Bookish Pet Names

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on March 4, 2015 | 21 Comments


novelthoughts

So, my dog’s name is Zenith. I’ve had a lot of reactions to that name over the years: Xena? No, Zenith. Ze-what? Zenith. Like, the TV brand? Um, no. The truth is, she’s named after Zenith SunSoar from The Wayfarer Redemption series by Sara Douglass. My youngest cat, River – short for RiverStar – is named after RiverStar SunSoar from the same series. And I’ve thought about naming a future male pet Drago, short for DragonStar…you guessed it, SunSoar. I would love to name a future pet Buruu!

I also have other animals named after fictional characters. A dachshund named Loki – Marvel comics/movies. A black cat named Luna – Sailor Moon. (I totally want a white male to name Artemis!!) A tabby named Gizmo – Gremlins. The only animal I currently own that’s not named after a fictional character is Oreo, who is black and white. (Creative, right? …Shut up, I was a teenager.)

Am I the only person who does this? Share some of your bookish/fictional pet names with me!

Jessi (Geo)

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21 responses to “Bookish Pet Names

  1. It’s so cute that you name your pets after literary characters, Jessi! I’ve stopped having pets since I was ten, and I used to just name them after objects that they looked like. I remember having a fish named Knife… Ha!

  2. I have a tabby cat named Katniss! She was a stray that we took in. Named her Katniss because she was a survivor! Lol :) Not book related, but I have another cat name Audrey after Audrey Hepburn, a cat named Drew after Drew Brees, and a black lab named Peyton after Peyton Manning! We like football, obviously! :)

  3. Stephanie H.

    You’re definitely not the only one. My husband and I adopted our dog from a shelter back in 2007. We were going back and forth with names when he suggested Dorian, short for Dorian Gray, and it fit! We decided to try and name all our pets after literary characters after that. We now have two cats as well. One is named Jenks, after the foul mouthed loveable pixy from Kim Harrison’s Hollows series. The other is named Brimstone, from both a drug in the Hollows series and the chimera in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I really want to get a so ugly it’s cute dog (like a bulldog or shelter mutt) and name him Terrible (from Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghost series).

  4. I love this. I had a hamster called Snuffles, which was the name Sirrius used when writing to Harry. I think that’s the only bookish name I’ve used.

    I did have a Hamster called Gizmo from The Gremlins, another hamster called Pipkin after Andy Pipkin from Little Britian, and our current cat is called Kit after the Knightrider car, but with only one T.

  5. I named my dog Cooper after a character from Nalini Singh’s Declaration of Courtship, but also because I thought its quite the unique dog name, at least in Germany ;)
    So, no, you’re not alone :D

  6. Oh I totally name my pets after books or TV shows. I have a dog named Daphne for Daphne Du Maurier. I also really want to have a dog named Amelia Pond from Doctor Who. Oh and a little dog named Bumbersnoot from Etiquette and Espionage. And someday I am going to get a Newfoundland and name her Hagrid!

  7. I totally want a pet kitten one day called Loki, best Marvel character ever (serious Tom Hiddleston fan right here)! I love these names, they’re more creative than names like ‘Snowball’ or ‘Rex’. Oreo is an awesome one too!

    Katrina @ Chased By My Imagination

  8. This sounds super cute! I don’t have any pets right now, but I want to name one of my future dogs something to do with history…maybe from a historical fiction novel! I also really like the name Clove, from the Hunger Games. That sounds kind of cute for a cat to me.

  9. I never thought of naming my animals after book characters. I used to have 2 cats. One was Indiana Jones and the other was Dora the Explorer, they both totally fit their names. I now have a very small yorkie named Buster and a green cheek conure named Bubbles.

  10. All of my pets came from shelters and already were old enough to be named. Luckily, none of the names are too terrible; my cat’s name is Moxie. But I’ve always wanted to name a cat after characters from Daughter of Smoke and Bone, specifically Ziri.

  11. Does it count if it’s a fictional pet? LOL In the book I’m currently working on, the female character is a former EOD (Explosives Ordinance Division) Specialist in the army and her four-legged partner is a German Shepherd named Spartacus. The hubby and I were big fans of the show SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND on Starz. When I was writing YA, the female character in my second novel had two semi-tamed wolves as pets named Judah Earl (after the villain in the movie THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS) and D’Artagnan (the Musketeers, obviously) Maxx.

  12. No way! I totally name my pets after fictional characters too! I had a fish tank a few years ago, and all of the fish were names after Lord of the Ring characters. They were all very beautiful, but I’m not very good at taking care of fish. Cats are much easier, so I plan to stick with them going forward. My cat’s name is Fargo, which is the name of one of a character on my favorite TV show. But, I had a few rough drafter names before that. First he was going to be named Garrus for the Mass Effect video games. Then he was going to be Ryker from Star Trek: the Next Generation. Fargo seemed much fitting in the end though.

  13. Are you kidding? I think it’s pretty freaking awesome that 90% of your pets are named after fictional characters. :D Personally, I have a dog called Hachii (not technically after a fictional character, but after a historical one – Hachiko!) and I would LOVE a cat called Eos (again, not technically a fictional character, but the Greek titan of dawn).

  14. Melissa @ Writer Grrl Reads

    My kitty is named Romeo — pretty obvious who that one is named after! He came from the SPCA with the name Love because of a black heart-shaped mark on his “wrist.” We loved the name (ha ha!) but I often call my husband “Love,” so we knew it would be confusing. So we wanted to pick another love-sounding name, and he and I were both English majors, so the choice was obvious =)

  15. You are definitely not the only person! When I got my first cat, I named her after Lorelai Gilmore. After she passed away, I ended up kind of sad, and I brought home two kittens a few months later. They were called Lana and Lizzie. I kept Lizzie, but changed it to be after Lizzie Bennet. I didn’t like the name Lana, so now she’s Luna after Luna Lovegood.

  16. Shyanne

    Love it! I have a hamster named Jace after Jace from the mortal instruments, but I just got a new cat that’s female, black and white and spunky and playful but kind of shy and I want to name her after a fictional character. Any ideas?

  17. Julia

    I have a black Doberman named Acheron from Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series. We call him Ash for short sometimes. I love the name! Got plenty others picked out, but husband won’t have any more dogs :(

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