What's in a Name?

My parents’ first cat that they got before I was born (well.. my dad even had him before he met my mom) was a black kitty named Cinder (because he was black.. duh). He was my best friend when I was little- slept in my crib with me (the horror!) and we ran around outside together. That cat started my love affair with animals!

By the time I was 6 or 7 I wanted my “own” cat and my parents kept telling me that I had to wait until Cinder died, but that crazy cat just kept going & going! I resorted to asking for hamsters just to have a pet of my own.. At Christmas when I was 8 my parents gave in.. I got a kitten!!

There was no cute Christmas morning reveal either.. I didn’t feel well that night and went into their room even though the door was closed.. I saw something jump off the bed and was petrified it was a squirrel or something ridiculous- they grabbed the kitty for me and gave her to me then but I wasn’t allowed to bring her to bed with me that night! I stayed up all night thinking of names for her. I decided she would be Butterscotch (because she was orange… duh).

That was probably my best/favorite Christmas ever. She was my baby and came running to me whenever I was upset. She just knew.

When I was 11 Cinder (finally) died. He was so old and broken down but it was still a horrible day for me. A few months later my parents decided it was time for another cat, this time for my sister. We got Pooh (ie Winnie the Pooh… not toilet Pooh).

As much as we loved the orange kitties, they just weren’t the same as Cinder. My senior year of high school a black cat was hanging around outside our house for a couple of (short) days. We couldn’t let him stay out there so he quickly took up residence in our basement and then upstairs. This black male kitty had the same qualities as Cinder and we decided that all cats from then on must have those qualities.

This cat was named Gus. I love the movie Cinderella and wanted to continue the black kitty naming tradition (Cinder). Gus Gus is the fat dumb mouse in the movie!

 

I bet you see where I am going with this.. My cat that I got when I graduated college? Black, male.. named Jaq (the leader-mouse).. hence the spelling too.. The movie mouse is with a ‘q’.

And yes… now we have Lucy. I needed a female name from the movie that would still be an appropriate animal name. Lucifer the cat became Lucy the dog. When I told my family the dog’s name, my sister’s first question was “After Lucifer!?” They know me well..

 

A recap:

Cinder

Butterscotch (Bud)

Pooh

Gus (Gus) (cat named after a mouse)

Jaq (another cat named after a mouse)

Lucy (a dog named after a cat)

So.. what about you? Do you have a pet naming theme? Do you prefer typical animal names (Fluffy, Spot) or do your pets have people names? My family is 50/50 with the people vs. pet names, though I think overall I prefer people names (not George or Bob or something though..)