pet name profiles

Shazam! and Kapow!

Lisa Edelstein and Shazam! Photo credit: Jim Shea

Human: Lisa Edelstein, Actress (House, The Good Wife), Acclaimed Ambassador for Best Friends Animal Society

I met Shazam! at the Best Friends adoption day in L.A.  He was one of the shelter dogs on death row.  I named him after my favorite superhero show from when I was a kid to both give him a powerhouse name and to have the joy of yelling “Shazam!” whenever I’m in the dog park.

As for Kapow!, my friend Nadia suggested that I stick with the cartoon hero theme. Kapow! is from Batman and despite trying numerous other names, it was the only word he responded to.  It’s also fun to yell “Kapow!” at the dog park.

Edelstein (now appearing on CBS’ The Good Wife) is not only the 2011 People’s Choice Award-winning Favorite TV Drama Actress for her role as Dr. Lisa Cuddy on House, she’s also an Acclaimed Ambassador for Best Friends Animal Society, one of America’s best known animal welfare organizations, based in Kanab, Utah. Best Friends’ No More Homeless Pets is a campaign dedicated to placing dogs and cats who were considered “unadoptable” into good homes and to reducing the number of unwanted pets through effective spay and neuter programs. Find out more.

Fred

Human: Alyson

I got Fred back in May as a companion for my 6-year-old cat, Maggie.  After 9 months, they occasionally tolerate each other but most of time the older cat doesn’t like the younger one.

Fred’s name is special because I lost a lovely co-worker who was also a blessed hospice nurse just a week before I got him whose name was Freda.  No other name would fit.  He was brought to me at 8 weeks, picked out from a litter.  The previous owners referred to him as “Darth” and I have since learned why.  He is feisty, commands (and demands) attention and gets into everything.  However, he is also snuggly, loves to give kisses and has learned how to fetch.  I had thought initially he would be for the older cat but he was actually for me. 

Bill

Bill with a bottle of Tru Blood

Human: Jessica

Lightning McQueen

Human: Andrea

Alice and Willow

Human: Kaleigh B.

My husband and I adopted Alice (left) from a shelter in March 2010. I had a whole list of names picked out but he nayed all of them! We had just gone to see the new Alice in Wonderland, and it was the only name we could agree on.

We added her sister Willow in May of this year. My favourite movie of all time is Willow, and it just seemed to suit her!

Louey

Human: Holly S.

This is our wonderful dog Louey. I picked him out when I was 9 years old, and now that I’m off to college, it’s hard for me to think of life without him. He is literally man’s best friend. He’s funny, fast, crazy and most of all, blonde… like his owner. I named him Louey just because it just plain suits him!

Chipper

Human: Justine

This is our dog Chipper (who we nicknamed Chippey), when he was a puppy. We decided Chipper was a good name for him because though he is a very shy dog he never fails to be happy and he always enjoys company from his family. Though he’s having a lot of health problems now, he still remains the happy, chipper dog we’ve come to know and love.

Billy

Human: Emily N.

My cat’s name is Billy. I picked her name because I never ever met anyone with that name… I told myself I don’t care if it’s a boy or girl cat, it’s getting the name Billy, so now that’s her name.

Jaxson Skellington

Human: Meghan C.

My dog Jaxson Skellington got his name because he is an Italian Greyhound who loves to JUMP like a the ball in a game of jacks. Skellington is after Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas because he is always so skinny.

I love his little yipping and jumping when he is excited. This is what he does best! Sleeping and messing up my bed. But I couldn’t ask for a better k9 friend.

Arkimedes

Human: Cassandra Z.

Picking a name wasn’t easy for this opinionated wild ball of fluff. I went through maybe half-a-dozen names until I came across one of my favorite movies with a very opinionated owl by the name of Arkimedes. I guess you could say the name was mutually agreed [on] … because as soon as I started calling him Arkimedes he responded.

Tokyo

Human:  Michaela S.

Tokyo is a two-year-old Great Dane with spunk. She got her name because the theme of her litter’s names were places. She also has a spot on her face in the shape of Japan, and I love anime so her name fit perfectly.

Tobias

Humans:  Morgan and Eric W.

We found Tobias at a local shelter when he was two years old. He caught our eye out of all the cats there because he was playful, snuggly and didn’t shed a lot. Originally, the shelter had named him Zach. On our way home from the shelter, we wanted to name him something different. We both really like Hebrew names, so we decided on Tobias.

Tobias’ full name is Tobias Zachary Benjamin  (so nice we named him thrice!). We liked the name Tobias because it means “God is good”. We kept his shelter name Zach because it means “God has remembered”, and being that we found him after being in two shelters, we feel the Big Guy upstairs did not forget about him! Benjamin means “Son of” and we certainly see him as our little boy!

Kayla

Human:  Melissa K.

When we first went to go see the cute litter of Cockamoos, we named our puppy Lily. There was a lot of controversy over this name because my mom had chosen it. My dad wanted her to be named Katie and I wanted her to be named Caylee. After bringing her home, we finally settled on Kayla, but is called a wide assortment of other names, including Moose, Macnish Vealie, Dublit or Kayla Payla Wayla. We love her sooo much and wouldn’t change her for the world.

Maui

Human: Sarah T.

My parents never wanted to get me a dog, and I had to do a lot of convincing. One of my camp counselors helped me convince my parents that I really needed a dog. Since she was the one that allowed me to finally get my wish, I named my new dog after her. My camp counselor was named Maui (her camp name), so now my long term companion is Maui. We adopted her from a shelter I volunteer for, and we take her back all the time. She’s the mascot.

Tali

Human:  Aletia

I wanted her to have a fancy name, but I didn’t want it to be difficult to spell, and it needed to be short and sweet. I loved the name Talitha, but thought it was a big name for a little dog, so I shortened it to Tali. … I couldn’t resist giving her a title, so her full name is Princess Tali Helena, and it is so true. She lives up to both her title, and her name. She is my little girl, and is truly a little princess! I love her to bits!

Lincoln

Lincoln Sleeping Like a Log

Human: Jessica

Hubby’s two prior dogs were named ‘Lexie’ and ‘Porsche’, so we decided to keep the “car theme” going. Hubby has always wanted a Lincoln Navigator, therefore, we chose the name ‘Lincoln!’ We are hoping to add ‘Bentley’ and ‘Royce’ to the family one day soon, as Lincoln needs somebody to play with!

Temperance

Human: Olivia H.

I got my cat Temperance Brennan, after the death of my cat Daisy. Obviously I named her after the character from Bones, because I think Temperance is just such a wonderful name. I’m still a teenager, but I’m wondering if it would be wrong to name a future child Temperance if I have already used that name for a pet!

Garcia

Humans: Sally and Dave

Garcia’s dad is a Deadhead.

Lovey

Lovey and Mr. Howell

Humans: Michaela and Tanner

This is my kitten, Lovey. We named her Lovey because in the cage she is sitting on is Mr. Howell (from Gilligan’s Island). She likes to lay on his cage, and play with him. So what better name then Mr. Howell’s wife from the show?

Pax

Humans: Casey and Justin

A week after moving in together, my boyfriend’s childhood cat had to be put to sleep.  He was devastated.  To try and heal his wounds, I sneakily went about getting him our own kitten; a new pet for a new place.  Our anniversary was a few weeks later, and my boyfriend got me a massage gift certificate to the most expensive parlor around, called “Pax Massage.”  And my boyfriend’s anniversary present?  This little guy, who we named Paxton, or “Pax” for short.

Beasley

Humans: Jim and Irene J.

Here is a photo of our new dog Beasley. She comes to us via a woman in town who rescues and fosters dogs. Beasley was abandoned in the country somewhere in Missouri with her puppies, which have all since been adopted. It took the dog quite some time to learn to trust people, use stairs and other things we take for granted dogs would know. But after about 10 months the woman felt she was ready for a forever home.

We had just lost our dog Monte after 11 years about a month ago and didn’t know when it would be the right time to add a new dog to the household (we have 5 other animals: Alice, Trixie, Frankie, Riley and Django)…. [But] when she told me about Beasley, it was clear she fit the criteria of the dog we wanted.

So how did we come to name her Beasley? She was going to come to us with the name Cinder. We didn’t like it much. So we wanted something else. We have changed the name of almost every animal we have ever adopted. Django came to us as Oreo. Monte came to us as Frankie. We take naming our companion animals as serious fun.

The way it typically works is that [my wife] Irene and I go back and forth on specific names. I’ll like one name and she’ll hate it. She’ll like one and I’ll hate it. Eventually we come up with a list of names that neither of us completely hates. The list is almost never the place from which the name actually comes. What inevitably happens in the day or days prior to the adoption, is we’re getting ready for bed or just sitting around talking about something unrelated, and BOOM! One of us blurts out a name and the other says, “Yes! That’s it.” It was similar this time. We were reading in bed and got to talking about names. We did the tennis match thing for a bit. Jim: How about Name X? Irene: No. how about Name Y? Jim: No. And on and on.

At some point Irene suggested Ramona. That immediately triggered in my mind the book by Beverly Cleary. But I goofed. I thought the book was called “Beasley and Ramona.” It’s actually Beezus and Ramona. But once Beasley was out there, Irene said she thought it was a great name. Irene said that if she still felt that way in the morning, that would be the dog’s new name. She did. And it is.

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