To call my black dog Sooty?

[PaxMalmKallax]

DH says we can’t name our new puppy Sooty because he is black and people might get offended. Is that the case? Sorry for my ignorance.
Puppy gets microchipped by the breeder next week and I’d like to have named him by then. Any better ideas are gratefully received!

Calling a black cat / dog / horse/ whatever Sooty isn't racist. Calling a person Sooty because they are black is. Hth.

It's not racist, but it's a shit name! Sorry OP! You call him what you like though.

Sooty was a derogatory racist term used in the 70s - I’d avoid it

As a pp said previously, YABU - it is a cat's name.

Practically every black cat I met as a child was called Sooty. All the white ones were Snowy (great imaginations - our was called Fluffy ). But then Sooty and Sweep were a big thing on the television (and they were both shades of grey because B&W). It would be like calling your cat Bart or Spongebob or Pepper.

I'm not sure how many people would take offense to it, particularly given how common a name it is for various pets.

It is a racial slur though, so personally I wouldn't use it. Why choose one of the handful of names that is also a racial slur, when there are millions of alternatives?

To continue the combustion theme, what about Ash instead?

"Sooty" is clearly racist - you may as well give it the name of the dog in The Dambusters ffs. Sooty (and Sweep) are both racist names, one gets sooty (i.e. covered in soot) if one is a (chimney) sweep, meaning a white person has a blackened face, which is unacceptable nowadays. (Before someone says "why do you assume the chimney sweep is white?" how many BAME chimney sweeps have you come across?)

Always chuckle when people say how unimaginative a name is. They usually have this air of "You're not creative. I am. I can do better. Lah-dee-dah". Yet, most of them have pets named Bob or Meg or something 'normal' other people can recognise.

I doubt these 'unimaginative' people are going "Hmm, I want to CREATIVELY name this pet", then fail to find something mind-blowing. They just pick a name, like you.

If you want to be really imaginative, give your pet a name no one has ever heard of - make up a name that has nothing to do with anything or something you think the pet should be or something they did once before or a word for your hopes and dreams. Then you can climb on your soapbox and tell others how unimaginative their pet names are.

Just saying.

Never heard Sooty used as a racist word by the way but if people around you will recognise it as such, then I wouldn't use it. If it will make you think of black people each time you use it, then I wouldn't use it. If not, who cares? Calling an animal Sooty as a name is different from calling someone Sooty as an insult.

Sooty (and Sweep) are both racist names, one gets sooty (i.e. covered in soot) if one is a (chimney) sweep, meaning a white person has a blackened face, which is unacceptable nowadays. (Before someone says "why do you assume the chimney sweep is white?" how many BAME chimney sweeps have you come across?)

I'm sorry, but
In what universe is Sweep racist? Sooty at a stretch, but Sweep fgs!!

Unless your post was sarcastic, in which case well done, you got me!!

@evenBetter

It’s one of those names where zero thought has been put in, like brown dogs called coco, white=snowy, black=sooty. Yawn.

"Coco" is literally violent to any clownophobes within earshot.

No I am not being serious.

Where has OP gone?

OP has probably gone to get their water pistol.

"Sooty" is clearly racist - you may as well give it the name of the dog in The Dambusters ffs. Sooty (and Sweep) are both racist names, one gets sooty (i.e. covered in soot) if one is a (chimney) sweep, meaning a white person has a blackened face, which is unacceptable nowadays. (Before someone says "why do you assume the chimney sweep is white?" how many BAME chimney sweeps have you come across?)

Genuinely not sure if you're joking, but I really don't get your drift here. Are you saying that the idea of a white chimney sweep getting their face covered in soot while cleaning a chimney is racist?

How about Jet?

Jet?
Could that be offensive to those from the Gladiator TV programme?

Negro is a legitimate Spanish word for Black. Would you name your black dog or horse that? Sooty is a word once used disparagingly by the English for people of colour. Hence it should not be used a name for anyone, human or animal.
You should consider reading more before shooting a reply from the hip.

Used to know a black lab called Sooty. Lovely dog. I think it’s fine.

Oh look, ANOTHER thread where the OP posts goady content, and then doesn't return. 🙄

Nothing to see here. 😏

Of course you can! Lovely name!
My friend's white cat is called Blanca (Spanish for white). Pretty name for a pretty cat.

Well Thank op I'm going to call my new goldfish sooty now. Why because I can and I'm sick of people trying to dictate how we live our lives its a name for a dog FFS.

If you take offence that I call my fish sooty or your dog sooty then you really need to give your head a wobble.

The thread is over a year old.

She's probably moved on.

Isn’t is just the name from sooty and sweep? I’ve known loads of cats called sooty!

I once had to deal with a racist incident in a pub I worked in which, among other things, one of the regulars kept shouting 'Oi, Sooty' at a black customer. Really grim.

I personally wouldn't use it for that reason. I don't think it's intrinsically racist or anything but it will have those associations for some people.

Sooty the puppet is not called Sooty because he is black - he isn't, he's a yellow bear. He is called Sooty because when his original puppeteer first appeared with him on television it was before the days of colour TV and his features didn't stand out on black and white telly, so he used soot from the fireplace to stain his ears and nose. That's why Sooty today is yellow with black ears.

Op why not name your dog shadow instead of sooty?