that funny little pugged face. Hence we decided to call her Munchkin after Oz…her AKC registered name was Cihak’s Munchkin…..she ended up being called Munch. Our second Boston was acquired after children. We had just returned from a trip to Disneyland when we got her and the boys decided they wanted to name her Tinkerbelle. Which was quickly reduced to Tinker and then Tink. When Tink was about eight years we decided that she needed some company to keep her young. So we started searching for another female Boston and found one about 30 miles from home. This time the name game was a little more difficult. I wanted to name her Gilda after Gilda Radner. The rest of the family wasn’t impressed and they wanted another Munchkin. They won and her AKC name is Cihak’s Munchkin Too. But when her personality started immerging it was quite evident that the name didn’t fit her and she wasn’t going to be the docile little cuddly dog that the boys remembered Munch 1 had been. She was hell on wheels…in to everything, a chewer, (ruined three pair of my glasses and we have the record for replacing the most football pads at the school) just plain naughty….a true Boston Terrorist. Whenever she was in trouble she would hide under the bed….she spent a lot of time under the bed. To top it off when her ears started standing up they were huge and one of our friends always said they looked like two radar dishes planted on her head. She always knew what was going on everywhere in the house especially if someone opened a potato chip bag or a carton of ice cream, nothing got by her. The boys and I started calling her Radar (MASH) and that’s what everyone else calls her, except for DH who still calls her Munchkin but she answers to both. She’s 13 now…she’s still a little naughty.

[retiredhappy]

Sassy was named by the SPCA where I got her. She was a talker and really "sassed" you.

Buddy was named by my daughter. He was just a big, sweet Buddy.

When I found Sophie, the name just seemed to fit her. Popped in my head.

At the SPCA they named Baxter "Rafiki" after the monkey king in the Disney movie Lion King. Somehow Baxter just seemed to fit him. It was a toss up between Baxter and Bailey but he came to Baxter.

[OutandAbout]

Tasha - Dobie- was named after Natasha (and Boris) from Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Velvet - Shepherd - named after t he material. I was wearing velvet and the dog felt just as soft.

currently:
Sandy - was named by the people that gave us to her. She loved her name and happily always came when called. No need to change it.
Ozzy - Chi/Pug mix was named after Ozzy Osborne, because he fell asleep when Ozzy's music was playing in the car on the way home.
Cooper - Ozzy's sister - was named after Anderson Cooper, my niece had a crush on him.
Trent was named after a cartoon figure that resembled a lead singer in the group Savage Garden.

[snowball]

When I got Shadow from the shelter his name was Jake he didn't seem to be a Jake nor did he seem to know it
so as we were driving to her house my sister asked me what I was going to name him...at that moment we passed a street by the name of
Shadow...so I said Shadow...and he is and he knows his name when he wants to
sheila