# Animal surnames **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2020, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902 "2020-04-16T06:13:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902/41 "2020-04-17T00:55:20Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I went to school with a girl named Nancy Hogg. She married James Butt. > After that she was Nancy Hogg-Butt. Unfortunate. That family could have had a hell of a BBQ joint! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902/42 "2020-04-17T01:18:16Z")
Fish. That’s a good one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902/43 "2020-04-17T02:26:34Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > And keeping in the domestic fowl group, has anyone mentioned Ryan Gosling? Surprisingly, Jack Chick has yet to be mentioned either. Others include Cockerel and Gander. ---
**Author:** ![akgrhrts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@akgrhrts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akgrhrts)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902/44 "2020-04-17T03:56:47Z")
Joe Cocker? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902/45 "2020-04-17T04:36:09Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > I have _never_ known, or even heard of, anyone with the last name Dog, Cat, Cow, Horse, Donkey, Squirrel, Mouse, Rat, Bear, Snake (or any sub-variety of snake), or actually any reptile or amphibian at all. There’s an actor named Bruce Boa. And, of course, Thomson, from the Thomson’s gazelle. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902/46 "2020-04-17T06:30:14Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > One of our sons had a teacher named Mr. Moose. If he’d had me for a student he would have gotten sick of being asked when ping pong balls were going to drop. There was also the Reagan-era politician Edwin Meese. That would be the plural, right? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902/47 "2020-04-17T09:10:38Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > I once worked with a woman who married a man named Donald Duck. I have no idea what his parents were thinking when they named him. Long ago I read about a man with the last name of Duck who named his son Donald. His rationale was that the boy’s friends would call him Donald anyway. I’m sure he was speaking from experience. For all I know, it could be the same person. > [@Senegoid](#): > > There was also the Reagan-era politician Edwin Meese. That would be the plural, right? I’m sure someone hates those Meeses to pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902/48 "2020-04-17T14:14:34Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Fish. > > That’s a good one. 🙂 So good it was mentioned in the OP.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902/49 "2020-04-17T17:38:24Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I know a “Lion.” I can’t say it wasn’t ever spelled differently and changed, though. > > The director of the Universal films _Frankenstein_ &\* The Bride of Frankenstein\* was James Whale. > > “Caleb” is sometimes a last name, and in Hebrew, this means “dog,” but I don’t know if there is some other derivation for Caleb as a last name. > > Caleb in the Torah was in fact named “Dog,” but it wasn’t an insult; dogs were tough, loyal, perseverant, and strong. Definitely the qualities you wanted in a companion in a mission. Anyway, there’s no question that when a person’s first name is Caleb, after the spy in the Torah, the name is Dog. > > “Cat” may not be a last name, but Katt absolutely is. And so is Katz. Jewish people named Katz are usually cohanim, and the name means not just “cohen,” but “cohen hagadol,” in otherwords, Katz denotes not just a Jewish priest, but the High Priest. I have no idea whether Katt is a vatiant of Katz, though. > > I’ve never seen just “Duck” as a last name, but “Duckworth” is very common in Indiana. And, of course, Hoosiers gave the country J. Danforth Quayle. My mum came from a family of Ducks. Her Grandfather was Job Duck. His daughters included my nana, Winifred Duck and Dolly Duck who became Dolly Dando. They were from Wiltshire and I’ve wondered if they descended from [Stephen Duck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Duck) who rose from farm labourer to poet and reverend. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902/50 "2020-04-17T17:56:57Z")
I was in elementary school with a girl with the last name of ‘Titmus.’ Only person I’ve ever known with that name. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902/52 "2020-04-18T11:16:02Z")
[Vogel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogel_(surname)) is a fairly common surname meaning **bird** in German and Dutch. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2020, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902/53 "2020-04-19T03:16:39Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > [Vogel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogel_(surname)) is a fairly common surname meaning **bird** in German and Dutch. I went to school with a guy named Fuglsang. I’m guessing it’s a variation on Vogel, perhaps meaning birdsong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-surnames/851902.md?page=2)