the naming of cats

[pywacket]

How did you get your cat's names--of course they "told" you (or agreed with your choices) but was there a particular way you got to the names?

I'll tell mine.

Hotspur is my favorite (and under-rated) character in my favorite (and under-rated) Shakespearian History play 1 Henry IV. I wrote papers upon papers about his character when everyone else devoted time to Prince Hal--an obvious and easy choice in my opinion.

Mr. Newguise is more round about. I had a cat back in Arkansas, named baby Jesus. He was incontinent (would never use a box) so when I moved I had to give him to a friend with a farm where he froliced and pooed outdoors happily. Mr. Newguise followed me home one night from the donut shop on a Tenderloin corner that was a front for prostitutes. I was leaning down talking to the wee tuxedo guy when a HUGE german hooker came up and said--YOU TAKE SIE KITTIE? I said yes, if he followed me home, which he did, down the block, around the corner and up the two flights of stairs to the pathetic studio apartment in Hell. I named him Baby N Judas after the train I road all the time and because of baby Jesus. I was corrected about my 'racism' by someone (black judas goat apparently, but gee that wasn't the point and he was a jellicle)So I started calling him Judee. He is a girlie boy anyway but I got tired of correcting everyone (yes i KNOW he's a boy, but you tell HIM that) and one day, after reading MANKIND (one of my favorite medieval morality plays) and the pronunciation could sound close to Judee (noogeeze) and it just happened one day.


Miss Ninny's super special breed name is Lumen's Jennyanydots Calliope. Yeah like I'm going to get to call her that--I did get to pick out the name, from my favorite muse and The Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats but of course it wasn't practical to call her that long name. I had a dream about her when she was a kitten, riding around on a fire truck, ringing the little bell (she was a holy terror) "ning ning ning ning" and then she did something very silly so I called her a ninny, which fit better than Jenny and she was trying to be a lady (which she did grow into, a crotchety old lady) and she became Miss Ninny, everyone's maiden aunt.

Zachary was going to be Bertram because of a dream I had, but I came across the name Zachary and took it with a list of other names to meet him, with James in the airport in Orange County. We tried calling him Bertram on the way home, but it was too calm, and pretty soon I started heaing in my head "I'm ZACH!" so he became Zachary Bertram and it fits perfectly, his fancy name is Hyecatz Zachary Bertram. It's kind of a space age name too, very effective when he's playing invader Zim games (I'm Zak!!! prepare my bladder for imminent release!).

Mr. Teatime was all James. I had a list of Irish Boys names that meant things like 'gift"
and 'protected' and 'rescued'. But James saw his picture called him Mr. Teatime (we both love the discworld novels (thanks Andrew!)but we pronounce it Tea-time and not
teh-ah-teem-ah, as in the book HogFather . I wasn't sure another cat was the best idea, but once named and we knew it was the right name, he was destined to become Zach's bane.

There you have it. So how did you name YOUR cats?

Comments

I'll go first...

[sexonwheelz.livejournal.com]

Twinkle, my silver tabby, also the beauty queen of all the cats I've had, originally had the name Jessica, given her by the nice ladies who rescued her after being abandoned in an alley in Tarzana. Jessica means "star," which they thought was nice because she's silver, like a star. I hated Jessica for a cat, though, and I thought about all the things that might indicate "star" because to me, she is one, and I thought...Twinkle. It stuck.

Toes got his name because he's a polydactyl - he has six toes on each paw instead of the usual five. And hey, Twinkle and Toes. Ain't that cute?

Hee.

I did have a mottled tortie who died last year named Fizzie (http://www.skintrade.org/fizzie.html). Her full name was Vegas Fizzgig, because she got lucky when she came in my window, and Fizzie after Jana's pet in "The Dark Crystal." She sort of looked like her, and when she opened her mouth, she was all teeth, just like Fizzgig. Fizzie was my Hotspur. *sniffle*

Shake-n-Bake

[umpqua.livejournal.com]

I put them in a potato sack and toss in one of those magnetic poetry kits. Then I roll them around and let them out. Whatever sticks: Instant name!

[rfd.livejournal.com]

That would be Sybil. She's the only married female character, so...

[doeadear.livejournal.com]

Mine is not terribly original. I named my white Persian male after Kimba of the 60's Anime Kimba the White Lion but I loved that show!

[thingie.livejournal.com]

Persi got his name on the way home from the pet store. It was a Pet Doctor, which supposedly sells cats from local litters instead of factory farms. I noticed him immediately when I walked into the store. There was a kennel full of kittens, and one littermate, who was visibly larger than the rest of them, attempted to jump from one shelf to another and instead, fell off and did a massive face plant into the bottom of the cage. I immediately shouted "I want THAT one!" We weren't even going into the store to buy a cat in the first place. (Which is the same for all of my cats, actually. Cats are rarely planned, I've noticed.)

Anyway, the people at the pet store called him Rusty, because of the color of his nose. I didnt like that name, I thought it was trite. In the car on the way home, Jen and I were discussing names. I said I was considering something sarcastic like Einstein, because of the stunt-dive he took in the store. But it didnt really feel right. He was consistently meowing in the car, and the interval between each meow seemed identical to me, kind of like he was stuck on repeat. I said "He sure is a persistent little guy." to which Jen replied "Then why not name him Persistence, and you can call him Persi for short?" That pretty much sold me. He looked like a Persi. So his official name is actually Persistence, which explains why his short name is spelled the way it is.

Q'uest-ce que I found at the SPCA when I was working there as a cat socializer and behaviorist. She was ranked a 3 in temperment, (4 being the most difficult, and 1 being a very easy going cat.) so she was on my list to socialize a bit. I fell in love with her because of her voice. She doesn't really meow, she squeaks. (how dainty) Her name at the time was Kiska, and she was about 5, so I didn't want to change it, but I didnt really like it either. So I just changed the spelling to Qu'est-ce que, which is French for "what". I still pronounce it more like "kiska" then "keska", though.

Pie got her name because she told me so. I literally woke up from sleep with her name in my head, which was also the indication that she had already decided that I was to adopt her, whether I liked it or not. Her name really did start out as just Pie, but later I kept getting these messages "piebald, piebald piebald" in my head. I thought it was cute, but couldnt remember what piebald meant, so I looked it up. It means spotted, which is perfect, because she is. (oooh so that's what Pie is short for...sez I to meself) So basically not only did Pie tell me her name, she also has a more expansive vocabulary than I do.

Oscar & Mina

[(Anonymous)]

In 1992 I got a cat that only lived until early 1993 because my ex-husband basically bullied me into letting him run free like his cat did. (I won't go into the somewhat long and traumatic story. ) His name was Merlin, but, to tease me, my grandfather always called him "Oscar." So, when a new kitty came to live with us a few months after Merlin's death, I named him Oscar as a tribute.

For the little Tabby that came to live with me in late 1999, I tossed around a couple of different names like Violet and Courtney, but they just didn't feel right. Then Sherilyn suggested the extremely obvious name Mina (I'm a very big fan of vampire erotica) and I instantly knew it was the right one.

--Katrina

[therealgothikka.livejournal.com]

Evinrude Smudge - purrs so loud it sounds like an outboard motor, an Evinrude.. His nose looks like he's been digging around in poo or soil, and he's got a smudge on his nose..

Gentle Giant Ashes - Russian Blue weighing in a 19 lbs, but will lick your feet until you tell him to stop..

Shubunkin da Punkin - A shubunkin is a Japanese carp, like Koi.. I just thought it would be kinda cute to be calling "Shuuuuuu-beeeeeeeeeeeee..." Of course now he has Shuberunkin de punkin, shubes, shuby dooby the boobie, snoobs, boobs, shoo doo the boo, boo.. :)

Lady Sassafras Rustbucket - The only girl! She a cross between a ginger tabby and a red tabby, giving her the rusty colour.. and Sassy because when I got her, she was sitting in my shoulder, and in PetSmart, she farted on my face and ran under a shelf.. it took myself and 3 clerks to get her out.. on the advice of the clerks, I got her nails trimmed right away.. :)

Dodsworth - from the cartoon... :)

Bagel T. Huffnagle (passed away).. - BIG Scottish Fold lady that had a circle on her side.. I was eating a bagel trying to figure out a name for her, and she started licking my cream cheese.. she was a beautiful girl, and answered to Bagwoman, Bagley bagley, Bagelstee, Bagelschmee, Teabag, Bagels Thelma.. :)

.. and I won't go in to total detail, but my friend's sisters dogs were Fred, Valentine, Taxicab, and Squidget.

[pywacket.livejournal.com]

you know, reading all this is great. It's just the dose of catness I adore.