Why do you name your pets what you name them?

[Minifig]

Do your pets have any special names, or do their names have any special significance?

If so.. What?

Like I said before;

or

Will probably be named Shadow in honor/remembrance of my cat that I raised from four weeks old to fifteen years and four weeks old. I lost him due to the fact he developed cancer, and he had to be put down April 4th 2010.. I will always miss that cat.

But how about you?.. Why do you name your pets what you name them?

[Acherontia]

I usually try and name them something that captures the essence of the pet for me.

Whether it's the name of a mythical beast (my Krush is named Valak after a god that reveals the location of hidden serpents), an adjective (my OCJ is named Grim), or a word that seems to fit the whole "idea" of the pet (Loque's named Chaos), or even a double-word that matches the pet's personality (my black diseased bear is named Rotclaw), I try and catch the whole feel or theme of the pet--for me--in the name

My worm is named Ruin, my Skoll, Zodiac; my white worg is Windbiter and my silithid ant is called Harbinger. I try to keep them short and to the point

[Vephriel]

I usually try and name them something that captures the essence of the pet for me.

Whether it's the name of a mythical beast (my Krush is named Valak after a god that reveals the location of hidden serpents), an adjective (my OCJ is named Grim), or a word that seems to fit the whole "idea" of the pet (Loque's named Chaos), or even a double-word that matches the pet's personality (my black diseased bear is named Rotclaw), I try and catch the whole feel or theme of the pet--for me--in the name

Good way of putting it, and I'd have to say I'm the same way. I can never really tell what a pet will be named until I tame them and it comes to me.

[Setanta]

I've sometimes gone weeks before naming a pet. And on occasion (especially back with the much smaller stable) would name a replacement pet the same name as one I dismissed. A lot of times, the name for a pet with me is based mostly on the species of the pet. Wolves I've had generally tended to be named Fenrir, Fenrus, or Cuchulainn. I've probably had quite a few Sasha's as cats, and in the past I named a few bears Misha.

Normally I try to hold to mythology and legends for pet names. But sometimes I'll just go for more classical or regular fiction.

[Griffley]

My silithid is called Dancer, for obvious reasons

[SylviaDragon]

I usually try to give my pets good names that fit them. (with the exception of my cat Boyfriend and my turtle meatshield, bit of an inside joke with those two) Named a few in Latin and Greek. Pathos, Phobos and Demos are a few i can remember. named one Apophis too, thought it was fitting for a devilasur since he was in a crater. also name a lot of pets after characters from an old fan fiction. Shadowsin, Chronarth, Aris, Sedalb, Alico. As for my ghost pets I usually go with names like Haunt, Banshee, Everfade... and i just cant help but name my silithids after SC units >.>
Then there is my black raven from blades edge. I named him Zamies in loving memory of the abandoned baby starling I adopted, but just before he was old enough to be set free, there was an accident and he died. R.I.P Zamies i love you.
I guess i just have a verry wide range when it comes to naming my pets.

[Layiaissa]

It depends on the hunter I'm on. Most of them have themes. My night elf and tauren name thier pets to honor two different table top rpgs epic lines that I was in. My blood elf names hers after metals and jewels. My spacegoat all have names that begin with 'f'. My four year old daughter names all my troll's pets. The only one that is random is my dwarf, and she still keeps the names of the rares she tames.

[MaximumOverdrive]

Almost all my pets are named after Transformers or Yuusha...cause...well...those are two of my all time fav things!

[Kurasu]

Mine are named... really, what they're named. Like people up above have said, my pets have names because that's special to me. Some of my pets are named on the spot with an amusing or cutesy name, some of them I take a long time to think on it (Doden actually took me weeks), and others I have the name even before I have the pet (like 'Anguish' the Death Ravager).

Even now I have a few unnamed pets waiting for that one perfect name to pop up!

[MeAjur]

Originally I gave my pets Spanish names. My first cat was named Gato. First wolf was named Perro. But I gave that up on the first pet after taming King Bangalash (Rey is king in Spanish, but I thought it looked like other people would think I misspelled Ray) which was a white owl (who I recently had to release back into the wild since she apparently molted and had turned GRAY!) named Aedriel. In my off-WoW hours I occationally pretend I'm a fantasy writer and the name of my hunter (Marel) comes from one of my books. So does Aedriel, and now so does all of her other named pets. The replacement bird for my formerly white owl is named Ædriel.

Same thing with my human hunter (Perihawk), except different book.

[Pent]

Dart Board.

But seriously... I don't name most of mine because I can't find a name that fits them.

[Tsaikojen]

My characters an undead hunter that uses pets that either look undead, ghostly or could carry the plague. Just tamed Lone Hunter with the knife in his head and named it Spiritbind implying the dagger is binding that spirit to the living world. My black beetle tank is Gravedigger, my undead eagle is Rend, my burning boar is Krematoro (cremator), Gondria is Phairse, ect. If it has a reliable pulse I want nothing to do with it!

[Gelannerai]

For some, the names revolve around things that capture the nostalgia of my childhood, such as:

Grimlock-Devilsaur
Swoop-Dragonhawk
Slag-Rhino (yeah I know, but so far it's the closest thing)
Frenzy-silithid
Gamera-turtle

Others I try to name according to various mythos and cryptozoological references, for instance:

Fenris-wolf (also first pet I ever tamed)
Athena-white Owl
Garm-red Plaguehound
Janus-corehound
Styx-chimaera
Jing-fox
Khorkhoi-worm

And still others come from other literary or television-based references:

Poe-stormcrow
GIR-scorpid (white with bright aqua eyes/highlights, which is the same coloring as GIR on Invader Zim)
Spaceghost-ghostsaber (named for my Ranger's pet cat in Guild Wars)

I always let the spirit beasts keep their original names, as I feel they deserve it since they're demi-gods and probably at least as intelligent/sentient as my character is.

[Ollof]

My first pet that I did not view as a tool to get the job done was Sian-Rotam. I had to kill two level 60 Horde to tame him. Way back before the quest was for both factions. I named him Conquest.

I normally don’t name a pet unless the pet does something to earn it, IE hit level cap. Or if someone makes a comment about it that sticks I will go with that. Uhk'loc got the name of BlueBawls.

I had a Nameless turtle that I would “hide” gnomes in for PvP, his name was AllyTacTic got the name during a 5 hour AV.

My Grim Totem was named after the Shami pet that they summon, for obvious reasons….now that Dwarfs can be Shamis…..ooooh the deceitfulness.

[Miraga]

my names are totally random, tbh. My old yellow worm was named Gelb (yellow in german), my wolf is named Huttser (after a wolf in a book), my warpie is named Xiuhcoatl (an aztec god) and my kitty is named Kohta (a character in my faaaaavorite anime Elfen Lied). My very very first pet EVER was a green spider named Snuggles.

[Acherontia]

On a related note, does anyone else ever find that a bond is made or not made with a pet due to its name?

Like maybe you gave it an ill-fitting name that seemed perfect at the time, and it's just not -right-?

I had a Shango tiger on the PTR (was too excited to wait) and named it Thorn. While that was the PERFECT name for my old Durotar tiger, I couldn't get it to fit on a saber, and I didn't click with Shango.

On Live, I've named him Ochre, and I just adore him <3

[Vephriel]

I've had that a few times Acherontia! When I find a name that fits a pet better, and suddenly the pet means WAY more to me because it's finally 'right'.

[Neith]

I've stuck with a Silmarilion theme for naming all of my pets, though I've named one or two other names that came to me that just felt right for them. Like Isfin, Curufinwe, Carcaroth, Glaurung, Wirilome, etc.

[Kryte]

On a related note, does anyone else ever find that a bond is made or not made with a pet due to its name?

Like maybe you gave it an ill-fitting name that seemed perfect at the time, and it's just not -right-?

I had a Shango tiger on the PTR (was too excited to wait) and named it Thorn. While that was the PERFECT name for my old Durotar tiger, I couldn't get it to fit on a saber, and I didn't click with Shango.

On Live, I've named him Ochre, and I just adore him <3

I think that's the case with my red crab, Solst. I really wanted to name it Bilbo, but as I'm an RPer, it's rather hard to justify the pop-culture name.

[nirvana]

Whatever fits the personality/appearance of the pet. I usually go for serious names, though I've been known to throw the occasional silly name in there. My current stable consists of:

Forserious Names
Shia the (Loque) Spirit Beast...because Shia is such a quiet, wise-sounding name, and that's what she is.
Goliath the (King Krush) Devilsaur. Because he's a huge monster
Grimshaw the oil-coated Wolf, it's an old-fashioned name that I felt fit because of his black coat and the nickname "Grim"
Morgana the oil-coated Hawk. Duno, such a dark-sounding female name seemed to fit her appearance.
Aether the sunwell dragonhawk. Aether is "the ancient Greek personification of the clear upper air of the sky". And also the name of my blue d-hawk mount.
Dargonax the Chromaggus. Dargonax means "devourer" in Draconic, which easily fits a two-headed dragon-dog.
Myst the (temp? hopefully not) spirit Wolf. I just feel Myst suits a ghostly pet, it was once the name of my Gondria.
Ashmane the flaming boar. I was having trouble with thinking of non-silly names for him before I remembered the boars in Blasted Lands and realized how well that particular mob's name suited my boar as a personal name.


Forlol Names
Splat the white moth. Obviously a silly name, and it always made raid members chuckle when I'd say after she died, "OMG! Splat went splat!"
Joystick the ghostly jormungar. Silly name with light innuendo. Couldn't help myself >.>
Asunder the black outland raptor. I'm not very creative with reptile names, so I named him this because I was only taming him as... A Sunder. *badumching*
Precious the Princess with ribbon, a /nod to my favorite mob in all of Icecrown, even though I never did see her ribbon drop.