Human Names for Pets

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Why do some people make a big deal about giving "people" names to their pets? My mother-in-law was making a big deal about our cat being called Elizabeth after our niece, Elizabeth, was born. She said we should change the cat's name and she was offended by cats having human names.

It's not like I don't know the difference between an animal and a human. And if somebody got a pet pig and called it Barbara, I wouldn't mind at all.

Is your name Barbara?

Also, well, I do not see the big deal either, but my godfather told me a story about how a former neighbor of his used to hate him, and went so far as naming her dog after him so she could say stuff like "Bob, get into the house! Bob, stop eating your sh*t" and so on.

It's your cat, and she was named Elizabeth first.

I read once on a cat lover forum about a persian kitty having my name - Magda. Quite a popular dog name is Kubuś here - it's a very affectionate form of the name Jakub, which is a human one. Sonia is a very common dog one too, but when given to a human girl, it's a rare, not very Polish and very pretensious name then.

I'm perfectly okay with that. I've seen cats with the people names all the time: "Shelly", "Marshall", "James", "Molly", "Angel", "Caspar", "Amy", and "Andrew"(originally called "Kitty 2" because they had no name for him - I nicknamed him Scrapper, because he was often slightly dirty and very adventurous kitten - he was later named "Andrew", but the name did not fit, in my mind) to name a few.

My dog's name is Jack.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrK00l5xXBk[/youtube]

I don't see the big deal either. People will be offended by anything. I'd think it be awesome if anyone named their pet after me

I've had several pets with human names. Viggo, Jakob, Pia, Nikita, Benny and Madeleine. I've also known the pets of others' who also had given them human names, like Tina, Eskil, Max and Charlie.

I never knew people made a fuss about it. I have known animals with human names. My psychologist had a yellow Lab named Jake. I had a cat named Michelle and another cat named Jasmine. Even one of my old neighbors had a cat named Jasmine too. I had these other neighbors that lived next door when I was 7 and 8 and their yellow Lab's name was Kate. My brother's old friend's parents had a cat named Joe. My Dad's friend had a cat named Mickey and it was a girl and they had a dog named Porter which is a human last name.

When we gave my uncles' Shih Tzu to one of my brother's friends, they named her Molly but sadly she took off and got killed. When our old dog had a litter of puppies, one of our neighbors came down and took one of them home when we were giving them away and they named her Holly. My brother's kept one of the puppies and named him Dale but sadly had to be put to sleep because he got ran over. We also had a dog named Maggie and she was named after the black Lab my parents had before I was born and then sold her when I was a baby.

My dog's name is Missy. Not really my idea but in a way it was my idea just not originally. I'm not good at naming so I re-used the name of another female pitbull that our neighbors had that passed away. It seemed fitting because both dogs were the same breed, some of the same markings, and same disposition.
I have mixed feelings about pets with traditionally human names. I've never met one with my name although my name is quite common.

I don't really mind human names at all. My dog's name is Walter.

I like the idea of a Japanese bobtailed cat named Bob. Teehee.
In reality, I have a cat named Eulalia, which is an actual human name.

I used to have a cat called George and a cat named Sebastian. Sebastian's sister was called Chloe.

I think I have heard that in some cultures it's frowned upon or even forbidden to give animals human names.

That being said, I personally have no problem with it. At different points in my life, I have owned a dog named Maggie, and cats named Cody, Thomas and Larry.

well my hedgehogs name is Rose after Amy Rose, and my ferrets names are Spartacus and Sura

Who is Saban?
When I wiki that name I get all sorts of resuls: Saban Capital Group, the Saban ethnic group in Malaysia, a town in Iran, and a bunch of people. Though naming your dog after Saban Capital Group would be pretty unique. Just like dogs name Freddie or Fannie are named after the housing thingies. I could see two cat siblings being named Lehman Brothers.