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Pet names are interesting.

I always wonder what inspires people to give their pets the names they do. 

Is it the way a pet looks?

Where the pet came from?

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Are they naming it after someone famous?

Does the name have meaning in a foreign language?

Or what about theme names for multiple pets such as Smith & Wesson, Abbot & Costello, Ike & Tina, Franks & Beans, Penny & Loafer.  I could go on and on.   There is even a woman who has named her pups after every spice in her cupboard.  That’s a lot of dogs.

However, my area newspaper just published a list of the most popular names for male and female dogs and cats. 

Amazingly, I thought the names were pretty normal, straight-forward and solid pet names.  In other words, nothing unusual.

It made me realize I don’t know anyone with a dog or a cat with one of these names.  So much for popularity.  Or do I just not know enough people?

Anyway here the list…

Male Dogs        
1. Max                  
2. Buddy              
3. Rocky   

Female Dogs
1. Lady
2. Princess
3. Molly

Male Cats  
1. Tiger
2. Max
3. Smokey

Female Cats
1. Princess
2. Lucy
3. Bella

I have always named my pets by the way they looked.

I had a short-legged mutt who I swear was always smiling.  He was named Sparky for his magnetic personality and aura.  

I had another mutt, Raisin, that was part Shar-pei.  She was named for her many wrinkles. 

Then there was my pure bread Shar-pei named Wrigley.  He was wrinkly to the extreme for his breed.  So much so he needed plastic surgery to remove a lot of the extra skin on his head.  This extra skin caused his eyes to close constantly.  It was so sad.  He was named after Wrigley gum due to all the skin stretchiness. 

Then along came my Chow Chow named Yogi.  Yes, he looked like a bear.

Anyway, do any of you have or know anyone who have named their pets with these “popular names”?

I think I know more kids with these names than animals.         

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Comments

  1. what a boring list they’ve published! you’ve gotta have fun with pet-naming–go for things you’d secretly like to name your children but wouldn’t dare. 🙂 for example, we have horses named pharaoh and duchess (because they’re so regal, obviously) and cats named fatticus (he’s obese) and maximus (so is she). 🙂

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  2. I don’t anyone who has pets with those names!

    We didn’t name our cat when we adopted her…she was named Callie and was 6 months old so we stuck with that name, but changed the spelling to Cali as in the LL Cool J song “I’m Goin’ Back To Cali” cos we’re from California and lame like that.

    I agree…you have to name your pet something that has to do with their personality. My mother-in-law has a cat that makes no noise when he meows so his name is Whisper. My husband had a dog growing up named Shamrock who was an Irish setter. See? Giving names that have to do with the animal. Makes sense to me.

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  3. I know or have known a Max, Buddy, Lady, Tiger and Smokey.

    I use “people” names for my pets – as an adult anyway:

    Jake, Zack, Karl, Gus, Bob. I didn’t name Bob, my current cat… but he fits in the lineup!

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  5. I’ve seen all the male dog names and some of the female dog names, the cat names are just silly.

    Our critters, Grendal (Norse mythology, Grinder in german seemed fitting for a doberman) Luna (husky looks like a wolf, seemed fitting for a wolf-like dog) Nemesis (reaction from one of the dogs, the cat is his ‘nemesis’) Pepsi (after the soft drink), Deli & Snaks (two ferrets, again the reaction of the dog)

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  6. I guess those are some pretty common pet names, but I’m with you. They have to match the pet. Right now we have Dora (the exploring dog), Noelle (the white cat who came at Christmas) and Cupid (colorful parrot)!

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  7. While at a remote fishing spot with my parents, when I was about 5 years old, a stray cat came up wanting shrimp and fish scraps. My mom had fixed sandwiches for us to eat, and as kids will do, I stripped my sandwich of the lettuce and threw it out for that cat. He proceeded to eat the lettuce, which I thought was something that cats would never do. I named that cat “stupid” and after begging my father’s permission to take the cat home with me, he became my very first pet, and that name stuck with him. We also found a dog at Howard Johnson’s Motel, and adopted him and named him Ho-Jo after that location. I could go on and on because I had multiple pets, but always the names of my pets had a hidden meaning behind them. I live in an area called “Indian Beach”, so my next pet will have an Indian name for sure. “Warrior” or “Apache”, or maybe even “Pocohontas”. Whichever suits the pet.

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  8. My step-kids have a cat named Lucy. The kitten they got a while later was named “Little Ricky” until the German Shepard (Cody) started carrying Ricky around in his mouth, then Ricky’s name changed to “Sticky”

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  9. Well, I’m guilty of both I guess. Interesting names and people names..
    Currently..Lily and Lucy are the dogs.
    Lily is a great Pyr and Lucy has a sketchy background..cats are Xena the Warrior Princess,CharleyHart named after a friend and the cat has a heart shaped area of dark fur on her white tummy and last but certainly not least is TrickiWoo. He’s a gorgeous bulls eye tabby named after a spoiled rotten Pekingnese from All Creatures Great and Small book by James Herriott.

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  10. Jennifer – I have a cat names LucyB (I won’t tell you what the “B” is for)but she is at least 22 years old – a calico. Who knows what I was thinking 22 years ago?
    Then I have 3 other cats: Mr Mitchell (after a man I used to work with), Snoopy (odd – named by the next door neighbor), and Tess Turbo Two ( my other Tess wandered away and I still miss her!)

    ~Mad(elyn) in Alabama
    http://www.xanga.com/madewyn

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  11. Unfortunately I can’t tell you how many people tell me they know a dog named Molly. My husband once introduced me to one of the deans in his college (a notorious bitch) and she calmly said “Molly, isn’t that a dogs name?” and then sauntered off. Seriously, this was my first encounter with this woman, so it wasn’t like she had anything personal against me.

    Anyway, we have a Golden named Bailey because of her creamy color and our love for the liqueur.

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  12. I know a couple of male dogs named Rocky, a couple of male cats named Max, and my childhood cat’s name was Tiger. My brother named him. I always try to stay away from names that someone would name a child. Of course, I wasn’t so smart when I named my first dog Kirra…didn’t know it was a popular name. Oh well!

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  13. Nope. Never had any pets with those names. We started a trend of naming our pets after gods. We’ve had Bacchus, Cronus, Pandora, Icarus…
    But it all ended with our last kitty because I named him Leonardo Di Catrio because it fit better. 🙂

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  14. Hmmm , I don’t know. lets see…
    I have a 16 yr old niece named Mollie, and my cousin has two cats – Bella and Lugosi:))
    As for my pets, I have a chug named Cooper ( chihuahua /pug mix) and a corgi mix named Cher ( I did not name either of them – they were rescue dogs).
    My bird now is named Judy, her mate was Charlie ( we named them after the movie The Santa Clause because they were my Christmas presents two years ago)…
    And since I like horror movies ( older ones, not the blood/guts/and gore ones of recent history), my other bird, who was called Renni for short, was actually named Renfield, after Dracula’s psycho sidekick or minion, take your choice.
    Have a great weekend!

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  15. Manlove’s Pomp ‘n Circumstance – dog, orange Belton English Setter

    Alexender Wollcott – The Cat who Came to dinner – cat alley

    George S. Kaufman and Dorthy Parker, Alexender’s kitten (we got their sexes wrong as well).

    Adlai Stevenson, cat alley – Adlai was an Illinois Govenor who vetoed a cat leash law ‘It is not in the nature of a cat to be on a leash’.

    Ulysess cat, alley Tom

    Harold Ross, probabal son of Ulysess – founder of the New Yorker

    Roger Grimsby, NY newscaster usually found in a bar across the street – he looked like he had a buzz on.

    Current residents
    James Beard and Julia Child.

    and a local who tried to move in
    Escoffier

    Harold Ross cat,

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  16. We did have a dog that was a smokey, and we also had a dog named sparkey.. Like you, all our pet names have to do with their personalities…
    That list of popular names must be for the downtown city set… We have tons of animals (ranch life and kids!), here is our current list (current because critters come and go around here!):
    Cats:
    Mouse
    Rosie
    Teeny Tiny Tiger Toes (he has double toes)
    Dogs:
    Patchie
    Poncho
    Flash
    Maggie
    Ernest
    Lefty
    Louie
    Annie
    Happy
    Guard Dog:
    Jessie
    Horses:
    Blackie
    Doc
    Toby
    Danny
    Llamas:
    Zoe
    Shelby
    Buckaroo
    Clueless
    Lambs:
    Layla
    Timmy
    Groucho
    Badger
    Max
    Spot
    Bandit
    Robin Hood

    So, there you have it. The official rural popular pet names

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  17. I know of a Molly and that’s it from the list. I know a lot of “Dukes”–I’m surprised that name didn’t make the cut!

    I have had Italian greyhounds for years and I have tried to give them Italian names. I ones I actually named were Monte and Cosmo. Then we got some from the Rescue and they (unfortunately) came w/ names–Hazel and Petey. Hazel’s a pretty good name though it ruins my Italian theme and I don’t like Petey on a dog at all. I also had a Chihuahua named Carlotta.

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  18. robin hood…i like that one.
    i have a friend who named their pug lucy (lucy in the sky with diamonds).
    my pug is eleanor (eleanor rigby). my cat’s name is jude. big beatles fans here.
    i actually read in a book you shouldn’t give a dog a name that is only one syllable. they won’t recognize it or something like that.

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  19. No… although we used to have a female dog named princess when I was a girl. She came with that name though… we rescued her from a shelter.

    I named my dogs dorky names… Madeline Louise or Maddie. Cassie’s full name is Sweet Dreams of Cassiopeia.

    Our twin cats that we rescued have very unusual names… Boy and Girl.

    After reading this, I think we must suck at naming pets.

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  20. One of our cats was named Smokey after a cat I had when I was a little girl. Dh’s folks had a Lab named Lady when he was a kid. Dd has named one of the new kittens Princess. Other dd says that isn’t the name.

    I prefer more unusual names for animals. Bear, the Australian Shepherd I mentioned yesterday, is probably our pet with the most boring name. We named him that because he looked like a bear cub when he was a pup. Dd’s horse is Apache because I thought an Indian name would be good and dh and dd thought it would be funny to call her that because she’s a Paint and therefore a patchy horse. (Smacking forehead here.)

    Other pets we have or have had:
    Thor – Rottweiler
    Annabelle (Belle for short, changed from previous owner’s Jezebel) – English Springer Spaniel
    Hamish Fergus Madadh (say Ma-dug)- Westie
    Bocephus (Bo for short)- Bloodhound
    Brave “Scout” Coulter – German Shorthair
    Sheba – pygmy goat (because she baaas and she’s black)
    Monty – Ball Python

    Cats (*for those named by someone else)
    Esperanza
    Bandida (calico with black mask)
    Luna/Ginger (kids argued over name)
    *Mr. Bojangles (Bo for short)
    *Toby
    Oreo
    Smokey
    Hercules
    Diego
    Alejandro
    Puerco (has a piggy nose)
    Galleta (We thought we were naming this white cat “cracker”, but the Mexicans that work w/dh say it’s more like a cookie.)
    Zapatilla
    *Sebo (supposedly short for Sebastian)
    *Baby Girl
    *Twinkle Toes
    *Sassy
    Jocelyn
    Ulrich von Lichtenstein
    Lancelot
    Sophia
    Isabella
    Guinevere
    I know I’m missing some cats we’ve had. They come and go a lot out here. We currently have 13. I do not like the names the kids insisted on for the two recent litters of kittens. We should have stuck with Spanish names.

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  21. I do, I do…My girlfriend Sabrina and her husband have a girl cat named Lucy. I have never heard a cat named Lucy before…and I love it. I find it odd that it is a popular cat name.

    We named our dog (female): Phoebe
    and our cat (female): Bailey.

    I love the name Bailey for a girl…but because I named our cat that, I can never name a future daughter it.

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  22. Very interesting post. Makes me truly worry about some people, lol. We once had 3 cats named Eagle, Birdie & Bogey, when we lived by a golf course. My only cat now is named Trouble. Don’t ever name a cat Trouble. You’re just asking for it, lol.

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  23. princess…twice?! I hope the kids named the pet because in my opinion, its sort of a lame name. Oh wait, we once had a cat named princess, but she was adopted so we didn’t want to change her name. How did I forget?!

    Have you seen the commercial where the guy calls his pet Mr. Barky Von Schnauzer? Makes me laugh as some of my friends have given their pets silly names as well that are not conducive to calling out commands!

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  24. When my son brought home his dog, he told us her name was Stella. I asked him why he named her that. He said, “You know mom, A Streetcar Named Desire?” I was very impressed until I realized his friend was snickering away. Friend then said “Yeah right, try to impress your mom. Now tell her the name of your favorite beer!” (sigh)

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  25. Don’t know anyone with those names… everyone in Santa Barbara always named everything (even kids)with something unique. Amazing too, because I remember going into my daughters kindergarten class and seeing the kids cubbies and thinking.. wow kindergarten is hard enough nowadays, how are they supposed to spell their names on their worksheets correctly?

    Anyway, my dog is a small Boston Terrier with BIG dog attitude so his name is appropriately, Spike chosen by my kids. Everyone that meets him laughs because he’s definitely a “spike”. Common, yes, but so well suited!

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  27. My dog’s name is actually Max. We knew it was popular, and we originally named him Rambo (because he was spotted and looked camouflaged) but it just didn’t fit. Max was the only name that sounded right, and just fit. And I wouldn’t change it now. Although we do have a lot of nicknames for him, so those are usually what we call him by.

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  28. I, too, know more people with those names and most of the people I know who name their pets with those names are people I don’t think I would like to socialize with (but that is just my in life, I am sure there are a lot of lovely people who name their pets those names).

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  29. I know a lot of people who use food names for their pets. I don’t think this is intentional mind you, as they tend to go for the cutesy names like “Muffin” and “Cupcake” versus the more serious names like “Asparagus,” “Porterhouse” or “Tuna.” (Although I do happen to think “Porterhouse” would make a great name for a Rottweiler.)

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  30. I totally agree and we do the same.

    Although our sleek black cat is named Maxine (we thought it sounded like 1940’s pin-up–she’s that hot), we have another calico named Icky–when we found her she looked like Ichabod Crane, so skinny and disheveled and farty from eating street food–we though she was a he but then he was a she and was pregnant…the name icky just stuck.

    we also have a messy street cat friend my husband calls Scraggles.

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  31. I do not know anyone with those at pet names but Max is very popular for boys.

    We are inching towards a new addition to the family. It has taken me a very long time to come to terms with the loss of my Angel – My Rhodesian Ridgeback, Tess

    As soon as we get to that point we already have selected a name – Her name will be “Harley” – after our Harley Davidson!!

    Cheers
    Cathy
    http://www.wheresmydamnanswer.com

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  32. We went to a rescue and picked a beagle-mix. They were calling her “Beauty” and her brother “Beast.” We named her “Belle.” My brother has pug dogs named “Ginger and Mary Ann,” and cats named “Chairman Meow” and “Meow Se-Tung.

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  33. My own darlings are Little Eggplant (aka Leggy) & Amigo. Not sure I can really explain why. Leggy is dark like an eggplant but we had picked the name way before we actually went to get her at the shelter… same with Amigo actually. I guess that’s our thing. Naming the cat wayyy pre-adoption and referring to them as if they already exist. Of course both of them ended up being very suited to their names.

    I’ve known 2 cats named Buddy, one dog named Max, a smokey cat, a bella cat, and I know of a Molly dog actually too.

    Some cats I know not on the list: pixie, pinky, jasmine, indy, pumpkin & ginger (both orange), frank, mush, fluffy, lily, dusty, freida, rufus, butch, and the list goes on…

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  36. I don’t know anyone who has pets with those names either.

    My three cats:

    Kitin (he’s tiny – no other name ever worked!)

    Buuda (he’s the strangest cat ever – and so un-Buuda like. It just fits)

    Benedict Saddleback (he ran in through our front door on a morning when we had cooked up eggs benedict, and we adopted him. And he has an orange spot on his back that looks like a saddle)

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  37. We had a female miniature schnauzer who’s short name was Princess (long name: Andrew’s Little Princess). She passed away last summer. Our male miniature schnauzer is named Mac (Jacob MacGarrett Rainey) which everyone wants to mispronounce “Max”. Then our cat have been variously named:
    Pepper (all black female who was always getting pregnant)
    Salt (one of Pepper’s daughters who was as white as her mom was black)
    Sam (female calico who passed away in May)
    Tabitha “Tabby” (female calico that was my Mother’s Day present this year)

    We’ve had others who weren’t with us long that we gave “easy” names to such as Scheizen which we called this little kitten that would run so fast that we would exclaim “Scheizen!” when we would miss him.
    My mom has had cats named Mittens, a gray striped cat with white paws, and Spats, a male Siamese with white spots on his dark paws.

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  38. In my life, we’ve had a dog named Molly and a cat named Smokey. We currently have a cat named Penny Lane, named partly after the Beatles song and partly after the movie Almost Famous, which I highly recommend if you haven’t already seen it.

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  40. Can’t say that I’ve met too many animals with those names. Only close one is our black shep/lab mix Bella. Zac first wanted to call her bell because she was a Christmas gift … then he changed it to Isabella and Bella for short.

    We also have a Roxy (yellow lab) and she got that name because she’s got rocks in her head – definitely not the brightest – haha

    As a kid, we used to name our pets with Basque words – one was Goshua which I believe means precious. Oh and the poodle my Mom had they named Duke because my step-dad wanted a big dog. Mom figured a small dog with a big name was a good compromise.

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  41. Our current dog is Angus, named for the guitarist for AC/DC. Oddly the name fits his goofy and zany personality. We agonized over the name. I’m pretty sure, should we get another dog, he’ll be Malcolm, for the band’s bassist. Aging Metal-heads are funny that way.

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  42. Our cats are named Andrew Eugene (after NY Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte), Gretel Asparagus, George (from Looney Tunes cartoon), and Dudley (6 week old kitten abandoned at 10 days and who we weren’t sure was going to make it through the night). We also have dogs in the family named Morgun (Viking for Sea King), Dickon, Lambeau (for Green Bay field); cats named Henrietta, Aaron, Scobie, Princess Piglet, and Caspian; and parrots named Brooklyn (for the Brooklyn Dodgers), Humphrey, Merlin and Boswell. None of those boring names for us.

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  44. I grew up in a neighborhood with a German Shepherd named Lady– we’re talking the 70s. And I had a black Cockapoo (given to us by Omar Sharif–oooh ahhhh) named Tiger. That was the 60’s– so these list people are a little behind. OUr dog we left behind in the U.S. is Sparky. and he is.

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  45. We’ve had a German Shepherd named Molly, and my cousins had a cat named Smokey. those are both on your list.

    Current pets are two Corgis–Hamilton (Hammy to his friends, Ham to his very close pals) and Phoebe, two cats–Sasha and Jinx, and two parakeets–Lucky and Kiwi.

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  46. I know several dogs that are named Molly & Max. I also know lots of dogs named Roxie.

    My dog, Sadie, was a rescue that I renamed from her original name– Tequila. Yes her first owner’s named her after a liquor they obviously loved. Poor thing they abused her terribly and then turned her into the animal shelter when they were tired of her. (Thank goodness they at least turned her in rather than dumping her somewhere!) I named her Sadie because she was so sad when I first met her. I kept thinking–you are such a sad little girl. Sad Sadie came to mind. Of course I also know several Sadie’s but it fit her well and so much better than Tequila! Now of course, she’s “Princess” Sadie because she has totally forgotten her time as Tequila and is a very happy spoiled pooch!

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  47. I have a friend who has a cat named Bella. Other than that, I don’t know anyone who named their pets any of those names. My son named our dog, Chowder. I have no idea why, but when he was about 3 or 4 he wanted a black dog and he wanted to name it Chowder. So, now we have a black shepherd named Chowder. Our other dog is named Yara, but she already had that name when we adopted her. She was already about 8 months old, so I just kept her name.

    With the recent addition of the kittens, I had to go through the naming process. Again, my son named one of the kittens Stimpy, after Ren and Stimpy. I couldn’t name the other kitten Ren, as he is not a chihuahua. I finally decided on Leo (not so original, I know). He sure looks like a Leo to me though!

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  48. Currently residing in my house:

    MacGregor, buff and white cocker spaniel (rescued/epileptic) – came with the name and I liked it.

    Scruffy Doodle, red buff cocker spaniel (rescued, partially blind) – came with the name. I thought about changing it but it referred to his horrible case of mange he had just recovered from and, besides, he looks like a Scruffy.

    Shawna, buff cocker spaniel (rescued, blind) – her original foster’s son named her so I kept it.

    Kaydee, silver buff cocker spaniel (rescued, partially deaf) – he original owner was a child who died so we kept the name.

    Redford, red buff cocker spaniel (foster, arthritis, colitis) – He’s an old gentleman and his hair is exactly the color Robert Redford’s was when he was younger.

    Skipper, black cocker spaniel (foster, hypercrazy lol) – He was an owner surrender to the shelter and that was his name. He knows it so we kept it.

    Desdemona, grey and white domestic shorthair cat – When I adopted her I had a black moor goldfish I had named Othello. Those of you who know Shakespeare will get the irony. 🙂

    Hecate, black manx cat (probably not purebred but has no tail) – Hecate is the Greek goddess of childbirth and the wilderness as well as being seen as the spirit of crossroads. Something facing three ways at once sure fits well in this house.

    Yes, I do animal rescue. 🙂

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  50. I can’t stand those “common” pet names! Seriously, people, get creative!!! I’ve known a dog named Molly, and a couple of dogs named Bella. Cute, but still, not original. I named my cat Dexter after the cartoon “Dexter’s Laboratory” because he was obviously such a smart kitten. The name fits him PERFECTLY! I am a bit bummed to find that there are other cats with his name though. *pout* My other cat is named Chloe…it just seemed to suit her. 🙂

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  52. Molly is my Grandma’s cats name

    Cats I used to have:

    Smith and Jones (twin cats named after the old TV show)

    Heathcliff (named after the cat in the cartoon)

    Current Cat:

    Toaster (NOT named after the appliance…she’s a 16 year old orange tabby that someone originally said to name “cinnamon toast”…which was to long and I decided Toaster worked better. She goes by “Toastie” a lot!

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  53. Had a collie names Princess, and a German Shepparf named Copain (which is French for Buddy). Our cat is named Tobi, from the Japanese term meaning to jump, because when we got him he would jump from my arms to Hubby’s shoulder!

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  54. Oh yeah, max, buddy, lady, and princess are dogs that I have met on a regular basis. I was surprised that “Jake” didn’t make the list. Or “Daisy.” If I had a nickel for everytime my first introductions with someone included, “Oh, I used to have a ____ named Daisy!” [insert dog, cat, horse, gerbil, iguana, chipmunk – you name, I’ve probably heard it.]

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  56. Hmmmm, let’s see. Max. My BIL’s dog is Max. I’ve heard lots of dogs called Buddy, but I don’t personally know any Buddy (ha!). And I almost called a cat Rocky; we had two male kittens from the same litter and we considered calling them Rambo and Rocky. But we didn’t.

    When I was a little girl, my great-uncle, a farmer, had a collie named Lady (I so loved that dog) and a girlfriend had a german shepherd called Lady. Molly and Princess? Never known any.

    I have a friend who has a cat called Tigger? Does that count as Tiger? And I had a cat named Smokey, a grey one (gee, what a surprise), but it was a girl. And I did have a cat named Lucy; she was named such because she bitched and squawked all the time, like Lucy in the Peanuts cartoon. Princess and Bella? Nope, don’t know any pets by those names. People either, for that matter.

    The first pets I remember having were two ducklings I got as an Easter present when I was about 7 or 8. I named them Donald and Daisy. I loved them. One day, they were gone. My grandmother (I lived with my grandparents at the time) said they were too much work. I found out, a little while later, that THEY WERE GIVEN TO A FRIEND OF THEIRS TO …. EAT! Yes, Donald and Daisy became the blue plate special. Was it traumatic? Um, yes……

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  57. Um, our pets always get more than one name. Kitty aka “little girl”, Chubby aka “pisspot”, Little Man aka “maggot” and last but not least I insisted our baby had a normal name….Peabody (who I just lost)No idea how we came up with Peabody, it just “fit” him somehow. We started out calling him Mr. Peabody and gradually grew to Peabody – however, Grumpy would call him sh*thead once and a while. Grumpy nicknamed the cats – can you tell? Gotta love his terms of endearment. Even I have a nickname – BUZZARD!

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  58. Those are ultra boring names!

    Six months ago, we picked out a pup from a litter of six, born on X-mas Day. I went to a name your dog site, and the only name that jumped out at me was Flynn, he felt like a flynn to me. Flynn is Irish, he is redish in color, with beautiful green eyes. So, i chose his name by his looks and personality, he`s a little devil too, well a big devil, he`s about 60 pounds now and still growing.

    We named our black cat nappy….that`s all she does.

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  59. We have a dog next door named Bella.

    Our cats: Scraps – because I was reading a book on scrap quilting at the time. And Smudge – because his coloring is sort of smudged. We keep it simple here!

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  60. I know nobody who uses common names anymore. I thought my name choices were the most common – a Llasa Apso named Pokey (after Pokey little puppy), a female Shih Tzu named SukYee (pronouned suk-ee)and a male named Casey just ‘cuz my ex wanted to name him Banjo and I was horrified to think that a dog would go through life with a dumbass name like banjo. Why banjo??? he thought the breeders looked like someothing right out of Deliverance and the only thing missing was a banjo – just shoot me now.

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  61. Nope, no cats or dogs with those names. Our first cat’s name was Woodstock (yes, about that time when we had her); the second cat was Poofer – big black male.
    Current cat is Alyssa. Two of our kids had cats when they were still in the nest: oldest son – male: large black and white male: Psycho, and daughter: Siamese female named Nuno.

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  63. Lady would be the most common name for a female dog here. I use to have a dog named Sparky, he would smile just like a human being would. He was extremly active as he used to disappear for a day or two and then come back.

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  65. Our first cat was aptly named by the previous owner, Scampi because he was such a scamp. My daughter named our second cat Peaches because he was an orange Tabi. Not such a regal name for a male cat but he was my daughters:D

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  67. My first cat as a married woman was a Tiger. Because my husband’s first cat looked just like him and he was a Tiger. Our most recent cat is Lou.

    Our dogs came to us named (rescue) – Flash and Patches. Not names I would have chosen. 🙁

    We’ve had a Wilbur, Ernie, Thomas, Clee-o, Clive (he was a bird), Nuprin and Gershwin, amongst others.

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  69. You know, I have never had the chance to name a pet until my kitten last July came along…the others have all been rescues with names already firmly ingrained in their little brains. I have a Roxy, a Raven, Loca, Princess and my Voodoo. Although, I confess, when I had my fish I did have Dolce and Gabbana. And Fendi. *giggles* I need a Merlot though, hmmm…wonder what new animal I can get. A pig, maybe…

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  70. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one of these common names either, go figure. I’m not sure I can speak to how my wife and I named our dogs though…somehow it just happened *shrugs* (Siena and Orion)

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  71. When I got my then-kitten off the street, she was a scrawy five pounds and looked like a gray tabby supermodel, strutting around with her bony hips.

    Her name, then, had to bring her back to earth. And that’s how Ms. Pac-Man came about.

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  75. If I ever have a pet cat, I will name it The Reverend Dimmesdale. If I ever have a second cat, I will name it Philastus Hurlbut. But I don’t plan on having any cats.

    The only pet name on your list that I have known is Lucy. Lucy was an enormous great dane pup at a campground I worked at one summer.

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  76. I had a Princess when I was about 8….she was a ginger colored cocker spaniel….soo pretty she was my princess..

    My BIL and SIL had a dog named Lady once….

    I have had dogs named….Peanut, Snoopy, Susie, Shaunna, Blaze,

    And we currently have a black lab named Licorice

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  78. I’ve had Kit, Koko, Tucker, Last Chance (so named by the shelter), a Pepsi (named by ex), a Tabitha, just lost Lucky and Cheerios. Currently have Hazel; daughter named her for her hazel eyes. I tend to call her Hazelnut.

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  79. We kept the name our first cat came with – Q-Tip – because it fit so well. He had a pouff of white fur at the very end of his brown tail. Our other cat is Miss Cleo – I am not really sure how that came to be other than the fact that we had to have a name before we took her to the vet and that was the name that stuck.

    My parents have a dog named Sammy – named by my Grandmother who was 93 at the time.

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  80. Nope! No popular names for me!

    We have a dog named Chester and two cats, Alex and Biscuit.

    Chester was named by Rob – when I showed him the picture of Chester on Petfinder.com, Rob said, “If we get that dog, we’ll have to change his name to CHESTER!” (it was originally Chad). I have no idea what logic he used, but the name fits.

    Alex and Biscuit got their names at random, really. Alex is a sweetheart that I got when I was in college, so at the time I was very concerned with giving him a name that was not shared by any human boy that I’d dated or had a crush on. Biscuit was named because he’s basically a ball of dough that I love, much like actual biscuits. Except I would never eat my cat.

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  81. I have 2 rescue dogs, both pre-named, bubba and diamond (not really my choice, but, they fit). bubba is a pit mix and diamond is an american bulldog.

    i just found a kitten and decided she needed a fancy name. she ended up princess petunia poopie pants, or, petunia for short:) she is a cute little brown tabby.

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  82. Pet names are fun! I love coming up with names for my pets. Those on that list may be common, but there not so much fun (my aunt has a dog named Buddy & he really is her Buddy!)

    Right now we have a cat named Porkchop. That’s a huge jump from my hub’s fave cat name – Jack (we had 2 of them). Our last cat was called Wowie. Only because when Dew was little, he couldn’t pronounce Ollie.

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  83. I have to add – cause I forgot. When I was growing up we had a huge orange tabby named Fred. We found a sweet small stray calico beauty & mom asked me if she was a Wilma or a Ginger. She was a Ginger.

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  84. My brother in law had a dog named Max but it was the name he was given by the previous owner. We always take a vote and name our animals with the one most agreed upon….Rowdy, Jasper, Jay, Stripes, Harold, just to name a few.

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  85. My brother and I loved naming all our pets. My favourite was a hermit crab that had a very graffiti looking shell – we named him Fruit Loop. There was also the HUGE furry grey cat named Fuzzball, the tiny white kitten who pured like a Harley, and was thus named so, and, of course, the big black monster cat who loved to catch, decapitate, and present us with the bats he managed to get in the backyard – Batcat.
    My best friend growing up always named her cats Lucky, and they almost always died about 5 months into her having them. It was so sad – just pick a new name!

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  86. I know I am WAY late on this one but I just read it and I have two cats. A female cat named Bella and a male cat originally named Tiger who we got from the pound but we renamed him Tigger. I didn’t realize how very boring and uncreative I was until just now. =(

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