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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

Is it weird to name your child after a dog you used to have?

27 replies

findmeintheflowerbed · 19/09/2011 13:53

DC2 due this week...perhaps I am having a hormonal wobble as we had agreed on a name if it turns out to be a boy.
But I used to have a dog called Fred when I was a child, and was just going through that spreadsheet of baby names from the statistics website and saw Frederick. Like it a lot.
Would it be weird to name my child Frederick?

OP posts:

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Hullygully · 19/09/2011 13:55

I dunno, ds is named after our old dog (his initials make the name), so it seems all right to me.

RunnerHasbeen · 19/09/2011 13:57

You aren't calling him that because of the dog, it happens to be a name you liked then and still like now, so I can't see a problem with it.

smartyparts · 19/09/2011 13:58

It would be weird if the dog's name had been Rover or Fido, but Fred's a good human name too!

Original poster

findmeintheflowerbed · 19/09/2011 14:00

Thanks. Yes, luckily we chose a nice, normal name for our dog!
Will run it by DH tonight!

OP posts:

parentfailure · 19/09/2011 14:01

What Smartparts said

No one is going to bat an eyelid at Fred. Lovely name

ripstheirthroatoutliveupstairs · 19/09/2011 14:18

My DD is called the same name as a cat we used to have. Not Fanny, the other one

dogscatsandbabies · 19/09/2011 14:26

DD born on the day our bulldog turned 10. If she'd been a boy, I'm not sure she would have escaped having Henry in the name somewhere. But we passed on Henrietta. I heard yesterday that a woman had her baby in the lift at the hospital and they called him... Otis. I kid you not.

BlueChampagne · 19/09/2011 15:55

No-one has to know you had a dog called Fred!

LoveInAColdClimate · 19/09/2011 15:57

I'm thinking about doing this if our baby is a boy... I don't think it's weird.

Avantia · 19/09/2011 16:14

Used to have a budgie called Fred - then we found out it was a girl and was called Freda .

Fred is fine . (just make him sit for treats )

Good luck with DC2.

scarlettlips · 19/09/2011 19:11

I wanted to called DD Isla but DH said we're not naming our baby after your bloody (dead) family dog.

But I love that bloody (dead) dog as did the rest of our family.

Go for it!

newmumma · 22/09/2011 09:14

my DS has same name as our old family dog, but dog was definitely Georgie, and son is only George. Found out during the best man's speech at our wedding that DH had a ferret called George as well. Personally, and luckily I guess, it doesn't bother us at all. Its the name we like, our DS is not named after either the dog or the ferret!!

Boy did I love that dog too....

Meteorite · 22/09/2011 09:28

No, it's fine. It's not as though Frederick is a particularly "doggy" name anyway.

HPonEverything · 22/09/2011 09:31

I think it's fine! I love my dog's name (he is rescue and 'came with it') and would definitely have it for my child even though I wouldn't have thought of it myself if you get my drift.

If I were to have a son post-doggy-demise he might find himself getting named after it.

eaglewings · 22/09/2011 09:38

Friend called her son the same name as her mil's dog who had just died. It's such a nice name and the dog was adorable.

Think it's fine

YokoOhNo · 22/09/2011 09:47

Well, if the dog was called Nipper or Rover or something it would be weird, but Fred is a nice, human name too, so why not? His future employer/bank manager/GP won't know or care that his mum had a dog 40 years before with the same name.

I have a friend called Lucy who was named after a pet pig her dad had as a boy

munstersmum · 22/09/2011 09:50

I know a girl who was named after the father's yacht

YokoOhNo · 22/09/2011 09:54

munstermum moves in posher circles than me!

Original poster

findmeintheflowerbed · 22/09/2011 09:54

well, thanks for all the replies, but it turns out dh doesn't like the name anyway! Am a bit gutted tbh. Due any day, will try to persuade him...

OP posts:

munstersmum · 22/09/2011 10:38

YokoOh I was but the babysitter !

munstersmum · 22/09/2011 10:40

Go down the line of compromise - Fred as a middle name....then just start casually using it

Georgimama · 22/09/2011 10:43

I wasted my favourite girl's name on my dog (she's still alive). Persuade DH and go for it.

Fennel · 22/09/2011 10:46

We named dd2 after a cat that was still living at the time. Like many other people I'd "wasted" favourite names on pets, a long time before it seemed relevant. Then we changed the cat's name slightly, to a shortened version of "was dd2name". And the cat was "Was...." for evermore.

emmyloo2 · 23/09/2011 06:04

No problems at all and Frederick is a fabulous name. I am sure you will no relate it to your old dog once your baby is called Fred. I have the name Samuel on my list if I ever have another DS and we used to have a dog called Sammy. I don't care. I love the name!

greenzebra · 23/09/2011 08:15

I dont think its weird as long as you dont go telling people 'I named him after our dead dog' I have known two kids one called Polly and she was actually named after the dog it had died a year before and everyone in the street knew the dogs name as it was always getting out of the garden. So was a bit strange. Also know a kid who has the old family dogs name as a middle name and I didnt think that was weird as it was a lovely dog the girl grew up with.

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