# In some cultures are pets not given names? **URL:** \ **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:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/41 "2010-05-14T19:54:32Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > I thought all roosters were called this. Especially around dawn… Oh…if only roosters actually waited until dawn to start making noise. None of ours ever did. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/42 "2010-05-15T04:52:56Z")
I’ve had a lot of pets with no names (and also some without consistant names). Rats, mice, fish, reptiles, cats. I couldn’t be more American. ---
**Author:** ![dragonlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@dragonlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonlady)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/43 "2010-05-17T03:53:57Z")
We had 3 cats when my son got his dog. He named her Kitty, figuring we could call everyone at once! ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/44 "2010-05-17T06:07:53Z")
When I went to live in Poland I got a cat and named it Suki, for no particular reason, I just liked the name. It wasn’t until I got a lot of laughs and funny stares when I called her that I realized that ‘Suki’ means ‘bitch’ in Polish. I never learned that in Polish class! ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/45 "2010-05-17T07:38:25Z")
Come to think of it, it depends on the animal. I’ve had spiders and fish that were never named. I usually don’t name puppies and kittens until i’ve had then for a month or so (my mother was rather psychotic, and would take the animals to the shelter almost randomly.) I had a bird once, we just called it “the bird.” ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/46 "2010-05-17T08:17:25Z")
I had a rat named Skippy the Wonder Dog. I can’t imagine not naming a pet, except for something like fish. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/47 "2010-05-17T09:24:19Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I once rode through the desert on a horse with no name. > > There were plants and birds and rocks and things. Ah but **Hogarth** rode through the desrt on a FISH with no name . Which is so much cooler. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/48 "2010-05-17T10:55:15Z")
Pretty much anything that won’t come when it is called I don’t name. I had a fish named Oscar, but that was really only because he was a type of fish referred to as Oscar. My dog was named KC when I got her, but I call her fuzzy butt so often that she comes to that as quickly as KC. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/49 "2010-05-17T11:36:38Z")
I always wanted to have a dog named Askum. Then, when someone says, “What’s his name?”, I would reply, “Askum.” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184/50 "2010-05-17T11:45:17Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > My friend named his dog Diogie (‘D’ ‘O’ ‘G’) but he answers to Dio. In a similar vein, the dog that lives in a pub I sometimes drink at is called “Deefer”. (Actually, I’m not sure of the spelling, but that’s not really the point…) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-some-cultures-are-pets-not-given-names/539184.md?page=2)