# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/21 "2006-08-29T02:08:15Z")
Let’s see…the border collies From _Gone with the Wind_, I have Rhett which is somewhat predictable except she’s a she :). Nellie is named after the song “Nellie the Elephant” about an elephant that packs her trunk and trundled off from the circus. Very few people seem to know that song and I only know it because my ex-boyfriend was a Toy Dolls fan. Jane is named after Jane Austen… pretentious but a very common Border Collie name. Bess is named after Queen Elizabeth I… same as above. The cats: Milton is named after Milton from _Office Space_. I really don’t like his name anymore, he’s too damn cute for that name. My boyfriend calls him Fred, and I haven’t admitted to him that it’s a better name for him. Wily is a named after Wile E. Coyote- not too predictable or common but doesn’t matter because people try to call him Willie anyways. They are both tabby cats, which are the only cats worth having ;). ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/22 "2006-08-29T02:10:28Z")
My cat is named Linus. He does have a couple of blankets he’s particularly fond of, but the resemblance largely stops there. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/23 "2006-08-29T02:27:38Z")
[The Gryff’s](http://www.flickr.com/photos/ekuzina/227789128/) full name is Gryffindor, after … I guess the House from Harry Potter, but you can stretch it to make it a character if you think of the cat being named after the House being named aftter Godric Gryffindor. I think Gryffindor rates as “passable.” I _wanted_ to name him Scabbers, but was voted down. From Harry Potter (cats): Predictable: Crookshanks Passable: Gryffindor Pardonable: Godric Pretentious: Minerva (but pretentious in a good way) The cat of my childhood was named Snoops, after the cat in The Bobbsey Twins. There is really no way you can pardon anything about naming pets after The Bobbsey Twins. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/24 "2006-08-29T02:56:10Z")
Predictable: Sebastian Preferred: Sir Toby Belch Passable: Lady Olivia Pretentious: Orsino [QUOTE=Surok] Two gerbils named **Geraldine** and **Josephine** after the main character’s in Billy Wilder’s _Some Like It Hot_ [/QUOTE] Not to nitpick, but…shouldn’t that be _ **Daphne** _ and **Josephine**? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/25 "2006-08-29T02:57:55Z")
I had a neighbor growing up who did indeed name their boxer pup **Rocky**. :rolleyes: My step-cat is named [**Irusan**](http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/celtic-mythology.php?deity=IRUSAN) , after the Celtic King of The Cats, so that’s about as pretentious as felinely possible. His step-sister is named **Tara** , after the character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 😃 So, in her honor: Predictable: **Miss Kitty Fantastico** Passable: **Ripper** Pardonable: **Spike** Pretentious: **Wesley Wyndham-Pryce the Fluffybutt** ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/26 "2006-08-29T03:15:20Z")
One of my childhood friends has a large dog named Buford Pusser. Although Pusser was a real person, he probably wouldn’t have been well-known if it wasn’t for the film _Walking Tall_. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/27 "2006-08-29T06:13:32Z")
My sister’s (late) cat was named \*\*Caraboo \*\* after the main character in the movie _Princess Caraboo_. At one point we also had a Siamese cat named **Sagwa** after Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat by Amy Tan. He ran away after a couple of months. If we get another cat the kids will get to name it. ---
**Author:** ![Pixisis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/28 "2006-08-29T12:51:35Z")
My cat’s name is **Pixel**. But he stole the name from me. It was a nickname given to me by my then BF, because of all the pixel editing I was doing for a class. When a friend met my Pixel, he gave me “The Cat Who Walks Through Walls” to read. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/29 "2006-08-29T13:15:51Z")
Back in the years when my in-laws had pets (the '70s), they named them after figures from Homer. They had a cat named Telemachus and a dog named Penelope, among others. Pretentious? Sure, but pleasantly eccentric, especially considering they were living on a farm at the time. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/30 "2006-08-29T13:28:21Z")
One of my cats is named Stella (from _A Streetcar Named Desire_). Another is named Lucy Ricardo. Her meow sounds just like “Wahhhhhhh”! ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/31 "2006-08-29T13:31:07Z")
[QUOTE=Green Bean] Predictable: Sebastian Preferred: Sir Toby Belch Passable: Lady Olivia Pretentious: Orsino Not to nitpick, but…shouldn’t that be _ **Daphne** _ and **Josephine**? [/QUOTE] Of course. But when I was 7 years old, I was more interested in alliteration than accuracy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/32 "2006-08-29T13:37:20Z")
My cat’s name is Clark Kent. I did not name him. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/33 "2006-08-29T13:37:25Z")
My wife named our dog **Daisy**. Can you guess the fictional character? The Bumsteads’ dog! Not exactly a huge leap, was it. I named a previous dog **Dinah** - my wife was pissed when I let it slip that the inspiration was Dinah moe humm. Heck, my kids are named after a characters in an Elvis Costello song, a comic strip, and Gone with the Wind! ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/34 "2006-08-29T13:37:51Z")
It’s only a nickname; there’s a cat in my household I refer to as Audrey (real name Cassie), because as a kitten she’s pester the crap out of anyone who walked into the kitchen to feed her. The reference is to the plant in _Little Shop of Horrors_, “Feed me!” ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/35 "2006-08-29T13:53:57Z")
We have rats named Emory & Oglethorpe (the Plutonians from Aqua Teen Hunger Force). We also have a hamster named Major Tom. Pretentious? Meh, I don’t think these are - Emory & Oglethorpe sound like good ratty names even if you don’t know where the names come from, so it works. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/36 "2006-08-29T14:03:11Z")
We named one of our dogs Binkley, after Michael Binkley of Bloom County. We figured a shelter dog was bound to have an anxiety closet of his own. ---
**Author:** ![Frelling\_Tralk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@Frelling\_Tralk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frelling_Tralk)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/37 "2006-08-29T14:08:27Z")
I used to have a cat named Dobbler, after Lloyd Dobbler in _Say Anything_. Not literary, but meh. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/38 "2006-08-29T14:17:46Z")
Depends on the animal, doesn’t it? Friends of the family had a dog named “Worf.” In context it was a hilarious name because the dog weighed about eight pounds and seven of them were hair, and its bark was this tinny little “yip!” ---
**Author:** ![Shadowfyre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfyre/32/9972_2.png) [@Shadowfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfyre)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/39 "2006-08-29T14:39:53Z")
We adopted a dog (American Eskimo) from the shelter. He was 6 years old at the time, so it was too late to change his name. His previous owners named hime Neo. I’m guessing it was after the Keanu Reeves character in ‘The Matrix’, but I suppose it could have been what they called him when they first got him, as in neo or new. When he has been a bad boy, I will look at him sternly and, in my best Hugo Weaving voice, address him as “Mr. Anderson” So, let’s see: **Predictable:** Neo **Preferred:** Morpheus (though that might be a little weird for a little white dog) **Passable:** Mr Anderson **Pretentious:** The Architect Though when you throw 5 bones at him at once, time slows down, the bones leave little trails through the air and he is able to catch all of them in a rather non-chalant way. ---
**Author:** ![melondeca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@melondeca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melondeca)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/40 "2006-08-29T14:52:55Z")
Out of my six cats, only two are named after fictional characters. Norman Bates was named so because as a kitten he was completely psycho and Bast has a face very similar to the statues of the same name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583.md?page=3)