Tips For Finding The Best Pet Names

Your new pet is your new baby, and one of the most fun things to do is to come up with a name for the new member of your household! Unlike human names, you can be a little more creative with a pet name, because you don’t have to worry about it being teased on the playground or how their name might affect their future careers.

Below we list six tips to help you in your search for the best name for your pet:

1. Make it Easy to Spell and Easy to Pronounce

This is the first tip to give human parents when naming their babies, too. I mean, you don’t want your kid to have to spell their name for people their entire lives. That goes double for pets, because YOU will have to spell the name for people–vets, friends, animal talent agents–each time you introduce him or her.

2. Be Creative!

You can be much more creative with a pet name than a baby name. When you give your pet a fun name, people respond with a laugh or a smile and automatically have positive feelings towards it.

3. Be Unique!

Make sure that two pets in the same household don’t have similar names. Just like humans, they respond to their own names and identify with it. If you have a Roscoe and a Rocco, for example, their little ears might not be able to differentiate the sounds. You might think it’s cute to have matching names for pairs, but your furry companions might get confused.

4. Don’t Use Violent Names

Some people adopt pets (primarily dogs) for protection. I get that. But don’t bestow a violent name upon your baby just to scare people off. Names like Killer, Uzi, Destroyer, or Monster might even work against you. What if your pet pal tears up your neighbour’s lawn or accidentally bites the postman? Can you imagine going before a judge and trying to defend your sweet baby named Hellraiser?

Dogs and cats are also sensitive to how people refer to them and treat them. If you introduce them with a violent name, people will automatically have negative feelings toward your pet, which is not good all around.

5. Don’t Use a Previous Pet’s Name

Did you know that Vincent Van Gogh had a brother named Vincent Van Gogh? His brother was born exactly one year before him and died. That’s pretty messed up that the family named the second baby with the first baby’s name. Even though your pet won’t understand that they’re named after another, psychologically, you will come to expect the “second” to be like the first. You should never adopt a pet as a replacement for another. So give your new baby its own, unique, identity. And don’t name it Fluffy II.

6. Wait a Couple of Days

Many pets are named by personality. Wait a couple of days and see the demeanour of your pet. Is she goofy? Shy? You might want to pick a pet name that suits her personality to a tee!