# Pet's names that were once cute but now... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 29, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506 "2004-01-29T02:21:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Grasshopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@Grasshopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grasshopper)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/21 "2004-01-30T03:08:54Z")
Ogre, I have a cat named Porkchop too! ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/22 "2004-01-30T04:31:19Z")
I knew of a lot of Australian Shepherds named Sydney a few years ago. I never quite understood that. My favorite cat of all time was named Michaelmouse. And for a while I had a cat named Jenny Greyfeathers, called JennyGray. (Ok, they’re a little self-consciously cute, but they’re still the best bit of naming I’ve done.) ---
**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:** [January 30, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/23 "2004-01-30T04:39:19Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > My Dad in his young and rebellious days named his mother’s new kitten Fritz. I suppose this must have happened in the mid 60s since I met the cat in the mid 80s and he was about or nearly 20 then. > > My poor Grandmother never knew. And when I found out it was implied that it was best if she never knew. What’s wrong with Fritz? My beloved cat of who lived to be sixteen was named Fluffy. Yes, how original. I was six years old when I got her, and I wanted a cat I could name Fluffy. She wasn’t even “fluffy”-it would have been a much better name for one of our cats now, Misty. And then there was the Westie we had up until last year-that my sister named Lassie, because she wanted a collie. ---
**Author:** ![AntaresJB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AntaresJB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntaresJB)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/24 "2004-01-30T05:47:15Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > [Barkley](http://people.hofstra.edu/staff/steven_r_costenoble/pix/Barkley/), the Caitlyn of the canine world. I just have to say that this may possibly be the cutest freaking dog I have ever seen in my life. So floooofy!!! eee! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/25 "2004-01-30T05:55:58Z")
> [@](#): > > What’s wrong with Fritz? Fritz the Cat is the name of an animated soft-porn movie from the late '60s or early '70s. Fritz is, shall we say, a rather randy cat… ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/26 "2004-01-30T07:26:02Z")
> [@Grasshopper](#): > > Ogre, I have a cat named Porkchop too! No way. Damn. 🙂 I guess it’s pretty impossible to think up a totally original name, but still. I’ve always found humorous Southernisms to be a rich mine for pet names. I named a friend’s cat Cleophus one time. His reaction? “Hey, St. Stephen’s daddy!” No, no, no. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/27 "2004-01-30T14:21:58Z")
> [@Q.N. Jones](#): > > Well, my black cat’s name is Cosmic Creepers. I think it’s hilarious, but everyone looks at me strange when I say it. Some bold people have come right out and told me it’s stupid. I think it’s a lovely name. A bit of a mouthful, but just fine. I currently have a cat named T-Top. He’s mostly white, with a streak of tabby on his back that looks sort of like an exclamation point, and a big, crooked spot of tabby right on his head. He looks as though someone slapped a toupee on his head and didn’t both to make sure it was straight. Thus, he was christened “Tabby Toupee” - T-Top for short, Tee for shorter. I think his name is clever and cute, everyone else thinks I’m slightly bizarre. I once had a dirty-grey tabby cat who had a large, triangular spot of darker grey stripes on one side - he looked like someone had left an iron sitting on him. Thus he was named “Scorch.” ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/28 "2004-01-30T19:37:39Z")
When I was a little kid we had a procession of cats, all of them black. The first one was Stokely, the second, Spade, and the third, Spook. It was years before I realized that these weren’t just cute names for cats, and I’m somewhat mortified now about them. The fourth was “Spook II”. I guess my mom ran out of “cute” names. \ They were all cool cats, though. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/29 "2004-01-30T20:00:36Z")
If you think any of the above is bad, you’ve yet to hear about my dog named Princess Wigglebutt. She didn’t become my dog until she was six, and I’m told her name was really Princess without the Wigglebutt. But the “Princess” and the “Wigglebutt” are so often juxtaposed that her name may as _well_ be Princess Wigglebutt. I find that she does wiggle her butt a lot. ---
**Author:** ![myrnajean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@myrnajean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myrnajean)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/30 "2004-01-31T00:00:30Z")
My ma had a thing for egyptian names I guess, so we had cats name Pharoh, Sheba, and Cleo. They were all Siamese. Now I have two Papillon dogs, the male is Don Sebastian (called Sebe), and the female is Dona Mariposa, (Madam Butterfly) but we just call her Mari. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/31 "2004-01-31T02:49:53Z")
I have had several cats that were rescued, that came with names already. The only one that I found totally ridiculous was “Smurf” (and no, it wasn’t a blue russian or any shade of blue whatsoever). Now imagine a middle-aged MisterThyristor walking the neighborhood trying to find an escaped (all of our cats were indoor cats) fuzzball, calling “SMURF!” and just imagine the looks I got. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/32 "2004-01-31T03:55:27Z")
> [@Steelerphan](#): > > Fritz the Cat is the name of an animated soft-porn movie from the late '60s or early '70s. Fritz is, shall we say, a rather randy cat… Ah, now I see! As far as Spook for a black cat, just call him or her Spooky and tell people it has to do with black cats and witches and Halloween. BTW, I never heard of Stokely as a slur. Thankfully, our black cat is named Piper-Grace. I don’t see anyone having a problem with that one. (Although we should have named her Hippo!) A family up the street had a cat they named Little Shit. ---
**Author:** ![Tamryne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tamryne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamryne)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/33 "2004-01-31T04:32:39Z")
Heh, so far in my life, I have had one dog, with the bad luck to go through life with the name Happy. I have no clue why he’s named Happy, cause he sure isn’t a happy dog very often. Hes cute though, and according to parents I insisted on the name, and I was in kindergarden, so Happy stuck. All I can remember is wanting the infamous name of Spike, but Happy it was. Poor dog. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/34 "2004-01-31T07:08:37Z")
> [@Steelerphan](#): > > Fritz the Cat is the name of an animated soft-porn movie from the late '60s or early '70s. Fritz is, shall we say, a rather randy cat… Actually my Dad must have gotten my name from the comics before he was animated which would have been when he was 13 or 14 years old. Hmm, about the same age I was when I found his old Mr. Naturals. ---
**Author:** ![emacularius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@emacularius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacularius)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/35 "2004-01-31T23:10:11Z")
My folks had friends with a dog named Deeohgee. I had a Black tegu named Rupert…it turned out he was a she…this isn’t too uncommon of an occurrence for reptiles, though. The neighbors have a ferret named Dips **t, they used to have a dog named Little B** \*\*\*, and a cat named Crackhead. My mom’s thing was to name her dogs the first thing anybody called them…hence our beloved boston terrier “Whiskey”. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/36 "2004-01-31T23:44:37Z")
When I was a little boy in Memphis, we had a black dog named Tarbaby. I guess that’s better than Nigger. My current cat is named Caligula. Had I known what the tiny kitten would turn into, I would have named his Lardass or possibly Gutbucket. ---
**Author:** ![blasphmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@blasphmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blasphmer)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/37 "2004-02-01T05:44:30Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > My Dad in his young and rebellious days named his mother’s new kitten Fritz. I suppose this must have happened in the mid 60s since I met the cat in the mid 80s and he was about or nearly 20 then. > > My poor Grandmother never knew. And when I found out it was implied that it was best if she never knew. Is there a joke i’m too young fer in this here post? ---
**Author:** ![blasphmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@blasphmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blasphmer)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/38 "2004-02-01T05:46:22Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > We rescued our dog from a no-kill shelter. Her name was Bernadette. We immediately dubbed her Bernie. Why would one name a dog Bernadette?? Weird. That’s the second dog i’ve seen wit that name. Golden lab or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/39 "2004-02-01T05:48:48Z")
As a child we had a cat named “Doc”, because he always had his little black bag with him. You see, he was a siamese and when he would walk away you could see… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506/40 "2004-02-01T05:50:53Z")
We have three cats; the third was sort of dumped on us by accident. We couldn’t think of a name for him, so we kept calling him “the happy cat,” since he seemed happy. So, now, his name is Happycat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pets-names-that-were-once-cute-but-now/226506.md?page=3)