How do you name your animals?

oatmeal · 12-12-15, 08:12 AM

I'm new to snakes, and just got a male hognose

I don't know what to name him! My spouse believes that he is terrible at naming things, so the responsibility has fallen onto me! I have only two ideas, neither of which are terribly original: Kermit, or Noodle.

I like "Kermit" (as it's a bit ironic, and I've always loved Kermit the frog), and "Noodle" just sounds adorable. I'm open to suggestions lol!

Anyone have a particular way they name their pets? I'm still struggling to name our female green basilisk as well :S

Sylphie · 12-12-15, 08:17 AM

Well our Russian Rat Snakes are named after gods related to hunting: Orion, Artemis, Callisto.
Our Japanese Rat Snakes are named related to Japan (at this moment all three are Sushi, as we can't recognize them yet).
All our Ball Pythons are just Klusek I, Klusek II, etc. (in my language kluska is a food similiar to dumpling).

Only our corns are just random things, Julian, Redhead and White One.

**Minkness** · 12-12-15, 08:53 AM

Male hoggies are after Egyptian gods, Horus, Ra, and Osiris. Frmale hoggies were random. Emma and Evillene. Everything else is rather random actually lol. I may stick to Greek gods if I get more carpet pytbons since I named my female Persephone and when I get a male for her he will be Hades..then the BPs are Moko because he looked like mochachino (a coffee drink) when I got him, but I'm not fond of food names. And Amara just came to me and sounded sweet and beautiful like my female BP is.

Geckos are all mostly random. Duckie, Stubbs, Legend, Relic, Tango, Mango (came named), Maliwan(came named), and Jupiter (came named)

My leopard geckos again are different. Vendie is my oldest gecko period and was named because when I got him as a baby he had a perfect white V on his neck. His fill mame4is Vendetta, but I NEVER call him that lol. Freska because she looks like the soda (the only animal I have willingly named after food lol).. then the others all follow a snow theme as they are all from snow morphs. Snow dude, S'Noel, Ava (short for avalanche), annnnd...I have one juvie who is still unnamed....she's a super snow.

I rarely instantly name something though. Most of my reptiles went weeks or months without names lol

RAD House · 12-12-15, 08:58 AM

I usually let some detail about the snake name them. My first snake was Maize the corn snake. Then there is Del the funky lampropeltis because he is a hybrid and has headphone like markings on his head. My first California red sided garter was Xiuhcoatl, r.i.p. little buddy, which is Aztec God whose name translates to turquoise snake. Shortly after he passed I got another lnfernalis with a kinked tail so he is named Obi the obtuse. His garter buddy is all black and named Darth. We have a blue eyed luecistic rat snake that reminds me of the moon, so she is called Luna. Our newest addition is a female kingpin ball python, and I wanted a name to match the crime based side of her morph. So she is Bonnie and the male I get will be Clyde. I hope this gives you some ideas on how to name the bugger.

serpentgirl123 · 12-12-15, 09:32 AM

I usually don't name mine by what they look like or personality types nor do I have a "theme." I spent/spend hours looking at those baby name sites and picking out names that I like (I have a long list) and when the time comes, just pick and choose. I like the slightly less "traditional/common names." In the beginning I named a few based on breeding pairs I wanted to do later on, but I lost interest in that.

So the names I have so far are:
Boas: Jayden, Juniper, Prestin, Dalton, Celeste, Tito, Layna, Kenisha, Kayode, Tavarus and Tatiana.

Hognoses: Rory and Zara

Carpets: Nyssa, Nyota, and Bayard

Kingsnakes: Gabriella, Dominic, and Sparky (he was the only one named after his attitude).

Cornsnakes: Zippora and Xzavier

Ratsnakes: Winter (named after my favorite season and he was my first snake--yellow rat snake).

SerpentineDream · 12-12-15, 09:53 AM

Sometimes I choose a theme for mutiple snakes, such as a group of orange/red corn snakes all having names that relate to fire (Bridget after the Celtic goddess of the hearth and forge, Dante after Dante Alighieri who wrote The Inferno, Dragon for obvious reasons, and future Cayenne Fire corn probably Ember).

Sometimes I might go by the geographical region where the snake is naturally found or where it happened to come from and choose a name based on that.

Sometimes I go by personality or notable physical attributes.

And sometimes the animal just names itself. I look at the snake or a photo of the snake and a name pops into my mind. Sometimes I don't even care for the name, but it just sticks in my head and pushes out all other attempts at naming. That happened with Diego the western hognose whom I've only ever seen online, as he's being held for shipping until South Dakota thaws out in the spring. It's also geographically appropriate, I suppose. He hails from Texas.

If you can't come up with a name that resonates with you, wait until you meet the snake if he's not already home. That might help you decide.

ETA: I'm not sure about Kermit. Hoggies love to eat frogs and toads. :P

MDT · 12-12-15, 09:57 AM

snake 1, snake 2, snake 3....etc

or, for my retics, butthead 1, butthead 2, butthead 3.....

prairiepanda · 12-12-15, 01:38 PM

I usually have themes for different types of animals.

My snakes are named after scientists who have made major contributions to their field(one is named after a fictional character, but still fits this theme): Sherkaner, Tesla, Kepler, Pascal, Fermi

My two geckos, Howl and Calcifer, are named after characters from Howl's Moving Castle, but if I have more geckos in the future they will all have names from Miyazaki movies.

My tarantulas have pretty random names, although many are characters from Zelda games: Zelda, Link, Midna, Gohma, Fi, and Majora. The misfits are named based on certain traits: Yoda is small and has a green sheen, Frodo has curly brown hair, Nessus is a relatively bold member of a very skittish species, and Flenser is the collective name of all the H incei living in my communal tank. Anyone who recognizes and understands those last two references can be my BFF. Tarantulas I no longer have mostly had Zelda-themed names, though. I haven't owned any other mygalomorph spiders, but if I ever acquire some they'd probably have Zelda-themed names.

Animals I had in the past were all themed too:
Names for true spiders(mostly jumping spiders) were Italian words that gave at least a vague description of their appearance. Fish were all named after Transformers, except for Gigantor who was just massive(a plecostomus of some sort). Gerbils were named after super heroes, except for non-holdback babies which had whatever cutesy affectionate placeholder name happened to stick; things like Roo, Baby, Squishy, Booger, etc. (I didn't pass these names on to the new owners, however) Hamsters were named after food. Anoles were named after various oldschool kaiju.

The only animals immune to theme-naming are cats and dogs. That's partly because the dogs I have had in the past and the cat I currently have(Princess Jasmine, aka PJ) were not named by myself. But since cats and dogs aren't animals that people would typically have several of at once, themes don't really work well. For me, cats and dogs will always have unique individual names. Same would probably also apply to anything else that I probably would never own more than two of at one time, like ferrets, bunnies, tortoises, tegu lizards, etc.

PsychoSnake · 12-12-15, 04:13 PM

I just pick a name that comes to mind and I ask myself, does it fit the snake?

My rosy boas are: Daisy (never bites, very docile, doesn't mind handling but doesn't really enjoy it either), Pepper (female spawn of Satan when hungry otherwise super docile), Jack (outgoing curious male), Crystal (named after me but spelled different), Lyli (named after a friend but spelled differently), Maple and Ash (named after a pair of one way streets in my city that I often travel on -- they are a breeding pair), and Cecil and Jerry (relatives -- named after a friend that passed away).

Sand boas: Ema (she's a bit of a princess snake, very picky) and Potter (he has a Harry Potter lightning bold on his forehead).

Ball python: Brian Pumpkinbutt (named after Brian Barczyk and has a perfect jack o' lantern face on his back, but butt sounds cuter)

Retics: Mango (mango colored -- lavender albino tiger female) and Trevor (he just seemed like a Trevor to me)

Green Anacondas: Dianah (wild caught female with a reference to Wonder Woman) and the Little Green Meanie (wild caught male that is very shy and defensive)

Boa constrictor: Hercules (rescued snake, he came with the name)

Taiwanese beauty snake: Meili (means beautiful in Taiwanese according to a Taiwanese friend -- very original)

Honduran milk snake: Michael (used to be called "milky" but that seemed a little too childish)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MDT

or, for my retics, butthead 1, butthead 2, butthead 3.....

Ahahaha... So true!

**EL Ziggy** · 12-12-15, 06:04 PM

Most of my snakes are named after gods and warriors. Two are named after fictional characters in kids shows that my son likes. Ultimately you can choose a theme or random names that you like or that may describe your animals in some way. It's fun when you find one that sticks. I like where you were going with the Kermit idea

. For a male hoggie you could obviously call him Porkchop but I'd personally name him Maxwell. That's the pig's name in the Geico commercials. I think those are pretty funny

.

pinefamily · 12-12-15, 11:30 PM

It's always easier for us when we have purchased a pair. We have Boris and Natasha, Romeo and Juliet, Thor and Freya, Frodo and Galadriel, and even a pair of jungle pythons Tarzan and Jane. When we purchased two female Darwins to add to our breeding project they became Thelma and Louise.
Corny maybe, but that's how we roll.

Wingbeats · 12-12-15, 11:36 PM

I first look up names relating to the locale of the species, it seems.

Chaska is named after the Incan Goddess of dawn/dusk, and fertility. As a South American species, it made sense

Avatre was more complicated. I was going to name her after an Incan or Mayan or Brazilian name....but I had trouble finding one I liked. Finally, I gave up on that idea and looked at my bookshelf. One of my favorite books, Joust by Mercedes Lackey, has a crimson-and-gold dragon named Avatre. I decided to go with that

bigsnakegirl785 · 12-12-15, 11:43 PM

I usually give my snake names that referance entertainment. Whether they be books, TV, comics, etc. The only ones not following this pattern are Bud my ball python, Draco my checkered garter, and Demigod my eastern garter. I was 12 when I got Bud and I called him my buddy so that's the name he got, and Demigod's original owner named him and I kept it. I gave Draco his name because he reminded me of a tiny angry dragon as a baby, because he was so scared of the mouse pinks, he'd strike out at them and rattle his tail. But I could easily claim I named him after Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter.

Cloud is named after Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy, River is named after the city of Riverrun in Game of Thrones, Sanji is named after Sanji from One Piece, and Nymeria was named after one of the wolves from Game of Thrones. My late BRB Guin was named after Guin from Guin saga.

I'll be getting two new little ones in the spring, so I guess I'll see what I name them! Plus a male snow boa eventually, either next spring/fall or in 2017.

**Minkness** · 12-12-15, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wingbeats

I first look up names relating to the locale of the species, it seems.

Chaska is named after the Incan Goddess of dawn/dusk, and fertility. As a South American species, it made sense

Avatre was more complicated. I was going to name her after an Incan or Mayan or Brazilian name....but I had trouble finding one I liked. Finally, I gave up on that idea and looked at my bookshelf. One of my favorite books, Joust by Mercedes Lackey, has a crimson-and-gold dragon named Avatre. I decided to go with that

Omg I LOVE that series!!! She's my favorite author like...EVER! I was wondering if that's where her name came from, but never asked, figuring the answer would be no lol.

Wingbeats · 12-12-15, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

....Sanji is named after Sanji from One Piece, and Nymeria was named after one of the wolves from Game of Thrones. My late BRB Guin was named after Guin from Guin saga.

I'll be getting two new little ones in the spring, so I guess I'll see what I name them! Plus a male snow boa eventually, either next spring/fall or in 2017.

I was wondering about Guin! I figured that was the origin - I am just starting to watch that series, and I'm enjoying it so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minkness

Omg I LOVE that series!!! She's my favorite author like...EVER! I was wondering if that's where her name came from, but never asked, figuring the answer would be no lol.

Hehehe, I'm glad someone knows which one I'm talking about! I'm not as big of fan of the second two books, but the first one really resonated with me. I love how the dragons act like actual animals, and I have a giant soft spot for ancient Egyptian settings and mythos.