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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsBest pet names
I just saw a thread mentioning that Bentley had passed over the rainbow bridge (RIP Bentley). I couldn't help but think, good name for a dog.
Then there was a thread mentioning Leia, another good name for a dog.
A coworker of mine some years ago had a dog named Dakota.
My mother once had a cat. I suggested the name Shadow. She named him Musty (for her, all pet names had to end in -y or -ie). We once got a dog and she asked for suggestions on the name. I said Cassiopeia. She said great, we'll call her Cassie!
So, can anyone offer some great pet names?

greatauntoftriplets
(178,304 posts)Kids named him for their favorite cheese.
hlthe2b
(111,459 posts)already responded to--so I kept them.
I have quite a list--including a lot of old-fashioned names from our grandparents'/great grandparents' day..
"Clyde" always makes me smile for a goofy-acting male dog. Ethel, Gladys, Clementine (Clemmy?) for a female. Ahh, there are so many.
The last two dogs we got were adopted. I have a policy of keeping the same name for the dog. I figure the transition to a new home is hard enough without being called something new. Current dog: "Dozer" (not bad). Last dog: "Barkley" (horrible).
Ocelot II
(127,423 posts)Charles, Leonard, Woody, Alice, Milo, Teddy, Jeoffrey. Only exceptions were Tulip and Pixie. One of the best cat names I knew of was Renfield, a neighbor's cat who liked to eat spiders.
Freddie
(9,969 posts)Over the years Fred, Ricky, Dylan, Samantha, Riley, Jake, Freddie, Charlie and Andy
applegrove
(128,360 posts)He was a little rough around the edges but slept in the nook of my armpit at times. I adored him despite his propensity to get mad and attack. He did not use his claws he just tried hard to bite me but was missing a fang so he could puncture my skin. He came with the name "South Park". I named him "Monster" to take him down a notch and make him scary like a Sesame Street character. People thought that name was cute.... especially at the different vets where I assume it was novel as pet names go.
cloudbase
(6,071 posts)eppur_se_muova
(40,108 posts)catbyte
(37,882 posts)Himmies are supposed to be calm and docile, but Yeti was a beast. He wasn't mean, but he took shit from nobody.
I also had a Tuxedo cat named Howie, short for Hell on Wheels. He was the biggest character. Our vet treated his littermate, Taz, so I think the litter was a bit mental. Howie's favorite Yuletide activity was me dancing to Chuck Berry's "Run Run Rudolph with him in my arms.
I still miss those cats.
The Blue Flower
(6,185 posts)She was studying art history and called him Monet. Many years later she had him declawed, so of course we added the first name and he became DeClaude Monet.
I named my rescue hound Tricksy because she was so good at spiriting food off my plate when my back was turned. I always liked that term from LoR.
hotdamn00
(42 posts)I haven't met another Harper since.
ultralite001
(2,074 posts)Whenever she found herself invited to a social engagement she did not care to attend,
she would bow out, stating she needed to decline because "She had Company"...
🤣🤣🤣
Collimator
(1,978 posts). . . I once mentioned in an online community that I would love to have a couple of dogs named "Davenport" and "Chesterfield". Then, one of our community members made the astute observation that "Chesterfield" is clearly a cat's name. Couldn't argue with that.
Names of gods and goddesses make great pet names. "Bastet" being the ultimate cat name, of course.
For other possibilities, you can go to Godchecker.com, if you please.
Food names can be fun, also. I've named brown and white kittens "Nutmeg" and "Cinnamon" and a calico "Raisin Cookie". "Pistachio" and "Lemon Meringue" were names I considered for a green parakeet and a canary, respectively.
Subverting expectations is also fun. Consider "Rovera" instead of "Rover" for a girl dog, or a spotted dog named "Stripe".
The best names come from some essential characteristic of the animal involved. I had the sweetest orange and white dog who had little spots of orange everywhere he was white. Strangers seeing him before I formally introduced him called him "Freckles"; who was I to disagree?
LearnedHand
(5,036 posts)Been reading that site since the mid 2000s!
Solly Mack
(95,774 posts)All cats. Yes, 12. The house belongs to them. They have two cat rooms (former guest bedrooms) filled with cat stuff, the run of the rest of the house, and multiple self-cleaning litter boxes in convenient and tidy places.
The dogs, 3 of them, are Tui, Pip, and Mac. We all sit together and watch the cats for entertainment.
I can't stand to see an animal suffer and will rescue them and commit myself to their care.
Yes, we spend a small fortune in vet bills but they're worth it.
3catwoman3
(27,781 posts)If I weren't married, I'd probably have at least 6.
What brand(s) of self-cleaning litter boxes do you have? I'm tempted by the idea. My husband's son and DIL have one of the $$$ Litter Robots and consider it worth the initial expense.
Solly Mack
(95,774 posts)a good thing most days. Never a dull moment around here.
Right now, they're at the big windows up front swatting at the geckos on the outside of the glass. It's a nightly ritual. It annoys the cats that they can't "catch" the lizards but they persist.
The dogs and I are at the back of the house resting our nerves.
kozar
(3,236 posts)Is a name Mrs and I made up,
If you read it phonetically, sea, hawks,wee.
A phrase that always made Lil bit giggle
Also.had a dal once named Sherman T Spotted.
Koz
3catwoman3
(27,781 posts)...when I watched him scampering across the floor and voila' - there was his name - Scamper.
And I had a black cat about the time Elton John's song Honky Cat was popular. A black cat named Honky Cat appealed to my sense of irony. He liked to go on walks with me.
LearnedHand
(5,036 posts)Long-time NPR listeners might recognize that name as the cowboy poet and large animal veterinarian.
LogDog75
(879 posts)I live in a 10 unit condo complex and a couple of owners/residents have dogs. One woman's dog died last year and about six months ago she adopted a dog from a shelter. The shelter named the dog Brooklyn so she kept that name for the dog. We had new renter move in recently and their dog's name is Bronx. Purely confidentially the two dogs are named after two of the five Boroughs of New York City.
arkielib
(419 posts)I'm usually the one bringing them home, so I figure it's only fair for him to give them a name.
Dogs: Pebbles (named by the shelter where we adopted her), Fritz (Spaniel mix), Heidi, Dee and Roach (German Shepherds), Beauregard (Weimaraner), Ciora (Beagle), Finian (Terrier), Sadie and Katie (Shih tzus).
Cats: Na Bean, Don Chat, Beghan, Penelope, and Keely. The first three names are Gaelic for Don't Touch... The Cat ... and Little One.
Oeditpus Rex
(42,770 posts)nuxvomica
(13,648 posts)When we got her as a puppy, my parents let my 3-year-old brother name her. He was trying to say "puppy" but missed. What's great about the name is that every year we'd sit around the TV waiting for a scene in The Wizard of Oz that would make Poppy sit up and start barking because a voice was calling her name.