January 7, 2011 Pet Names

Over the last 25 years that Frank and I have had pets, we’ve named them under themes.  We had our American Indian Tribe period (cats Modoc, Miwok, and Yurok and our dogs Siskiyou and Klamath); and we’re currently in our California Place Names period (cats Nevada and Sierra, and dogs Tahoe and Frisco).  Today at lunch we discussed what our next pet name theme will be.  We discussed the possibility of Lord of the Rings (Frodo, Gandalf, and Bilbo are all excellent pet names) or minerals (Kaolin. Feldspar, or Galena all have a nice ring to them).  I’m actually pushing for Biblical names.  There are some doozies out there that are just underused.  Yes, yes, yes, there are plenty of Matthews, Marks, Lukes, and Johns, but what about Achzib (one who runs), Laish (which means lion and would be great for a cat), or Ragau (friend).    Or how about Nobah (to bark or yelp), Tarea (howling), or Tob (goodness).  These are all great and under-used biblical names.

Here in the U.S., the Number 1 pet name is Max.  Number 2 is Tigger, and Number 3 is Jake.  These are all excellent pet names. People seem to name their pets based on 4 categories:

1.       Those that give their animals names that would be fit for humans (e.g. Jake or Sam, which is Number 9 on the pet name popularity list). 

2.       Those that prefer more typical pet names for their pets, such as “Kitty,” which is Number 10 or “Buddy,” which is Number 5 on the list. 

3.       Those that go for the more unusual names, such as our neighbor who named his dog Mokelumne—Mokie for short (after the river) and us (we named our dog Klamath, for crying out loud!)  Neither of these names will ever be found on a Popular Pet Name list.

4.       Finally, there are those people that wait until they know the personality of their pet before they name it.  Had we done this, our cat, Sierra would have been Pounce, our cat Nevada would have been Bitch, our dog Tahoe would be Lickatron, and our dog Frisco would be either Stink Wad or Sir Stinksalot (although our nephew Matt calls him Nutsack).

A psychologist could probably tell a lot about a person based on what they name their pets (or their children).  Could pet naming become a type of inkblot test?