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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To give my pet a human name

190 replies

Iliketoparrty · 28/09/2015 21:56

Hi I have a hamster, I just got him. I have given him a human name like Kevin but not. My SIL thinks its 1stly weird I have a hamster (I'm in my thirties) and 2ndly given him a human name.

SIL isn't pregnant but says I have taken a name way from her. She doesn't like Kevin but now I've used it she can never use it Hmm

Apparently this is a common rule for names, I should have known this. I should have waited until I knew her baby names before choosing to use a name for anything other than a baby.

Aibu to have not known this was a thing and to have laughed.

OP posts:
BrianCoxReborn · 30/09/2015 14:42

We had a cat called Matthew! He used to violate my Rainbow Brite dolls.

skyeskyeskye · 30/09/2015 16:03

Cats I have known

Tom (obvious)
Roger (he was ginger)
Malcom - not sure why
Mary - (Mungo and Midge)
Alfie (cat next door was called Audrey - think Corrie)

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 30/09/2015 16:19

Strangely enough my two DC have Dogs' Names Blush

I like proper names for male pets but cute names for female.

Our male guinea pig is Bert.

TheTigerIsOut · 30/09/2015 16:24

My friend has a terrier called Bruce, I think it sounds great. My dog is called Annie.

I'm pretty sure your SIL, though, was thinking of using Kevin... Otherwise I can't understand the reaction. Could you offer her to change the name to Tom, Jack or Dan? Grin

VeryFoolishFay · 30/09/2015 16:41

I'm sad that I don't have the only dog in the UK called Gordon.

I met two fine cockerpoos the other day called Ralph and Alan which I admired. We're going to get a similar puppy in the New Year; my DD has named him in advance. He will, apparently, be known as Luigi.

Hersetta427 · 30/09/2015 16:45

Thinking about it, my 3 yr DS old has even named his hobby horses. They are Derek and Gordon!

grimbletart · 30/09/2015 16:46

Years ago we adopted a huge fluffy stray cat.

We called him Montmorency. He just couldn't be called anything else.

NKFell · 30/09/2015 16:46

My DD is an MNer's dogs name! It actually made me smile.

LadyTmalia · 30/09/2015 17:06

My grandad was called "Charles" My mum named her dog "Charie" so I grew up knowing Charles and Charlie the dog. I named my firstborn "Charlotte" (for her now dead Great Grandfather) Her nickname is Charlie, I sometime feel weird knowing a dog in the family was called that and that my sister jokes I named her after a dog, but both are sadly long gone.

Its just a name at the end of the day :)

(my hamster is really called Charlie - I got him at 35 when none of the kids would share :) my boys have one called Grace. We had rats called girls names as well.

Only non human named pet is one of my kittens named after a video game charater (but then again, so was my son!)

Elvish · 30/09/2015 17:27

I had the occasion to look at some Pet Insurance data recently. The top 10 pet names bore a striking resemblance to the top 10 baby names. I think people like certain names and use them for the new members of their families regardless of how many legs they have.

Songofsixpence · 30/09/2015 17:47

YANBU

All our pets have human names

Except DD2's cat which she insisted on naming Princess Bubblegum (an Adventure Time fan)

Princess Bubblegum is actually a boy cat

IlPorcupinoNilSodomyEst · 30/09/2015 18:01

I have a cat called Henry and knew a horse called Jane. Have you seen the Dave Gorman routine about his cat, Queen Elizabeth the Second?!

Scoobydoo8 · 30/09/2015 18:10

Hamsters only live about 2 years so your SIL needn't worry about her future DCs having to compete.

Hoppinggreen · 30/09/2015 18:12

I called DS after a childhood pet - we do get some funny looks when we call " Rover" in the park and he comes running!!!

It IS true though ( obviously he's NOT called Rover )

Sunnymeg · 30/09/2015 18:14

BIL and SiL had a cat called Penny. When the cat was about 5 years old, new neighbours moved in next door. The lady was called Penny. Cue endless misunderstandings when BiL or SiL were calling their cat to come in and the neighbour thought they were calling her.

They tried changing the cat's name, but the cat wouldn't answer to it.

I still think it's OK to use human names as long as they're not the names of your next door neighbour Grin

ohidoliketobe · 30/09/2015 18:18

Our cat has a human name. I can remember absolutely sobbing at one particularly hormonal point in my pregnancy with DS because the only boy's name I could think of which I liked was the bloody cat's name.
All pets should have human names. Mules better than fluffy or sooty or whatever.

ohidoliketobe · 30/09/2015 18:19

*miles

DepecheNO · 30/09/2015 19:47

I've got a lizard called Lucy (Lucretia), among others. Made a point of using names I love but would never give my children, mainly because people either wouldn't pronounce them right or the names are rather OTT anyway.

beardsrock · 30/09/2015 19:48

Hilarious, OP, very original first post.

Just the fact that you have a sister who stamps her feet means that you will fit right in here!

Welcome! Grin

I want a hamster called seamus

dotdotdotmustdash · 30/09/2015 19:54

An family I used to know got themselves a new kitten and couldn't decide on a name. They decided to open the phone book randomly and name the kitten with the first name on the first page.

Brian L. Figgis (Figgis for short) lived to a ripe old age.

Littlegreyauditor · 30/09/2015 20:01

I have had dogs and horses with human names, but my cats are named after superheroes because they are Cat, and as such must have a special name befitting the rank of Cat and overlord.

I did seriously consider naming DC1 after the horse though. DH would have none of it.

JenniferYellowHat1980 · 30/09/2015 20:14

Aw. This reminds me of my cat, Neil. He was Nell until we noticed he had balls. He got jealous when DD was born and went to live at the pub.

Quietlifenotonyournelly · 30/09/2015 20:31

DD has a fish called Florence, a bearded dragon called Zigmund and a snake called Amelia-Sapphire, I had two horses, one called Gemma and one called Bridget, it's normal IMO Smile

caitlinohara · 30/09/2015 21:18

Dp insists on calling our cats Pam & Barbara on the grounds that they are like a pair of gossipy old ladies and therefore should have gossipy old lady type names. Initially I wanted to call them Thundercat and Battlecat, but i must admit they are more Pam & Barbara. We went for the middle ground, which as you can imagine left us with a pretty vast spectrum of names to choose from.

scarybiscuit · 30/09/2015 21:18

all my lot have human names..
Oliver Rupert and Ben David the rag doll cats
Daisy-Mae the Border Terrier
and Jake William the Pug!

My niece was named after my beautiful Blue Cat Emily-Jayne SIL just rejigged the middle name if you ask me!!
I am not a fan of non human names for pets..

ps the pets have middle names as i haven't got one Sad