# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/41 "2006-08-29T15:06:43Z")
Of my cats, the only one I can think of is Gypsy, who was named after one of the 'bots on _MST3K_. I do have a Buffy, (Gypsy’s litter mate), but I chose that because she’s orange (buff-colored). My sister’s the _Buffy_ fan in our family. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/42 "2006-08-29T15:25:42Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477] 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. [/QUOTE] Heh heh. I used to have a houseplant I felt the same way about. sickly little stick with five leaves on it, I used to wish it would die but I felt bad about letting it die. Now it’s this enormous bushlike thing that’s taken over a good portion of a room. Hope your fish doesn’t behave likewise. The only pets I had named after other things were two dogs named George (the first named after Curious George, the second named after the first) and my late lamented snake Boots (named after, well, boots plus, you know, no feet on a snake). My current cats are named Etta Louise and Archibald No’count, because there’s no accounting for him, Archy for short. Not sure where those all fall on the continuum. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/43 "2006-08-29T15:58:21Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Pet hamsters named after characters from _Star Trek_ [/QUOTE] I once had a hamster named “Tribble.” ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/44 "2006-08-29T16:04:32Z")
My Black Lab is named Morgana. My Yellow Lab is named Willow. Witches, they are… ---
**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, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/45 "2006-08-29T16:05:08Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477] 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. [/QUOTE] You do realize Typh will live to be 104, right? I had an African Clawed Frog (those cute little aquatic guys) who was the wrong species - instead of being one of the quarter-sized frogs, he was about 3 inches across, and 6 or 7 when all stretched out. He act everyone else in my tank, including aggressive fish and all his [del]littermates[/del] [del]podmates[/del] [del]schoolmates[/del] brothers and sisters. Damn thing lived for four years before I finally found someone to give him to. I stopped feeding him around year three, but I guess there was enough gunk in his tank for him to live off of. Monster frog. ---
**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, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/46 "2006-08-29T16:06:32Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] He act everyone else in my tank, [/QUOTE] _sigh_ ATE. He ATE everyone else in my tank. And I don’t think he ever had a name, come to think of it… ---
**Author:** ![mlerose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@mlerose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlerose)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/47 "2006-08-29T16:19:37Z")
One of our cats is named Petra, after Petra Arkanian in _Ender’s Game_. **Predictable** : Ender **Preferred** : Hot Soup **Passable** : Bean **Pretentious** : Bonzo Madrid or Mazer Rackham ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/48 "2006-08-29T16:19:57Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] 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!” [/QUOTE] I have always wanted to get a horde of chihuahuas and name them all the most evil and or all powerful sounding names I could find. Zeus Apollo Asmodeous Nicodemus Thor Ragnarok Either that or name them after Clan battlemech designs and train them to hunt in groups of five. Then I would have to have one reddish/rust colored female and name her Natasha Kerensky to fill out the picture. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/49 "2006-08-29T16:46:22Z")
My cats have literary names, but they are not all named after any character in particular. They are: Sasha- like the name Emma- like the name and also Madame Bovary Damon- Damon Runyon Otto- like the name Abigail- like the name (maybe for Abigail Adams) Jackson- like the name Jackson, Emma and Abigail are names I would give to children if I had them. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/50 "2006-08-29T18:18:30Z")
[QUOTE=badbadrubberpiggy] 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. [/QUOTE] They’re good rat names, but it _does_ sound pretentious if you know that Emory and Oglethorpe are the names of colleges in Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![FlightlessBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@FlightlessBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlightlessBird)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/51 "2006-08-29T18:24:00Z")
Here’s the _Firefly_ edition: **Predictable** : Malcolm **Preferred** : Jayne or Wash **Passable** : Kaylee **Pretentious** : Sinhon [Meet Malcolm](http://www.dogster.com/?223652) He’s a browncoat, a thief and a scoundrel. And I call him Mal. When he’s bad I mutter, “it means bad”. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/52 "2006-08-29T19:02:14Z")
The Simpsons: (has lots of good options for animal pairs) Predictable: Santa’s Little Helper or Snowball Preferred: Kang and Kodos, or Burns and Smithers if there’s a Dom/Sub relationship Passable: Lenny and Carl for males, Patty and Selma for females Pretentious: Jeff Albertson and Agnes Skinner My own dog is named Rory Calhoun from the 2 dozen and one greyhounds episode, and she is always standing and walking. It’s obscure if not pretentious. ---
**Author:** ![scule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@scule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scule)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/53 "2006-08-29T19:16:09Z")
[QUOTE=xnylder] 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. [/QUOTE] Funny, because that’s the first thing I thought of when reading the OP: From the _Illiad_ Predictable: Achilles Preferred: Paris Passable: Hector Pretentious: Agamemnon ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/54 "2006-08-29T21:04:26Z")
I used to own two fire-bellied newts named Behemoth and Leviathan after the Biblical beasts of myth. I guess that counts as pretentious. Or at least severe delusions of grandeur. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/55 "2006-08-29T21:41:38Z")
We have three hens called Snap, Crackle and Pop. Until last night we had a goldfish called Gordon, because he was originally Brown. The two others we got at the same time were called Tony and Cherie. As Ben Elton would say: ‘a little bit of politics there’ Last night my 7 year old decided to be helpful and wash the castle in the tank without telling us. He gave it a good scrub with washing up liquid and didn’t rinse it properly. 30 mins later we had 6 dead fish with bubbles coming out of their mouths. ---
**Author:** ![FlightlessBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@FlightlessBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlightlessBird)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/56 "2006-08-29T23:05:05Z")
[QUOTE=JacobSwan] Last night my 7 year old decided to be helpful and wash the castle in the tank without telling us. He gave it a good scrub with washing up liquid and didn’t rinse it properly. 30 mins later we had 6 dead fish with bubbles coming out of their mouths. [/QUOTE] That’s the plotline for a Full House episode I just watched with my 6yr old niece. You can rest easy; in the end, little Mary Kate/Ashley learned a valuable lesson. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Stinkum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Stinkum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stinkum)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/57 "2006-08-30T04:47:19Z")
I had a hamster named Hamlet. Strange little thing . . . he’d sit up on his Habitrail tower and brood all day. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/58 "2006-08-30T09:30:19Z")
[QUOTE=Stinkum] I had a hamster named Hamlet. Strange little thing . . . he’d sit up on his Habitrail tower and brood all day. [/QUOTE] Predictable: Hamlet Passable: Ophelia Preferred: Horatio Pretentious: Rosencrantz or Guildenstern, I can never tell them apart ---
**Author:** ![AndLuna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@AndLuna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndLuna)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/59 "2006-08-30T10:19:49Z")
[QUOTE=Stinkum] I had a hamster named Hamlet. Strange little thing . . . he’d sit up on his Habitrail tower and brood all day. [/QUOTE] Heh. So did I. He died. (Really. And then I got another and named it Macbeth. He lasted a little longer.) I suppose you could do a Shakespearean-tragic-heroes set. Predictable: Hamlet Passable: Romeo Pardonable: Othello Pretentious: Titus Andronicus ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/60 "2006-08-30T12:44:19Z")
Years ago, when I was more heavily into mysteries, I had a cockatiel named Sherlock and two rabbits named Fletch and Miss Marple. Today, I have one dog. The shelter where I adopted her was calling her Holly, and since it was just before Christmas, that seemed an appropriate name. So, I guess I’m over the detective phase. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583.md?page=4)