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| Yes | 83% | 88 votes | Total: 106 votes | |
| No | 17% | 18 votes |
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Add to FavoritesShould pets be given "people" names? This question gave me the best laugh I've had for awhile. What may I ask would be wrong with it? A pet should be name whatever their owner wants to name it and there should not be any questions asked as to why they named there pet after a female or a male name. Many may say, "A pet is "not" a human being." Well, maybe to some pets are not not humans but to many who own them they are loved like a human is loved and we care for them as if they are a child. It's amazing to me how anyone who has ever been around any animal doesn't see that they do have feelings, they know how to show love and companionship, and they are very intelligent.
I had a dog that I named "Mollie" and many people thought it was a great name for my female beagle. Do you think they asked me why I named it "Mollie," definitely not. My husband and I had two beagles named after our first names and we actually loved it because we were young and so much in love. When the dogs were called, it made us show love and affection for each other because the female and male dogs were together and they were mates. The dogs were reminders to us for years of our love for each other, and to this day, we still can get teary eyed about their passing.
A pet is for a person to give that special name to it that the owner likes and it might even be of someone the pet reminds them of or just something that pops up in their minds out of the blue. My current pet, a Jack Russell terrier, is named Ringo and "no" it is not a female or a male name and I personally don't know if any other critters are named Ringo or not. The name came to me as I looked at the large white ring around its neck, and "bingo," I named him "Ringo."
A pet doesn't care what you call it...you can call it Sue, Drew, Blue, or Que...what difference does it make. The important thing is it knows its name to come to eat and to go outside. What is in a name? A pet will never fail to come once you have given it a name, it doesn't care if it is female or male.
A pet is for receiving love and companionship and to be a friend to its owner. A name is only a name and whatever a person selects should be up to them and there should not be any qualms whatsoever about it. The question, "Should pets be given "peoples" names would be a great debate article and whoever thought of this question wanted a good debate.
Readers continue to name your pets whatever you like because I don't think they will ever know the difference as long as they come when you call them. I love the female name "Judy," "Emily," "Mrs. Peepers," etc. Do you think you are going to have a person come up and ask you why did you named your pet a peoples name? I'll be you never will and does it matter anyway?
Learn more about this author, Barbara Kasey Smith.
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No
First of all, pets are not people. Most people recognize this, even if they feel like their pet takes on the characteristics of people from time to time. Pets can show emotion, provide companionship, and even protect us at times. Pets cannot own property, cannot legally marry, do not pay taxes, and a host of other things. As much as our pets may feel like people to us, they clearly are not.
The names we give to our pets are part of their personality. Some people like to name their pets with people names as a way to convey the personality of the person their pet is named for. For example, an English Bulldog named Winston, after Winston Churchill, brings to mind a rotund appearance and pouting face. However, for the most part, the people these animals are named after would not be very flattered by the comparison. To compare a human to a pet is degrading to the human, as no pet can capture the complexity and essence of a human. We even use degrading terms from animals to describe people: dumb as a chimp, chicken legs, elephant ears, etc. These animal characteristics are things that are embarrassing or unattractive in a human context.
The other problem with giving pets person names is that the person may be around when the pet is around, and there could be confusion and embarrassment when it isn't clear which one is being talked about. If you had a brother named Winston, to continue the example, and a bulldog named Winston, and you mentioned that Winston recently peed on your rug, there's a possibility for someone to take offense and/or get embarrassed.
Perhaps even more importantly, giving person names to pets wastes the opportunity to be creative with your pet's name. Inanimate objects, foods, abstract nouns, and other words can be used as pet names, often to comic effect. Many times it pays to accentuate the disconnection from humanity that our pets offer. The same English Bulldog, as another example, could be named something like Meatball, a name which accentuates the roundness of his/her face, and the lack of intelligence the animal seems to display. If you were to name a child Meatball, he/she would be teased mercilessly. For a pet, however, it can be a fun and distinctive thing. This opportunity to have fun with a pet's name is one of the reasons people enjoy having pets, and it is one that should not be rejected lightly.
We named our family dog Sugar, as she is a Shar-pei, and we liked the alliteration. Something like Shirley just wouldn't have cut it for us.
Learn more about this author, Mark Schwartz.
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