Wednesday, January 24, 2007

The Naming of Pets Instead of Children

So my sister is facing a crisis of sorts:

What to name her child, 7 1/2 months in the making. A couple months ago, she enlisted my help. And we even devised a unique game for her baby shower, the sole purpose of which was to name her progeny.

I've come up with some good ones, I think. Sebastian. Noah. Jonah... I can't recall them all, but I know I've sent her dozens of ideas.

Her response occasionally resembles the following:

"I like that name, but I know someone called that. And I don't want them to think I'm naming the baby after them."

But, almost invariably, it's something more to the effect of:

"Can't. I had a pet rat named that." (yes, my sister had pet rats)

or even

"That's the name of one of my cats."

To which I now say to the rest of you:

Never name a pet something you would name a child — especially if you, like my sister, rescue stranded animals and so go through a lot of names. Because even if you don't think you'll ever procreate, you don't want to have assigned your best ideas to a rodent.

Just a thought.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who was it that named their child Moxie Crimefighter? Tell her to go in that direction! To think outside the box!

Just kidding, being someone that has grown up with an "odd" name, I would suggest things like "Dan" or "Bob"...

thirdworstpoetinthegalaxy said...

I believe that was Penn, of Penn and Teller. Which reminds me, in turn, of Kevin Smith's progeny: Harley Quinn.

For the record, I think "Bob" makes a great name for a Dog, as does "Dan." Really, any monosyllable, quentessentially "human" name works for animals. Always good for laughs.

Anonymous said...

Um, how about she turn the tables and name her progeny with a pet name? Puff for a girl, Butch if it is a boy?
~BPP

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry I took Eleanor. I'll try not to do it again.
--xoxo--

thirdworstpoetinthegalaxy said...

XOXO - Not that I'll ever have kids, but if I did... you'd really hear a load of complaints from me if "it" turned out to be a "she."

Eleanor is such a pretty people name. In fact, I think I'm going to start calling Eleanor "Muffin"... Hope you don't mind.