# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/61 "2006-08-30T14:32:01Z")
I used to have a hygenically-challenged cat named Uncle Fester. My kids’ current cat is Space Ghost. Predictable: Brak Passable: Zorak Preferred: Space Ghost Pretentious: Either every possibilty is pretentious, or none of them are. I still haven’t figured that out. ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/62 "2006-08-30T14:37:49Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I had a neighbor growing up who did indeed name their boxer pup **Rocky**. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Seems like a good name to me. A pun on boxer, tough sounding name for a tough looking dog, I don’t see a problem with it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/63 "2006-08-30T15:00:37Z")
The only fictional character name we used is Ichabod. I don’t know if that’s pretentious, but it’s fun to say. Ichabod Ichabod Ichabod. The rest of our cats are named for people. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/64 "2006-08-30T15:02:08Z")
Damn. I forgot to mention that I know of people who named their whippet “Devo.” Still not fictional, but it makes me giggle. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/65 "2006-08-30T15:09:18Z")
[QUOTE=BluePitbull] Seems like a good name to me. A pun on boxer, tough sounding name for a tough looking dog, I don’t see a problem with it. [/QUOTE] Not a problem at all, just utterly predictable, as per the thread title. I’ve known at least four boxers named Rocky since. Three of them were canine. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/66 "2006-09-02T02:49:06Z")
Predictable: Strong Bad Passable: Senor Cardgage Preferred: Homestar Pretentious: Lem Sportsinterviews ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/67 "2006-09-02T03:05:06Z")
[QUOTE=scule] 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 [/QUOTE] I named my dog, a border collie-pyranese mix, Ajax. I was aiming for pretentious, but everyone just thinks I named him after the cleanser. ---
**Author:** ![lobstermobster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobstermobster/32/10033_2.png) [@lobstermobster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobstermobster)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/68 "2006-09-02T04:02:46Z")
My dog’s name is Ignatius from _A Confederacy of Dunces_ I don’t know how pretentious that is. I got him in New Orleans when I was at Tulane. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/69 "2006-09-02T04:33:10Z")
I had a cat when I was in High School named Virgil Tibbs (we called him Virgil, but sometimes, we’d call him Mr. Tibbs) – why, because he was one cool cat. Currently we have a cat named Koriand’r after Starfire from the Teen Titans. When I was but a wee lad, I had a cat named Thomasina after a cat in a Disney show. Also, when a wee one, I had a toy tractor that I rode around on named Bullet (After Roy Rodgers Dog – it seems I had te dog and horse’s name backwards, should have told them something right then). A dog named Duke after the Clampett’s dog Duke. We had a large Lop bunny named Bigwig. My daughter named a cat Ariel after the little Mermaid I think because said cat tended to jump in the bathtub with my daughter and play. I have a friend who names almost all of her cats in some way regarding fiction or history she reads: Lex Luthor, evil kitty genius – who was introduced that way consistently Indy Alex P. Kitten (pun on Alex P. Keaton) Shadowfax Wickett Starbuck Eliot (E.T.) Oh, and she has a dog named I’chia after Spock’s childhood pet (mentioned only, AFAIK, on the animated series) That’s all off the top. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/70 "2006-09-02T06:40:04Z")
My best friend and I were Civil War reenactors. Confederate, of course! He had a cat named _General Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard_. “Beau” for short. Pretentious? Oh yes. Because Beau was a Maine Coon. [southern accent] A YANK-KAH!? [/southern accent] ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/71 "2006-09-02T07:20:31Z")
I have an orange tabby named Otis Redding. Except when he maniacally charges around in the morning and at dusk, he just sits on the dock of the bay. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/72 "2006-09-02T21:18:28Z")
I had a cat named “Starbuck,” as in Mr. Starbuck from Moby Dick. (Pretentious, but he looked like a nautical cat to me.) Everybody assumed he was named after the coffee chain. (Predictable enough, I suppose!) (Nobody thought he was named after the Battlestar Galactica character, oddly enough.) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/73 "2006-09-02T22:17:36Z")
One of my cats is named Bottom, after the character in _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_. Then she turned out to be female, so now it just sounds sexist. But the name stuck. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/74 "2006-09-02T23:54:37Z")
I have 2 cats Xena,The Warrior Kitty Mister Mistoffolees named after a character in the musical Cats. Other cats Ive had Flash named after the Queen song. Blue Duck fom a character in Lonesome Dove. Not fictional but had 3 others named Brian Roger and Freddie named in honor of the band Queen(sorry John) ---
**Author:** ![Mapache](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@Mapache](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mapache)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/75 "2006-09-03T01:20:41Z")
I had two Labradors when I lived in Ecuador, named Johann Sebastian Bark and Woofgang Amadeus Mozart. Beat that for pretentious. ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/76 "2006-09-03T01:37:59Z")
My cat’s name is Jekyll, as in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It’s probably fairly high on the pretentious scale, but since he’s actually called Booger more often than not, I find that he’s pretty humble about it. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/77 "2006-09-03T01:44:35Z")
She died a few years ago, but I had a dog named Zeke after [this cartoon](http://bama.ua.edu/~sprentic/672%20Far%20Side-social%20influence.jpg). (Note to self: Do not ever give a pet a sexually misleading name again.) Now my wife and I have a girl-cat named Bean. Bean had a brother named Barley, but he got run over about ten years ago. I think Bean and Barley are from a poem of some kind? Not sure. I know there’s a famous haiku by [Basho](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsuo_Bash%C5%8D) about a cat “who lives on love and barley,” but I don’t think that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/78 "2006-09-03T02:27:39Z")
I have a cat named Tobermory, after the cat in the short story by H.H. Munro(Saki). I’m glad he doesn’t have the “cattitude” that the original did. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/79 "2006-09-03T04:17:39Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] I had a rat called Lucretia, after the Borgia. Pretentious? Yes, I do believe so, but I was only 18. [/QUOTE] I just got two kittens. The first was a stray I got a few weeks ago and having been re-reading a book on the English Civil War recently I named him Prince Rupert ( aka “Rupert” ), who I always found to be kind of a fascinating character. Among a number of contributing factors was that said kitten had showed up where he was found trailing after a neighbor’s dog. I therefore wanted a dog association in there somewhere and Prince Rupert of the Rhine was notorious for his poodle Boye ( some superstitious Roundheads considered it a witch’s familiar ). Also, he just looked like the sort of kitten that’d be into mezzotint engraving 🆒 . The need to get him a companion to keep him company and wear him out ( he’s an inexhaustible ball of energy, like most kittens ) led me to adopt a friend for him the other day. Needless to say I _had_ to name him Oliver Cromwell ( aka “Ollie” ). He’s jet black and looks more than evil enough to have oppressed milions of Irish Catholics in a former life ;). I’m 38. No excuses for my pretension :p. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583/80 "2006-09-03T11:02:27Z")
My cat is Max, after the little boy in _Where the Wild Things Are_, because he enjoys the wild rumpus so much. I don’t think naming your cat after a children’s book character is too pretentious, is it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-named-after-fictional-characters-the-spectrum-from-predictable-to-pretentious/370583.md?page=5)