# In some cultures are pets not given names?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 12, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184 "2010-05-12T16:09:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/1 "2010-05-12T16:09:30Z")
A friend of mine houses small furry animals as a side-job. Usually rabbits and guinea pigs and the like. It’s usually a service provided to people going on a trip or in some cases for a bit longer when they are not in a good position to look after the pets themselves but feel too attached to them to give them away.
She’s just had her second Eastern European customer - both Polish I think - and both bought in guinea pigs with no names. The first bought in three and she just thought that customer was a little unusual not to name his pets. “Er, I just call them guinea pig” he said.
But recently a second Eastern European customer bought her a guinea pig without any name whatsoever.
So is this quite common in some parts of the world? It would demonstrate quite a different attitude to pets if this were the case although they are clearly pets who the two chaps want to look after responsibly.
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/2 "2010-05-12T17:24:39Z")
My wife (Chinese) had a fish with no name. What’s the point? They don’t come when you call them anyway. Having a no-name guinea pig isn’t a stretch (although some Chinese friends of hers had a guinea pig called “One-Eyed Dragon”).
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/3 "2010-05-12T17:49:36Z")
> [@hogarth](#):
>
> “One-Eyed Dragon”
That was my nickname at Vassar. Long story.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/4 "2010-05-12T17:54:56Z")
I once rode through the desert on a horse with no name.
There were plants and birds and rocks and things.
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### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/5 "2010-05-12T21:49:41Z")
> [@Leaffan](#):
>
> I once rode through the desert on a horse with no name.
>
> There were plants and birds and rocks and things.
Was it good to be out of the rain?
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### Author:  [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/6 "2010-05-12T23:12:58Z")
> [@Leaffan](#):
>
> There were plants and birds and rocks and things.
Don’t you mean “and shit”?
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### Author:  [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/7 "2010-05-13T00:51:40Z")
My cat has a name, but the only time I ever utter it or write it or even bring it up is in relation to the vet. To friends, family, acquaintances, and myself, he is “the cat”.
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### Author:  [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/8 "2010-05-13T01:06:15Z")
I used to have some friends from Russia who rescued a rat from their lab (they were grad students). The name of the rat was just the Russian word for rat.
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### Author:  [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/9 "2010-05-13T02:13:38Z")
Okay, well, I won’t claim to be an expert on ALL EASTERN EUROPEANS EVER but I can tell you that Bulgarians definitely name their pets. To my amusement, they especially like to give them common English human names. It’s normal for a Bulgarian to name their dog Jessica or Jennifer or whatever.
My Max-cat is Bulgarian and people, upon finding out I had a cat, pretty much did what an American would do, and asked me what his name was - although a lot of them did tend to mishear and think I was saying “mats”. Which means “kitten” in Bulgarian. I did always think that was weird. Who the hell would name their cat Kitten?
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### Author:  [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/10 "2010-05-13T02:15:55Z")
I knew a guy many years ago from Hong Kong, and when I asked him the names of his cats he just looked at me like I was an idiot and said “Cats”.
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### Author:  [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/11 "2010-05-13T03:13:39Z")
Of course Eastern European people name their pets. Some do, some don’t. I can’t promise I’d name a guinea pig–it’d be like naming every one out of a tankful of fish. Why bother?
I had a Russian emigre professor one time who wanted badly to name his dog Trotsky, but was vetoed by his wife. Although he should have been vetoed by his common sense–having to stand in the park shouting “TROTSKY! TROTSKY!” would have gotten old fast.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/12 "2010-05-13T03:22:39Z")
> [@apollonia](#):
>
> it’d be like naming every one out of a tankful of fish. Why bother?
Not even Wanda?
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### Author:  [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/13 "2010-05-13T03:53:00Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#):
>
> Don’t you mean “and shit”?
Given that there is a horse involved, the “and shit” is implied.
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### Author:  [@Foldup\_Rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foldup_Rabbit)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/14 "2010-05-13T05:09:01Z")
> [@BorgHunter](#):
>
> My cat has a name, but the only time I ever utter it or write it or even bring it up is in relation to the vet. To friends, family, acquaintances, and myself, he is “the cat”.
My cat had a name, but she’s since become “The Cat” permanently.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/15 "2010-05-13T05:21:59Z")
In Cameroon I named my cat “Paatu,” meaning “cat.”
It drove people nuts- little old ladies would stop by my compound to scold me for giving the cat such a stupid name. Young children would insistently make up names to call it. Everyone would laugh their asses off when I called it’s name. All of this, despite the fact that Cameroonians generally didn’t keep cats as pets themselves and saw my keeping one as a pretty funny quirk.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/16 "2010-05-13T05:50:58Z")
I had a dog named Puppy, but it was we were raising her (and her brothers) for sale, and didn’t want to get too attached. Nobody wanted a female, so we wound up keeping her. We didn’t want to confuse by changing her name, so we kept it.
Oddly enough, although she was never spayed, she never had puppies. I thought Grandpuppy would be a cool name for her kid.
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### Author:  [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/17 "2010-05-13T07:10:59Z")
When I was a kid my guinea pigs were called Pink-ear and Shorty. More like descriptions than names really.
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/18 "2010-05-13T15:23:45Z")
> [@Foldup\_Rabbit](#):
>
> My cat had a name, but she’s since become “The Cat” permanently.
Yeah, I’m like that with my wife.
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/19 "2010-05-13T15:28:24Z")
When I was at school I had a friend with the following pets:
Rabbit named Bunny.
Fish named Fishy.
Bird named Birdy.
And a cat named Pussy.
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### Author:  [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/20 "2010-05-13T15:42:57Z")
I stayed with a host family in Mexico for a couple of months once. They had a big brown mutt dog that they kept in the backyard to protect the chickens. Poor thing. He always looked so sad and I would sit outside and smoke and pet him.
I asked my host mother “Como se llama?”
“Perro.”
“Si, entiendo que es un perro. Como se llama??”
“Perro.”
“Cual es su NOMBRE?”
Weird look like I’m retarded.
“Perro!”
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