Pet names v. human names JMO

ant8355

I really hate when people say, "my dog's name is such and such, so I would never name my baby that!!!" Well quit naming your pets human names people!! Lol. Unless somebody names their baby Spot, Fluffy, Rascal, Killer, Skeeter, Bobo, Rowdy (I know people do), Miss Kitty, Boots, etc....it's probably a human name someone has used as a pet name, not the other way around!!! Just wanted to throw that out there b/c I see people saying that all the time on here and i really don't get it. Also, I apologize if I have offended any of Spot's or Fluffy's parents.

MandyWes

lol, my dogs are Ben and Luke. Stupid really now that I think about it because I love those names for boys. However, I definitely associate certain names with dogs because I know a ton of Baileys, Rileys, etc that are Labs and Golden Retrievers. I don't tell people not to use them but I personally wouldn't since I only think of dogs. Just sayin'.

 

ant8355

Lol, that's funny. I can't picture using any of those names for pets myself but the only one's i've ever heard for pets are Molly and Joe. I just find it interesting, not trying to offend anyone. BUT I'd much rather see a little boy named Charlie than a dog...to each their own!!

capulet

I've known a couple of people with cats named Lucy and it's one of my favorite girl names.

Bailey is the one I can't get past - I've known at least one dog named Bailey.  It's also the last name/maiden name of several of my cousins.  So it just seems weird to me as a first name for both reasons - although I guess if one of my (female) cousins had used it as a first name for her kid, that wouldn't seem so odd to me.

SnoopyLuv

I get what you're saying, but it's not like I'm always going to say "Oh your son's name is Jack? That's my cats name!"

It just stops me from being able to name any of my babies Jack, Maggie or Luigi (Louie) because they were my pets.

I agree that Bailey and Riley are total dogs names. My parent's dog was Bailey. I think that is one of the worst names for a little girl.

aggie1983

My dog's name is Barnaby......but I don't think I have to worry about anyone wanting to name their child that anytime soon

ant8355

aggie1983:

My dog's name is Barnaby......but I don't think I have to worry about anyone wanting to name their child that anytime soon

LOVE it

ant8355

I get what you're saying, but it's not like I'm always going to say "Oh your son's name is Jack? That's my cats name!"

 

You might not, but there are some people that would! Lol...btw, Love Josie!!

CurlyFry16

I have a friend who named her dog Ada, which just happened to be one of my favorite names for years (it is a character from one of my favorite books, actually spelled Adah). Now, DH won't even consider it because he thinks all our friends will relate our child to the dog. It drives me nuts!!

hopedbell87

Our dogs are Lecter and Kubrick. I really hope none of our friends decide to name their children that. We had a dog growing up named Heidi, but I've never known a Heidi.

Ashnmike528

I really shot myself in the foot with this one.  Our cat's name is Hannah (because I love that name) but now that we are older and having kids, I really would love to use it for a daughter, but I can't!  We got her before we were married so kids weren't even on the radar then. boo!

jfischer1115

YES! Thank you! We're thinking about naming a girl Penelope and calling her Penny, but our cousins have a dog named Penny.  I shouldn't have to give up a name because their hyperactive poodle couldn't be called Curly Sue.

Moandsweetpea

I know!! I know about 4 different people who have dogs named Maggie and then I have a BF and cousin named Maggie as well. It always cracks me up. We have two dogs, one with what I consider a dog name Skipper (even though I have met an adult man named Skip) and then our other dog is Neala which I think would actually be a pretty girls name, not that I'm considering it.

I think my favorite human pet name is what my BF Maggie named her female dog...Larry. Don't ask me why, but it just fits.

BrideBuddies

Pets come and go a lot faster than humans.  I wouldn't worry about it.

FWIW, my neighbor just named her daughter Chloe.  My cat's name is Chloe.  I doubt my ancient kitty will be living long enough to really meet the human one.

tinkerfly81

I have always wanted to name a boy Titus- well dh always that Titus would be a great dogs name.  We did toss the name around for this little one but if we did decide to name him Titus we would never tell him that dh orginally wanted that for a dog

bncmommy

My DD's name is Bailey and I absolutely love it. I have wanted to use Bailey for a girl since Blair's baby sister on Facts of Life was named that. I have been told many times by random people that that's their dog's name (and even a cat once) but it just doesn't bother me. My DS's name is Chase and one of my students has a dog named Chase! I don't think that any names are safe these days.

BFab11

The pet names I grew up with, are my mom's animals now, or are MIL's animals are:

Dogs: Jinx, PJ, King, Thatcher (she came with that name), Tigger, Patience, Echo, Maverick, Sadie (SIL's dog)

Cats: Patches, Gem, Rajah, Corazon (NN Cora)

SIL's horses: Otis, Faith, Tina, Meanie

for the most part, not people names, lol. I wouldn't say "don't use Faith, that's the name of a horse!" but I did tell someone that very thing about Maverick, lol.

718gemini

I love when animals have human names!  Especially something like Larry, as a PP mentioned.  Too cute!  But you're totally right, that hardly means the name is now off-limits for humans.

Another thing I see a lot, people saying they dislike a name due to a bad association.  That's incredibly unhelpful, and, really, who cares?  It's one thing if it's a cultural reference, but why should someone care that you hate the name they're considering because of, say, an idiot ex?  I just don't see the point in posting something like that.

SBeth33

I have given my pets human names from name books and websites that I thought were cool/sounded good/had good meanings that I would not consider naming a human child of mine. That way I got to use them without using them on a baby. (Although I do still like Sadie for a girl we're not using it

Dakota and Bellamy

Dulcinea, Damia, Allegra, Akira 

Sadie, Shaylee, Basillia

The female dogs we have now are named Zoey and Brittney but I didn't name them and they were 8 when we adopted them so I didn't think I could change their names on them at that point!

alohamora

A couple comments:

1 - I personally like human names for animals.  In most cases, however, that doesn't turn the name into a "pet name," for me.  It just makes it an association, much like someone might rule out a name because it's associated with another human they know with the same name.

2 - However, there are some names that seems as though they originally started out as pet names, such as Bailey (IMO).

Ishaba11

We adopted our dog so he came with the name Jack. We put a little twist on it by giving him the middle name of Decepticon (DH's choice) but I don't have a problem with his name being the name of a lot of children and not being able to use Jack a name for a son.

Lara0802

I love human names for pets. Our dogs are Gus and Charlie. And one of my favorite girl names that DH doesn't like is Lola, so our next dog will be Lola. And, I've had cats named Jack and Penny too.

704bride

As someone who has always preferred people names for her dogs - Bailey, Sophie,
Callie - I agree that it stops me from giving one of those names to any of my children, but I usually hold back when introduced to a person with one of those names and I don't say, "Oh!  You have my dog's name!!"

anna7602

In my family, kids always picked the pets' names. This seems pretty fair, IMO, since most people wouldn't let their children name a younger sibling. There was no restriction on whether it could be a people name or not, but for whatever reason, we leaned toward non-people names.

moxie9

I agree with some pp's that Bailey and Riley are more dog names than people names. It just fits, for some reason.

Hehe, when I was growing up on a farm I had a lot of barn cats and a few dogs. Most of them were named after characters in classic literarture, playwrights, or video games. So, I don't think I ruined too many baby names for my future children (so help me if I name a baby D'Artagnan Yoshi lastname).

brookelynpaisley

I name my pets guilty pleasure names I would never use for a kid (ie. Paisley, Clover, Willow). I'd give someone the side-eye for using them even if they weren't my pets names (with the possible exception of Willow - I like it, but it's not a name I would take seriously on an adult).

ubermoose

I tend to name my pets human names, and if anybody's offended by it, tough. I shouldn't feel, "well, maybe I should name my cat Smokey and not Jack just in case any future coworkers decide to name their kid Jack. That would create less of an awkward situation for them."

My daughter's name is Molly, and it doesn't bother me at all when somebody tells me about a childhood pet named Molly. I was aware that it's a fairly common dog's name, and that really wasn't a major deterrent for me.

paulaanne

hahahaaha - Love this!

Jolaine83

And this is why I use names I love but wasn't brave enough to use for my kids as my pets names.  We have Indiana Bones (Indy), Lucille Mai (Lucy) and Midget Eloise (Midge.)  I couldn't care less if I ran into a kid with those names and I certainly wouldn't claim they were named after my pet. LOL

 That being said, I do run across names that I brush aside because I knew them as pet names first.  If I liked the name enough, I wouldn't care, so it's a non-issue for me.

alexvause

My dogs are Charlie and Layla, both would be precious for kids but I used them already

cozylittlecave

I've always given somewhat goofy names to pets, because we have goofy pets. Miniature dachshunds just seem like they deserve sillier names imho. Ours are Pickle & Pepper. I've had hamsters named Ping & Pong and one named Pixie. Our chinchilla took the cake though... "Skitchman Boo Radley" -there was no way I was giving such a ridiculous animal a 'normal' name. Although DH loved him so much he said he wanted to name any future son 'Radley' as a tribute to him (only partially joking).

Other dachshund names from my extended family trend toward uncommon people names (except Zero or Zoe): Elsie, Sylvie, Ingie, Chloe, Hildy, and now Zoe, Zelda, and Zero. My cousin (as a child) was responsible for naming: Ariel, Jasmine, Pocohontas, and Rapunzel... lol

I used to LOVE Chloe, and even though she was my parents' dog when I was little (and that's what I associate it with), I was totally prepared to use the name. Then it just got too popular for my taste. I also love Ingrid & think I'd default NN's to 'Ingie' because of the dog (who died when I was quite young). 

KBinRI

I named my cat Calvin eight years ago when it wasn't popular at all (named him after a restaurant in Budapest) and now I always smile when I see someone asking about it here. I got a lot of comments about it when I named him but it suits him well.

My friends named their dog Mabel so, when someone asks about or suggests it here, all I see is a German shorthaired pointer, but I'd never say Mabel is a dog name. 

Ruby_Soho

We had a dog growing up called Koko. Now my sister has a DD called Coco! Don't let the fact an animal has a certain name put you off using a name you really love.

Our dog is Cara. I'm sure we'll meet people called Cara but cara is the Irish word for friend which is why we picked it for our dog. I wanted to name out cat Gary after the meowing snail in Spongebob but DH wouldn't let me! So he's Tindy instead as a nod to our snowboarding obsession!

MrsP7309

My dogs are Trevor and Darcy, but I wouldn't warn someone off of those names just because that's what I named my dogs.  On the other hand, I see names like LuLu and Bailey and just think: dog.

curlylocks3

I have no problem using human names for pets but I think its ridiculous for people to claim a name is a "pet name" unless it is the name of their own pet.  For me, I used the name Charlie for cat #2 because DH completely rejected it as a name for our hypothetical child.  If I ever was able to change his mind on it the name would be off for me for that reason.  Doesn't mean I don't still think its an awesome name.

ant8355

704bride:

As someone who has always preferred people names for her dogs - Bailey, Sophie,
Callie - I agree that it stops me from giving one of those names to any of my children, but I usually hold back when introduced to a person with one of those names and I don't say, "Oh!  You have my dog's name!!"

exactly! lol. I don't care what ppl name their pet's at all, that wasn't my point. I think you understood what I was getting at