First of all have you voted in the BAAs public vote for the Best Animal Name? You have until 8pm tonight (Mon 23rd Feb 2015) to vote!! You can either vote with a comment in the post from last week or here on this post or on our Facebook page where there are pictures of all the animals listed. The nominations are:
Boris Johnson (a pig)Having run this bit of frivolity (and I once knew a horse called Frivolity) it set me wondering as to how people name their pets. We've met a couple of new pets on #AnimalTales including Opie and Roxydog and I would love to know how these animal come by their names.
(The) Firkin (cat)
Coco Chanel (a pig)
Fluffy Chick (our oldest hen)
Erol Flynn (a turkey) - posthumous award ... we are after Christmas after all.
Foggy the Moggy (a cat)
In France it is traditional to name your pet starting with the letter of the alphabet for that year. 2 years ago this was H, hence Harry got his name from the rescue centre. 2 years before that it was F which is why we have Foggy, Fumée and Firkin. Before we got Foggy and Fumée and before we knew about this naming tradition we had another grey kitten called Smoky, who sadly died. The boys wanted another grey cat and so when 2 kittens became available it seemed sad to separate them. Fumée means smoke in French (in honour of Smoky) and Foggy seemed to fit his grey colour and just suited him. Having a name "just suit" an animal is often how they come by their names although having a pig who bears an uncanny similarity to Boris Johnson does help!
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| Both Boris Johnsons |
If you are wondering about Firkin, it is a sort of derivation from Furry Kitten and is in fact a size of beer barrel. Only after naming him did Simon wonder if it might not such a good idea - after all yelling "Have you seen the Firkin cat?" could be misunderstood! Turns out he is a right Firkin cat and the name suits him perfectly!!
Ha! He does REALLY look like Boris doesn't he - and I quite fancy Boris!
ReplyDeleteErrrm - which one? LOL
DeleteIt took me a moment to realise you were asking which Boris Mammasaurus fancied, the pig or Mr Johnson.
DeleteOur two cats were named after two areas of South Yorkshire that held good memories for us: Gawber and Wentworth - if we get another it will be called Pogmoor....
ReplyDeleteLOL - there is some poor unsuspecting kitten out there blissfully unaware of what it might be named. Luckily you didn't come from the next hamlet to us, that's called Crapouville ;)
DeleteThat's an interesting naming tradition, so you can almost guess the age of the pet if you know what their name is?!
ReplyDeleteIn many cases, yes! But sometimes, while the dog is officially registered with a name that corresponds to the letter for that year, the dog's everyday name is different. My dog's official name is Gemma (born in 2011) but she has always been Dagny to me. I just had to pick a G name to register her although I had her everyday name picked out already. Hope that makes sense!
DeleteI didn't know that. Harry was named by the year but Saari was not and as a mongrel I doubt she had an official name!
DeleteThanks for hosting the linky! I named my Cavalier King Charles spaniel Dagny after seeing Atlas Shrugged. I never heard the name before and it had a nice ring to it. I then looked up the origin and it meant a new day in Old Norwegian, which was perfect because I got her right after marrying and moving to France, so kind of a rebirth for me as a person, embarking on a new life here with my trusty Dagny by my side. It was very fitting. Love her to death!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great story and thank you so much for joining in with #AnimalTales. I think Dagny is a fantastic name and all the better for now knowing what it means in Old Norwegian.
DeleteFirkin is a cute name! :) As for little T's Doc, well, it was around the time when we got her, her first ever Dr. Martens' boots! When we asked her what name shall we give her new pup, she replied Doc! ;) And Boots, well she has white fur and the rest of her is sort of black, so it looks like she's wearing boots, hence the name ;) I know, not so original. Haha :) #animaltales.
ReplyDeleteMy Mum had a Socks for the same reason as Boots. The cutest looking cat but evil at scratching!
DeleteI didn't know about the French naming tradition, so I've learnt a new thing today. I can't believe Firkin won over Boris but then I do like the "have you seen the furkin cat?" thing! Excellent!!
ReplyDeleteShhhh - don't tell anyone but I suspect a bit of vote rigging. At nearly close of play it was neck and neck between Coco, Boris, Foggy and Firkin ... but Firkin got the the computer first ;)
DeleteI was going to say Boris until I read Phoebe's comment above!!! My wonderful dog (who died when she was 17 1/2) was a West Highland Terrier. I named her Scout after the little girl in To Kill A Mockingbird. If we ever get a male dog I want to call him Atticus after the father.
ReplyDeleteGood choice of names - I know a lawyer whose son is called Atticus ;)
Delete(To Kill A Mocking Bird is one of my all time favourite books - I should hunt in down in French and read it again).
Ha ha, love it. We have a ginger cat named Stampy... you'll only guess why if you have younger children who watch YouTube videos about the game Minecraft!!
ReplyDeleteMinecraft free here but I am sure lots of TV programmes influence the naming of pets.
DeleteStella was already Stella when I re-homed her but my last lab Brodie was actually named after a brand of cider my ex-husband & I drank at the time! Her litter were artists and we chose Monet as her kennel name :)
ReplyDeleteI knew a Bod, named after he drank rather too much Boddingtons beer.
DeleteAll our 4 dogs have been rescues and all already named - Lady (she was anything but a lady), Poppy, Saari and now Harry .... Harry Hill :)
I can think of a few things for that Firkin cat. Super post, but how does a year have a letter? Or am I being dumb?
ReplyDeleteAt some point some-one decided that all animals born in a given year should start their name with the letter A. The following year it was B and so on and so forth. This year it is "L" - they missed out "K" as it is a letter that is used very little in the French language.
DeleteMy son gives all his pets and toys surreal names, like 'Herble Ferble' and my daughter likes very literal names, like 'Horse'.
ReplyDeleteI like the challenge of giving your pet a name beginning with a particular letter. What a cool tradition!
Ah well I can associate with both your children as some of our animals are named simply Pig or The Big Sheep but the other animals often also have extended names - Henery Benery, Saari Baari and Haribo.
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