# Pets named after fictional characters, the spectrum from predictable to pretentious.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583 "2006-08-28T22:09:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/1 "2006-08-28T22:09:31Z")
This is sort of a poll, but since it’s fiction/movie-based, I think it belongs here Pet dogs named after characters from _Lord of the Rings_: Predictable: **Frodo** Passable: **Bilbo** Pardonable: **Sauron** Pretentious: **Boromir** Pet hamsters named after characters from _Star Trek_ Predictable: Spock Preferred: Khaaaaaaaaaan! Pardonable: Locutus of Borg Pretentious: Q ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/2 "2006-08-28T22:51:18Z")
There are millions of dogs named Max, but my Welsh Terrierist was registered as Maxwell Edison. Pretentious, maybe. My present dog’s previous owners named her _Layla_ after the song Clapton wrote about his wife. She’s a short dog, so if I want to see eye-to-eye with her, she’s “got me on my knees.” The dog next door is named for _Milo_ Minderbinder. Eh, passable. A fellow down the block named his Shih Tzuh _Domino,_ for a fortune-telling dame in a Bond novel. A friend had a Doberman called _Atouk_ for Ringo Starr’s caveman character. Predictable. I once knew a couple of tomcats named _Solshenitzen_\* and _Siddartha_. Pretentious, but not fictitious. \*I sense I have misspelled that name. The cat didn’t care, though. He couldn’t read. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/3 "2006-08-28T23:01:00Z")
We have a cat named Vir (aka Emperor Vir Catto). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/4 "2006-08-28T23:01:25Z")
I had a rat called Lucretia, after the Borgia. Pretentious? Yes, I do believe so, but I was only 18. But then I called her Lucy after the character in Dracula. Predictable. My sister had a gerbil called Greymarsh after a character in Nicholas Nickleby. You decide. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/5 "2006-08-28T23:04:59Z")
One of the best pets we’ve ever had was a big Siamese cat named [Tuvix](http://www.mortalwombat.com/Image/Tuvix_Sink_1.jpg), after a character who appeared in a single episode of **Star Trek: Voyager**. The name is probably pretentious, but the cat didn’t seem to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/6 "2006-08-28T23:07:48Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Pet dogs named after characters from _Lord of the Rings_: Predictable: **Frodo** [/QUOTE] I used to have a budgie named Frodo. And another one named Rambo. ---
**Author:** ![M.Meursault](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@M.Meursault](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/M.Meursault)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/7 "2006-08-28T23:08:30Z")
Hmmm, close but not quite, my pets are named after: Gertie (shih tzu): Gertrude Stein (passable, cause it’s a cute name for the breed) Hugo (ginger tabby): Victor Hugo (predictable) Heloise (Jack Russell): Heloise of Abelard & Heloise fame (pretentious?) When I told my old Medieval Lit professor that I had named my dog Heloise, her response was quite short: did you castrate her? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/8 "2006-08-28T23:16:18Z")
Our cats are named: **Pixel** - From RAH (predictable) **Havoc** - From Harry Turtledove’s _Tuf Voyaging_ (prefered) and a twist on Shakespeare (pretentious) ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/9 "2006-08-28T23:19:19Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Our cats are named: **Pixel** - From RAH (predictable) **Havoc** - From Harry Turtledove’s _Tuf Voyaging_ (prefered) and a twist on Shakespeare (pretentious) [/QUOTE] I love your choice of cat names, however, I believe that \*Tuf Voyaging \* (a personal favorite) is by George RR Martin, not Harry Turtledove. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/10 "2006-08-28T23:20:04Z")
I thought that looked wrong. And I’ve met George, too! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/11 "2006-08-28T23:24:09Z")
I sort of have a fish named Typh, named after Typhoid Mary. You see, the other goldfish Typh lived with died, so I was given him and a sucker fish about 2 months ago. The sucker fish died, then my two fish Fish and Other Fish died, then the person who gave me Typh felt bad and bought two new goldfish, both of which have since died… I say I “sort of” have this fish because basically I’m feeding because it’s alive. I’m not a fan of it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/12 "2006-08-28T23:32:08Z")
My cat is named [C’nedra](http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/robbie3008/detail?.dir=ee62&.dnm=0546.jpg&.src=ph), after Princess Ce’Nedra in David Edding’s _The Belgariad_. Yes, a bit pretentious, but fairly apt. ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/13 "2006-08-28T23:37:10Z")
I also had a **Pixel** cat. She wasn’t consciously named for the RAH cat - it was the combination of her very unusual colouring and the fact that I was somewhat over identifying with my IT job at the time. She got lucky with predictable, rather than pretentious. (The current cat has a blessedly non fictional, non IT related, and I think non pretentious name). Apart from cats: A rat named **Kay** ; for some reason people assumed he was named after Kay in John Masefield’s _The Box of Delights_. This was not actually the case; I just liked the name. Two gerbils named **Geraldine** and **Josephine** after the main character’s in Billy Wilder’s _Some Like It Hot_ ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/14 "2006-08-28T23:40:21Z")
Just for clarity, I was aiming more for lists of rated potential pet names culled from a single work, rather than real-life examples, although the contributions so far were great anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/15 "2006-08-28T23:52:50Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Pet hamsters named after characters from _Star Trek_ Predictable: Spock Preferred: Khaaaaaaaaaan! Pardonable: Locutus of Borg Pretentious: Q [/QUOTE] What about a dog named Starship Enterprise? My parents called their Samoyed “Star,” but that was her full name. I leave it to you to decide which category that goes in. I think it’s pardonable because it’s cute-ly dorky. Naming your lizard after characters from _Lolita_: Predictable: Lola Preferred: Cue Pardonable: Humbert [pretentious, but it’d work on a lizard] Pretentious: Vivian Darkbloom ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/16 "2006-08-28T23:57:34Z")
Predictable: Harry Preferred: Hagrid Pardonable: Snape Pretentious: um… Dumbledore? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/17 "2006-08-29T00:17:08Z")
My beagle is named Nordberg after the OJ character Naked Gun series .She is sweet but kept getting in trouble. Everything went wrong for her. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/18 "2006-08-29T00:35:55Z")
Cat Stiggs is named after one of the eponymous characters in “The Utterly Mind Roasting Summer of O.C. and Stiggs” a hilarious article in the National Lampoon circa mid '70s–it was also made into a film by Robert Altman which apparently nobody but me has ever seen. Cat Pratchett is named after Terry Pratchett, who is not fictional–I just thought it was a cool name for a cat, especially a big ass roughneck palooka of an orange tom who will probably top 25 lbs when full grown. Truly an Unadulterated Cat. I had a Pixel cat too–named her that trying to give her something to live up to, as she was a total 'fraidy cat. Same reasoning behind naming the scrawny mutt bred rescue pup German Shepherd Siegfried. I also had a cat named Dybbuk, which isn’t so much a character as a class of beings, but it was a pretty cool name nonetheless. My friends had cats named Cosmo and Kramer. Now they have a cat named Gary–apparently it’s a Spongebob thing and the kids named him that. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/19 "2006-08-29T00:37:54Z")
Predictable: Greebo Prefered: Angua Pardonable: Gaspode Pretentious: Horace Worblehat, B.Thau., D.M. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/20 "2006-08-29T00:37:56Z")
My daughter named our dog **Indiana Bones** Which I would think was predictable, but everyone seems susprised when we tell them his name. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583.md?page=2)