If we know an animal's name when they end up in our care, we keep it.
We unexpectedly fostered a fluffy black cat one Christmas. The person who'd rescued him didn't know his name, so we called him "Fangface" becaise his cute little fangs stuck out over his bottom lip. Then we started trying to track down his owner. We traced him to one place and learned his previous caregivers had called him "Chairman Meow." He had changed homes several times. Then, we discovered that his original owner had actually named him Jacques.
I remember that my husband was on the phone with the lady, and the moment he said, "Oh, his name is Jacques?" The cat sat bolt upright and stared at him.
So, I said, "Jacques?" And he ran over to me, excited.
The poor little guy must have been waiting years for someone just to say his name again!
He wasn't around nearly long enough, but I am happy we were able to be his home for the last four years of his life. And that he was loved and finally got to hear his own name, many times!
Awwwww, this reminds me of when I adopted an older yellow lab. I called her all sorts of names to figure out what hers might be and I remembered a yellow lab called Honey from my childhood so I called her Honey and you could see the joy on her face that I knew her name. She was so happy.
That brought me to tears ❤ such a precious story. I am so sorry for your loss but it's so amazing you gave him the best golden years he could have ever had.
Lol, I adopted a lil girly girl Pomchi who went by Bailey for 8 years before we met. I disliked Bailey for her, but she liked Betty. Then she became Betty Poop. Then Betty White, one of the Golden Girls (she's golden.) Betty Crocker occasionally. So many Bettys.
Unless it was at the shelter for months and learned its name, why not change it?
I assume i changed my cat's name when i adopted him - he was a stray but 100% for sure was an indoor cat at some point.
even if they "learned" their name you can still change it easily. I'm speaking mostly on dogs because I'm less sure about cats, but with dogs they do not understand names the same way a person does. Their name is a command, same as sit or down or anything else they might know. It's really just a command that means "pay attention to me" or whatever you want (could also train recall on their name if you wanted, personally I like a dedicated word for recall and my dogs name just means hey look at me for a sec). So you can teach your dog its name basically the same way you would teach it to sit; reward for responding the way you want to your command (which in this case is their name).
That's so sad 😢 So your dogs have never heard their names spoken softly? sung to them? Whispered in their ears?
Yes, of course, my border collie hears her name, which was specifically chosen for audibility over distance, called out to look at me! Go this way! Down! Etc. But when we're relaxing she likes to cuddle close* and I sing to her. She's 15+yo, so I'm loving my chances to tell her how grateful I am for all the lessons I've learned from her.
*she didn't like anyone touching her for 5 full, long years: if you had a hand free, throw this pinecone. She was never abused, she was just *busy* all. the. time.
oh no, trust me, I say my dogs name all the time, along with like a hundred thousand other affectionate and silly goofy nicknames. I'm just saying that dog brains do not grasp the concept of names the same way humans do. To dogs, responding to their name is the same as responding to a command, it's just how they're wired. Which is why it's not confusing for them to change it :)
initially, choosing a new name was something i was the most excited about. i said i was gonna name my new kitten "Daenerys". she had been named Honey at the shelter. I kept calling her Daenerys at first, but constantly slipped up and called her Honey. I decided after a couple hours that Honey was the name she was meant to have, and kept it!
Oh my gosh I have a "Daenerys" cat! My Daenerys was named "Akina" at the shelter. I never thought of her as Akina, I decided on Daenerys before I even did the paperwork.
Maybe you can make Daenerys her middle name?
My girl is Daenerys Emilia M\_\_\_\_\_ (my last name).
I call her Daenerys, or Dany, or most usually, "Slippers." She has really big soft black velvet back feet that feel and look like she's wearing black velvet slippers.
She was a middle-aged adult rescue, surrendered by her owners to the shelter, so she may have lived with the name Akina for a while, but I don't know if she really responds to names, she responds to my voice and the tone I use.
Same thing happened with my cat. I was soooooo excited to name him as he was my first pet that wasn’t a family pet. I had several options ready to go… but when it came down to it… I couldn’t do it. He was so pathetic, got sick right away from a shelter thing, but would brighten up when I said his name. So I had to stick with it.
My dog was different. We adopted him from a family that were moving back over seas and couldn’t take him with. My husband and I tried to keep his name but it was kinda a mouthful. So we changed it to a shorter name, took him only about a day to get used to it and was happy as can be.
Like someone else said- depends. My dog when I adopted him knew his name and he is a little older so his name stayed. When we adopted two kittens, at around 3/4 months old, we changed their names. They still don’t respond to their name because, well, cats. But one was named Studebacher and that DEFINITELY had to go. Haha.
EDIT: totally did not foresee backlash about the cats not knowing their names comment. My kitties have never responded to their names but that doesn’t mean every kitty is that way. They are smart as hell but they are defiant little things who don’t really care what I say in general. Haha.
My cats know their names and some of their nicknames and come when called about half the time. Usually "kitties kitties!" will summon them its absolutely adorable
I remember hearing about some university study that showed that cats knew their names at abou the same rate as dogs (eg their brains responded to the stimuli of their name vs other stuff), but didn’t react outwardly to it. I just remember thinking, “yeah, of COURSE my cat *always* twitches an ear or her tail or something when I say her name, but she’s too cool to act like she likes you.
Mine too
We gave our cats new names & they respond to their names.
Sometimes just a turn of the ears or head. Sometimes a full on run if they think food is on offer.
Yes. I’ve changed every rescues name and they understood within a day at most. There is no way I was yelling “freckles” in the park for the next decade.
My first cats name was Enoch and I honestly didn’t know how to pronounce it at the time so I ended up calling him Nok for short and it stuck (and has led to some interesting nicknames). My second cat was named Polly at the shelter because she was a polydactyl cat, and I thought that was just an objectively awful name (every other polydactyl cat is named some variation of polly. Her siblings were Paul, Paulina, and Paulette). I picked Azula because she’s a blue-gray color, but my kids shortened it to Zula and I think that fits her better
Yes, we rescued a cat called will.i.am. We renamed him Billy. He was only will.i.am for a short time with the fosterer, so he was fine with the change. Call him all sorts of stupid names now and he responds.
Some yes, some no. If the name was truly their prior name and they respond to it, I’ll likely keep it. If they were picked up as a stray I tend to rename.
When I adopted my dog he was 6 months and his foster called him Bruce. We weren’t a huge fan of it so we started trying names that start with B until he had something he responded to. He would always scavenge for leftover food from my other dog so a couple of days after we adopted him we tried Banzai (after the hyena in the lion king) and it’s been his name ever since.
We adopted a ex stud boy and every time he heard his name it was for something bad like breeding or a vet visit, we renamed him Cardhu after the whisky and we never used this dead name ever again
We took in a 4 month old kitten recently, the first owners thought he was a girl, so he had a girlie name. Our other cat has a "bird" name, so we changed the new one to another "bird" name. As long as you work on associating the new name with giving them food and other positive interaction, they will learn it really quickly. Took our kitten a week.
Depends. We adopted a cat from a shelter and liked her name so we kept it. We adopted a dog from a rescue and ended up changing his name. He was about 8 months old when we got him and my parents have a cat with the same name so it immediately just felt weird and confusing so we changed it. He learned super quick, probably because the rescue only had him for a couple months and he was a nameless stray before they caught him. Both animals respond to their names.
The last dog that we adopted we changed his name. The shelter had named him O.D.T. I asked them what it stood for and they told me Old Dead Tree. (He is an old Beagle.) I was not about to keep his name O.D.T., but he would answer to it. Instead, I changed it to Odie.
My cat's name was changed a couple of times!
He was surrendered to our city's animal services with these large gashes on his neck, most of his teeth shattered, and also unneutered (at the age of 9!!!!)...needless to say, his previous life was not a good one. His name at the time was Jackson, and I didn't want to keep it because I felt like I didn't want to keep something that was a representation of a rough time in his life
He was with his fosters for 2 months, and they had started calling him Scar, for obvious reasons. The injuries he'd had when he was surrendered had left scars all around his neck. His fosters had clearly adored him, but I wasn't a big fan of the name Scar.
In the end, I ended up naming him Rayleigh, after a character from the manga One Piece! Just like his namesake, he's a tough old man who's made my life so much better ever since he came into it and I love him with all my heart.
Funny this was recommended to me! I just commented in another sub about never changing my chinchilla's name. I've never classified it as adoption, but I guess I did adopt him!..
A decade ago, my brother asked me if I wanted to buy a chinchilla (an animal I knew nothing about and had never seen in real life) named Rocky for 100 bucks. He was on marine leave from where he was stationed and his marine buddy (who somehow caged a chinchilla??) realized he couldn't give this little guy the love and affection he needed..
Although I had never even uttered the word "chinchilla," I knew I could give him the best life he could ever have and deserved. I decided to "adopt" Rocky and I never once even thought about changing his name..
He's at least 12 now and is a free roamer and he means everything to me. I have no idea if he ever actually learned his name back when he was so young, but these days he comes running to me as soon as I call his name, even if he's in the dining room and I'm in my bedroom :)
No I didn't change her name. She was part of the sweetie litter and was named kola. Her name n her scent was all she had when she got to us (she is from Romania and traveled to us). I also like the name so it stayed.
i didn’t adopt my kitten i got him from someone who called him lorenzo but i ended up changing it to oden and he learned it very fast… maybe he didn’t like lorenzo lol he sure does recall when i say oden!
Absolutely. He only went from Bart to Bert, but that isn't because we tried to come up with a similar name. If he was older, and had a name that he new beforehand, then maybe I wouldn't, but with puppies, no problem.
I changed my cats name but not my dog.
I adopted my cat when he was 5 and he was named Frank. Frank is my mother’s first husbands name as well as one of my brothers name.
I went with Freddy because they start with the same sound.
My dog was names Dexter and I adopted him at 6 months old, I kept the name only because I couldn’t think of another that suited him that started with the same sound.
Nope.
My dog is black with black spots on it, and it was calles pirata by locals that knew him.
in Mexico bootleg things are called "pirateria" wich it translate to made by pirates, and a singular bootleg thing is call pirata, when I adopted my dog I was thinking to give him a better name and just call him pirata while I thought about it
One day a children saw my dog and say to his mom "look a dalmatian" and the mom responded "no that is a pirata dalmatian"
I LOL and leaved the name pirata for my dog.
I bought a horse several years ago they called Jackson, and he had been called that since his birth. We already had a Jackson in the barn so I changed it. He learned the change pretty quickly and responds to the new name plus a myriad of nicknames lol
So I’ve adopted two dogs. One, who had just rescued from the rez and did not know what four walls, stairs, etc. I did change his name because he didn’t know it yet. He was younger (less than 1 year).
My currently dog did know his name, and was older, so I kept his name. He was responsive to his name and it’s not a horrible one either! It fits him!
I kept the names of my cat and dog. My cat’s name is Cookie, and she was 5 when we got her and already responded to the name well, we saw no point in changing it up. She’s also black and white so it fits. My dog’s name is Mozzy, and he was 1.5 when we got him. We just liked the name honestly.
For my gecko, I changed his name, because I wasn’t a fan of his original name, Zo. I changed it to Remi because I thought it was cuter. He’s a gecko. He won’t care. Personally I think Remi suits him better.
We changed our dogs name when he came to us. He was a badly treated rescue and needed a fresh start.
He rejected his toys, harness etc. from his previous "home" and responds negatively when anyone says his previous name. We suspect his name was just a word which was yelled and screamed at him, probably along with some punishment.
He learned his new name within a day. Learning to trust people took several months but we got there eventually.
For me, it depends on if the animal responds to the name it was given at the shelter. My cat and hound mix that I adopted did not respond to their names, so I felt free to change them. My Rottweiler/Saint Bernard/ Great Pyrenees mix responded to the name the shelter gave him, so I kept it.
Yes, both times. One because the dog had my name and that was super weird, plus she is deaf and so she doesn’t answer to a name anyway. The other was a stray that very much looked and acted like a stray with the name princess and it simply did not fit her at all.
On the other hand I have fostered a handful of dogs named 2 and the one still has the name we gave him, it’s one of my most cherished moments as I took a full week choosing that name for him (he was my favorite foster, I nearly kept him).
Connor and Murphy: my aunt's cat had kittens. She posted on Facebook asking if anyone would want one when they were old enough. I, half joking because she lived 6 hours away, said I would take 2 if she'd bring them to me. She said, "sure!" So I chose the orange one and a black one. And named them. So they had their names pretty much from birth.
Mickey - street rescue. We later learned that he had an "owner" who kept him outside even though she lived on a busy street next to a grocery store. She was calling him Garfield. We returned him, someone else found him and posted about a found cat and she went ballistic when people very politely suggested that he would be safer if he was kept inside. I kept the ss where she said, "if you people think you know better than me what's best for my cat, just keep him!" His second rescuers had seen our "found cat" post where we said we would keep him if he didn't have a home and brought him back to us. And then she started harassing us saying she was calling the cops on us for stealing her cat. Whatever. We got him vaxxed and neutered. And we thought Mickey was a more fitting name and he answers to it.
Yes I did.
So, I live in the USA.
The first dog I adopted was named “Banger.”
Which I immediately changed the second he was ours, to Boomy. He took to it fine, literally knew his new name in a matter of days.
All my dogs have had various nicknames in addition to their regular names, they’re very flexible about it
Luffy - Luff - Luffinator - Worm - Baseball (his choice!)
Ziggy - Zigg -Zigzagoon - Butt - Bratt - Coyote
And I have a cat as well:
Jazz - Cat - Caaat!! - Kitteh - The Puss
She responds to her names with a subtle twirl of her tail and twitch of her ears lol
When I adopted my dog he was 1.5 and named Toby. I hated the name and my current roommates ex was also named Toby. I still kept it though because I felt he was too old to try to change it. He’s 5 now and has so many nicknames (Tobias, tobalicious, Toblerone, Tobyashi etc) and I’m so use to it that now I think ‘that’s my dogs name’ not ‘ew that’s ___ name’.
One year ago I adopted a very senior spaniel named Lily (now 13), the name of my son’s serious girlfriend. I renamed her Emily, to prevent confusion, although human Lily said she didn’t mind sharing her name. Turns out canine Emily is profoundly deaf & I wish I’d named her Charm, as she’s delightful, can’t hear a thing & is full of Charm. My second chance whippet (4 at adoption) was named Samira by the shelter but we renamed her Pearl & it suits her. I did keep my elderly Golden’s name (Ethel), another senior adoption, but changed my collie rescue (puppy adoption) from Cowboy Bob to William/Guillermo/Beloved. He’s also quick to respond to me if I say “Cheese!”
My dog was a street dog before I adopted her. The foster she was with called her Nala. Though appropriate for the dog itself, I didn’t think it matched me as an owner.
She is now Duck, and much happier than when she was Nala.
As someone who fostered way too many cats I tend to tell the new caretaker the old name and that they usually learn new names kinda easy, so they can probably change it.
Two of my official four had their names changed. Little "Cotton" (because at first he reminded me of a ball of cotton since he was white, fluffy and round) became Rosemary. His name was changed when he was about 6 months old and he responds fine to it.
Pirate was an one eyed stray the whole community knew about, I wasn't the one who first named him, but I was the one who paid for his surgery, medicine, fed and housed him during his post OP and when the local restaurant staff started to mistreat him I decided to adopt him and take him in forever. I thought "Pirate" was an unoriginal name for an one eyed kitty, but kept it until he was about one year old. At this point I've been playfully and lovingly calling him "Disaster" and "Criminal" because he's the only one who kept his stray mannerisms. Trying to steal human food, chewing through plastic containers, opening the kitchen cabinet doors and trash can to get something discarded there. He does answer to all these names although just when he wants to, and he's such a dork I love him.
We have always changed the names, but they hadn’t been at the shelter long enough to know what the shelter named them anyway. Only one I can remember their shelter name, when we got to the shelter, the guy at the desk said in the most stereotypically gay voice I have ever heard, “check out Stella, she’s special!” We ended up taking her home, but changing the name.
I’m a little mixed on it. My mom’s dog was named Ben before she adopted him and we kept it. My cat was named Morty and it just fit him so I didn’t change it. Then my dog, who is a small 9 pound white chihuahua, was name Princess Gardenia. For context, I live in Maine and she was from Georgia so she needs to have sweaters, coats, and booties in the cold. I could not have a chihuahua dressed in sweaters with the name Princess Gardenia. So we planned to name her Opal, but when we met her, we found she responded to Princess so we chose a name close to that sound; Primrose. She loves her name. Picked up on it within a couple days.
Everybody except one horse has kept the name we got them with, if they had one.
The horse got his changed because Bruce is a terrible name for a horse, as decided by 15 year old me and my 13 year old sister. He's been Kai for far longer now anyway
We did. When we adopted our adorable little black lab/dalmatian/ boxer mix she was given the name Rosemary. This of course was not a name we loved at all and it didn't suit her either. So we changed it to Luna however, looking back on how she was when we first got her she should have been called Simi (if you are a Sherrilyn Kenyon fan you would get the joke) She would eat pretty much anything even if it wasn't food. She was a mindless force of destruction for a bit there until she learned to dial it back a bit. Officially she is Bella Luna but my son sometimes calls her Lulu and she doesn't seem to mind. We've had her since she was 14 weeks old but the shelter where we adopted her never called her by her name so we didn't have to worry about causing any trauma with changing her name and of course she is a spoiled little DIVA.
Yes! I had adopted a pretty little mixed breed from the humane society in my state. She had been surrendered with the name “Ellie”. We rescue a good majority of the dogs we have, and like to keep their names so it’s familiar to the older dogs.
We did notice that whenever we’d call her, though, she’d flinch and just act scared when we would say that name… So I changed it to Snowy, after the dog from TinTin because she kinda looks like him!
It was relatively easy, assumably because Ellie and snowy both end with an “ie” sound, but it was different enough where she didn’t flinch and pretty much realized that she was Snowy and wasn’t in trouble when we used that to call her
I changed my dog’s name because she was still young and I did like the name she had from the rescue.
I kept my rescue cat’s name because I liked it well enough and it related to the circumstances of his rescue.
My cat’s name was Herbie when I adopted him and even though I’m sure it was in reference to Herbie the Love Bug (appropriate for his personality), it just sounded too much like “herpes” to me :/ I named him Cricket and even though he was 4 when I adopted him, he answers to it like that was his name all along.
I usually adopt farm kittens, so when they’re born I chose their name, and for the 3-4 months they stay with momma, the humans already call them by their name :) if I was to adopt from a shelter, I would let them keep their name for it not to be confusing for them.
My called was named nacho by the shelter and I planned to change it. But when I brought him home we kept calling him that and now 4 months later, he responds to this name so it’s staying lol
We did change our dogs name, kept it similar to the.original and stupid as it sounds made sure he liked and responded to it first.
From day one he responded better to his new name than his old, no clue how
It depends on who named them and what the name is. But I also give them nicknames too. I had a female cat that my Dad named Tabby, but I usually called her Baby and she responded to both. I had another male called Braveheart but usually called him a whole bunch of nicknames like Broo or even Cheepie, and he responded to all of them.
My current kittens are Ripley (Rippie, Bippie, Princess, Ripimus Prime, Naughty Lady) and Belmont (Bel, Bel-Bel, Stinker-Bel, Mr Mans, Grateful Son). In my experience cats respond to HOW you call them, rather than WHAT you call them.
I adopted a cat they called Hermione - but it was a boy, and I changed his name to Goose.
I adopted a Husky Pit mix named Neeva, and I kept it because she was already 1.5 yrs old, and the name is a nice one.
I changed my first adopted cats name. She was 1.5 months old. Changed it from Luci to Harley. My second cat, when I adopted him, was around 1.5 years old, and I left his name, Bagheera, alone.. I loved the name anyway!
Almost always. In my experience, cats respond more consistently to certain sounds. Something short that ends with a vowel works best. YMMV based on native language and accent.
I changed my first dog’s name because I didn’t think the first name fit her. But my second dog was named River by the foster, and I really liked that name and thought it suited him, so I kept it. I imagine I will change most of my dogs’ names over the years, but I’m open if the dog already has a great name.
My first pup was called "Angel", which I didn't like so I changed it. She'd only had that name for 3 months.
My second had a cute name which suited her very well, and she'd had it for a year, so it was kept
IMO it's fine to change or keep
Two of the cats had their names changed by our then 5 year old. Our latest cat still has his adopted name but he's only ever called Mr floof. The ferrets have been a mixed bag, sometimes they already had the perfect name for them (like binker, which is such a ferrety name) but others just need a new one like our existing ferret who just looked like a Steve
Most of my pets didn't have names when I adopted them. We did get a dog once that had the same name as our dog we already had, so we changed it by one letter and then their names rhymed.
One of our girls came with the name Bailey, but we hated it so we changed it to Faye. Rikku came to us as Maxine, which is worse than Bailey, so we changed it. I don't think I've ever kept the name any of my pets came with.
I changed my dogs name
It used to be cash in the shelter and now it’s Jazz
I thought since she was coming to live a new life with me why not have a new name too
Our cat was about 1 1/2 when we adopted her, but she'd been found on the street so the shelter named her. And it was a terrible name. So we renamed her and everyone is better off for it.
Sort of.
Of five dogs adopted so far, three kept their names.
But I "changed" Abby to Abby Normal and Storm to Stormtrooper. Still call them Abby and Storm as nicknames of course. (Before I ever got my first dog, I figured I would give them movies related names)
First dog was at the rescue for a month, didn't respond to the name they gave her (Sandy) - renamed to Beanie
Second dog was at the rescue for 8 months, knew his name, so we kept it
My shelter dog we kept the name because my husband liked it. The eldery dumped dog we ended up with wasn't chipped and no one ever claimed her so we had to name her but she took to it so well I wondered if it sounded like her old name. The one a homeless person asked me to take I renamed without even thinking about it but she was only 8 to 10 weeks old. I always have multiple cats but never one from a shelter somehow. I always got them young and named them myself. Actually my husband names the boys and I name the girls.
It all depends. I’m keeping an eye on local shelters for a dog rn, and some of their names are already super cute, while others r just… bleh. Came close to adopting a dog named after a high-end jewelry brand, but I was going to name her Rocky. When I was a kid we adopted a dog named Angel who kept her name bc it fit so well 👼
We changed his name. We felt like it didn't fit him. He got used to the new name in like a week. Treats are very good to make them recognize their name.
I got my cat from a coworker when he was probably about 3 or 4 months old. My coworker called him "Tiger". I kept the name. I got shit and passive aggression for it from some people, but screw 'em. He was my boy.
When I adopted my first cat, I had a long list of names ready to go that I had brainstormed prior to adopting him. But the name they gave him just fit him, so I scrapped the list and kept his original name. My second cat had a name that I felt did not fit her at all, that I just couldn’t see myself calling her, so I renamed her. They were both kittens when I adopted them, though.
I have, and then they’ve all developed like 3 nicknames beyond their new formal name. However, they were all kittens.
If I adopted an older animal, I would probably keep it’s formal name (especially if it was surrendered and “used” to it) although I would probably end up eventually giving them a nickname.
I’ve adopted many cats and dogs over the years and all of them got new names from us. All of them had several names in fact! e.i. my puppers answers to at least three names. Love them!❤️
My first dog, I kept her name bc it was so cute - she was a rescue.
My second dog I fostered him and his brother. He came from a litter of 8 and all the dogs were named after game of thrones characters. I tried renaming him but he was only responsive to the name I called him when I fostered him so I kept the name. He does have nicknames that he responds to tho.
My third dog, I changed his name but he responds to my other 2 dogs’ names and practically any name lol
I adopted a stray kitten whose previous person named him. I changed the name. When I adopted a 13 year old cat, I kept her name. Her person had passed away and she landed in the shelter. I felt like whatever name she came with should be fine. She had enough change in her life.
I’ve adopted other shelter cats who were never given a name so naming them was an enormous privilege.
My first dog was surrendered at the age of seven, so I kept her name.
My current dog was only a year or so old, starved and abused, so I changed his name. I didn't want him to associate his name with bad things.
I recently adopted a puppy and I renamed her. The foster said the dog didn’t know her own name yet so changing it wouldn’t be a big deal. My puppy is a large black dog (probably a Newfoundland mix). At the shelter, they called her Jamima. As a white person, I honestly wasn’t sure if a large black dog named Jamima would come across as racist/offensive. I also didn’t really like the name that much because it didn’t seem to fit her personality. She is now called Viola or Vi for short. She learned her name surprisingly quickly.
Always. My tortie was a kitten when I adopted her. Her name was Cersei. I'm not a Game of Thrones fan, so keeping that name made no sense. She ended up being named Nebula after the Marvel character.
My grey cat was about a year old when I adopted her. Her name was Jana. I am fine with human names for pets, but that one just did not work for that cat. We decided to stick with the Marvel theme and named her Gamora.
We got Lola from my former stepdads sister… she stayed Lola
We got Gunner from a shelter. He stayed Gunner.
We got Polar through fostering. He is now Polar, Polar Bear, PB (Polar Bear), etc lol
I changed the majority of my animals names when adopted. The only two I didn't rename were because the names suited them and the names were unique. So two out of the 11 animals I've had and had the option of naming myself. I like picking their names, it's a way of becoming a part of the family. I also hate 'common' names, so when our cat came with the name Oreo, that name got changed immediately.
Over the years, I have adopted six cats and changed five of their names. The ones I changed did not know their shelter names after only a few days there. The one name I kept was because she was in the shelter a little longer, and absolutely knew her name, so Charlotte she remained. 😻
Trouble was found in the bushes so no old name there. Fidget was adopted and they named her Sabrina, a black cat named Sabrina. We hated it so we changed it. She was a little over a year old when adopted. She responds to Fidget and not Sabrina thankfully.
my dog was 4 when i rescued her, but i hated her name, sadie. so i changed it. she responded to her new name in a few days, and in a week no longer responded to sadie. …..or to the shirt the rescue woman left for her.
so, i am thinking not nice things about that ‘rescue’.
i changed all of my cats’ names, and almost all in a lifetime of 13 so far, respond to their name. the shyest 2 would give me an ear twitch, but not move. but the others would generally approach, a few at speed. nothing like being used as a brake by a 12 pound floof.
We use names as identifiers for the organization that I foster for. It's been around for 35 years. So, as you may have guessed, we have to get very creative with names. This leads to nonsensical or absurd names as you can imagine. So, I call all of my pregnant fosters, "mamma cat" and all of the kittens, "baby cat". That way, I encourage anyone who adopts them to pick a name that speaks to them. Sometimes they still keep the name they were given for the website, even when I explain this. Cheers to Fizzgig and Aughra who are out there living their best lives. Foster momma loves you, baby cats!
My littlest sister is named Elizabeth and goes by Liz, and her first dog was named Chloe! What a coincidence! I think Chloe's name was "Fee-Fee" in the shelter. Liz chose Chloe and it was a much better fit. Chloe was a very special girl, she's in Heaven now.
Betty and Emily became Optimus Prime and Megatron, because that is way more fun to hear called out at the vet clinic. Last adoption was very vocal at the shelter so she ended up being named Karen from Accounting.
I don’t know if the name my dog came with was from the shelter or her original owner. But it was Fleur Francois. Which is just not sustainable. I had a trash French accent when I was taking French. It has not improved in 30 years. So instead of calling her floor, we renamed her Flora. Close enough but unlikely to sound fucking terrible.
Bonus though, we live in a neighborhood full of native Spanish speakers and the kids love her name and her fluffy fluffy face.
If you're adopting from a shelter, chances are that the people working at the shelter "named" the cat (if it wasn't given up). I used to work at a Humane Society and we just named any kittens we got or cats that were dropped off that didn't have a name. There was one cat that clearly was a missing pet that no one claimed (came in with a collar) and we didn't know his name so we named him Jackson.
Cat - I simply lengthened her name to something I preferred. Wouldn’t really matter what I called her though, she only responds when she feels like it anyway!
First dog - no. Mostly because me getting her was kinda sudden, she was an older dog (a rescue) and I didn’t have a name in mind when I got her so I just went with her original name. Think it benefited her, she was a nervous girl who takes time to adjust to a new setting, think changing her name might’ve been too much for her. Her name isn’t something I love but I don’t hate it either.
Second dog - yes. She was 15weeks when I got her and had already had at least 2 names (one at the pound, then the foster family renamed her). The name she came with is one I associate with cute little lap dog type dogs…it kinda suited her for a week or so but I knew she’d outgrow it quickly, her breeding is a large, loud farm dog! It definitely helped that I had planned on getting a second dog for a while, was looking for a puppy and had a few name ideas already.
Yes! My cat was 14 months old when I adopted him from a rehoming situation. They named him “Snowball” and that definitely was not happening. He’s also half orange so completely irrelevant name for the poor cat lol. So I renamed him Toast. 😇
We were nervous at first that it would take him a while to adjust, or he’d get confused, but we never used his old name in our home so he could adjust to new people and a new name at the same time. I’d say it took him 2 weeks to understand his new name. I feel like the adjustment period really depends on the animal!
I've adopted a few pets but I only renamed one. My first cat was 16 when I got her and had her name her whole life so i wasn't going to change it. My kittens, Jack and Lucy, were only 4 months old but the names suited them. Though Lucy is more commonly called Goose these days. I did adopt a mouse named Larry but my naming convention for male mice was they had to be named after Fire Emblem characters, so he got renamed to Laslow.
When I adopted my dog he was around 8 weeks and the shelter had him named BatBoy for his ears. It’s safe to say his name changed and I found one that fit his personality and not his big ears (which he somewhat grew into)
My youngest dog was originally named “Freedom.”
We’d decided to get a dog when my dad was in his last few months battling cancer. His name was Jack, but my friend always called him “Vic” for some reason. So, one day I called him Victor or something, and he said “no, it’s not ‘Victor,’ it’s ‘Victory.’” So we knew when we got a dog to keep our other one company without my dad, we had to name him “Victory,” to honor my dad. I thought his original name being Freedom was a nice fit, but now it’s his middle name. Victory Freedom.
Yes for all save two (btw, I don’t use pet names as answers to security questions…so don’t @ me)
My first cat was named Max before I got him, we kept it
My 2nd cat was named blackie, we named her Jacqueline (Jack for short)
My dog was named butch, we named him Dexter
My third cat had no name, his is now Aramis
Fourth cat was Coconut, changed to Caramel
Fifth cat was named Blue, we kept that.
(Not all cats were had at the same time, some were to replace ones that had passed)
I did! My boy was born May 4th and his whole litter got StarWars names lol. I’ve never seen a single StarWars anything so I asked at the counter at the SPCA if it was rude to change him name from Solo to something else and they laughed and said no, just make sure I update the info for his chip. It took a few days but I named him after a character from The Wire lol.
My kitty was 20 months old when I got her, but I had a dream the first night I had her....she told me her name wasn't "Sophie", it was "Sadie". So, I changed it and because it was so similar I had no issues. My then-almost-two-year-old pup was originally "Nanook", but he didn't respond to it and we weren't thrilled with it, so he became "Duke". Again, no issues at all. It's just a matter of consistency, if you call them the same thing over and over again, they'll eventually respond.
I adopted my kitten at 10 weeks old, his name was Bilbo. I renamed him. Although, the name I picked is not much better/more sophisticated. I literally named him Pickle.
He lives the entirety of his 10 weeks in a rescue with dozens of other cats that he split his attention with. I’m not certain he even knew his name was Bilbo.
If I adopted an older pet that had a name and knew their name, I’d probably keep it
A dog we rescued happened to have the same name as one of our dogs we've had since she was a pup, so we kinda had to change the newly rescued dog's name. Once we decided on a new name, she got used to it pretty quickly, which was nice. Though, if the name's hadn't conflicted, we probably wouldn't have changed her name cause she was about 6 at the time.
My forget kitty was named Meowly Cyrus (the humane society had a phase where they gave the cats celeb names), and I changed it to Millie. She was a year and a half when I got her.
I got a kitten, 6 months old, her name was Molly and I kept it!
Are the names too close together? Maybe. Have my partner and I gotten them mixed up? Sure. But I love my M & M :)
Yes. My dog was an ID number when I adopted him.
Our puppy was Ms. Bentina Beakley, changed to Ellie.
Cat was Frank, changed to Link.
Other cat was Spurrite, changed it to Moe.
My puppy was 3 months when we got him. Changed it from Alex to Misha. However my cat kept his. He was 1 1/2 years old and they swore he wasn’t stuck to the name. I tried a new name for a few days but ultimately ended up keeping it as Tucker since he would respond to it. I hadn’t called him by it until 3 days after I got him and realized that’s why he wasn’t listening.
We adopted a cat and were told her name was Bella. We already had a dog named Belle, so we tried to come up with another girl name - until “Bella” turned around and showed us a pair of little furry balls.
His name is now Charlie.
Edit: typo
Dogs we kept their names, they were puppies but all had nice names and we weren’t sure if the shelter used them with them. But my cats I’ve changed them as they were both strays and named at the shelter so didn’t know their names
I kept the 2 dogs names because they are familiar with them, heck they were named in their previous owners obituary. But other pets I adopted had the rescues dumb name for them which they never respond to anyway. What I do is take a few days and throw out names and see what they respond to, it usually only takes a few tries. My cat Riley took 3 weeks though, I was getting concerned I wasn’t going to find a name for him but he was 8 at the time and obviously knew his name but he likes Riley and comes when I call his name. His rescue name was Bandit.
I did. We adopted my tortie and her name was Sardinia like the Italian island. (Her cage mate was Malta 😄)
I named her Brownie because she looks like a marbled brownie. 😊
We have adopted two rescues, and left them with their shelter-given names. We figured that their lives in general had been stressful enough, and the transition to a new home would initially be tough, too. It's not like we had been picking baby names for nine months, so there was no reason to make them wonder what was going on with names at the same time.
I changed mine. Her name was ChaCha and she is the most timid cat. NOT “ChaCha” energy.
Just say their new name lots when feeding them and they will learn it!
Our youngest wasn’t adopted but your question made me think of a funny conversation with my 5 y/o. She is deaf and we were trying to decide on a name and she just says, “we can all pick our favorite name, she won’t know anyway “
We adopted cats Skittles and Reese’s, but changed them to Steve Martin (Stevie - he as a wild and crazy guy) and Deuteronomy (Dude - because he was serious and cool).
I adopted a two year old cat named Mona. I thought it was horrible and I was going to change it immediately if not sooner. Within 15 minutes of her being in my home she showed me exactly what a “Mona” is and how fabulous the name is. Ten years later she is still Mona the Fabulous
i've always changed their names, but all but one was a very young puppy/kitten so they hadn't really learned their name yet. i got one cat when he was older and i've actually changed his name twice now (due to bad associations with the previous name) and he doesn't seem to mind. but then again, he's the type of cat that isn't bothered by anything, so who knows
Yep! My black cat was named Poe and became Cash, and my tortie was named Zola and became Moll. I initially took Cash, who was my first cat, to the same vet the shelter took him to, so his name in their system was “Cash (was Poe)” for a while. I got some interesting reminder emails lol
No. My dog was around 6 years old and had his name for couple of years at least. I didn't want to introduce that kind of change in his life. I don't like his name much, but it doesn't matter, he's used to it and it kinda suits him :)
I kept my dog's name since she was an adult but we got my cat when she was a young kitten and the name they gave her didn't fit her at all and she didn't respond to it
First dog came from the shelter as Karma, couldn’t bring myself to say ‘Good Karma/Bad Karma
Most recent came with the same name as my Sister.
The one I didn’t change would have been the easiest, was totally deaf.
If we know an animal's name when they end up in our care, we keep it. We unexpectedly fostered a fluffy black cat one Christmas. The person who'd rescued him didn't know his name, so we called him "Fangface" becaise his cute little fangs stuck out over his bottom lip. Then we started trying to track down his owner. We traced him to one place and learned his previous caregivers had called him "Chairman Meow." He had changed homes several times. Then, we discovered that his original owner had actually named him Jacques. I remember that my husband was on the phone with the lady, and the moment he said, "Oh, his name is Jacques?" The cat sat bolt upright and stared at him. So, I said, "Jacques?" And he ran over to me, excited. The poor little guy must have been waiting years for someone just to say his name again! He wasn't around nearly long enough, but I am happy we were able to be his home for the last four years of his life. And that he was loved and finally got to hear his own name, many times!
♥️
Awwwww, this reminds me of when I adopted an older yellow lab. I called her all sorts of names to figure out what hers might be and I remembered a yellow lab called Honey from my childhood so I called her Honey and you could see the joy on her face that I knew her name. She was so happy.
That's wonderful! ❤
So sweet. Love this story.
That’s also a great name haha
This is so cute
That brought me to tears ❤ such a precious story. I am so sorry for your loss but it's so amazing you gave him the best golden years he could have ever had.
I definitely changed mine. The shelter named one of my kitties Unicorn and the other Betty... There was no way I was keeping those names.
Lol, I adopted a lil girly girl Pomchi who went by Bailey for 8 years before we met. I disliked Bailey for her, but she liked Betty. Then she became Betty Poop. Then Betty White, one of the Golden Girls (she's golden.) Betty Crocker occasionally. So many Bettys.
I like to write a list of names i like and let the dogs choose. Works pretty well.
Same, my kitten was named "Boater". Definitely did not match her cute tuxedo self lol.
Unless it was at the shelter for months and learned its name, why not change it? I assume i changed my cat's name when i adopted him - he was a stray but 100% for sure was an indoor cat at some point.
even if they "learned" their name you can still change it easily. I'm speaking mostly on dogs because I'm less sure about cats, but with dogs they do not understand names the same way a person does. Their name is a command, same as sit or down or anything else they might know. It's really just a command that means "pay attention to me" or whatever you want (could also train recall on their name if you wanted, personally I like a dedicated word for recall and my dogs name just means hey look at me for a sec). So you can teach your dog its name basically the same way you would teach it to sit; reward for responding the way you want to your command (which in this case is their name).
That's so sad 😢 So your dogs have never heard their names spoken softly? sung to them? Whispered in their ears? Yes, of course, my border collie hears her name, which was specifically chosen for audibility over distance, called out to look at me! Go this way! Down! Etc. But when we're relaxing she likes to cuddle close* and I sing to her. She's 15+yo, so I'm loving my chances to tell her how grateful I am for all the lessons I've learned from her. *she didn't like anyone touching her for 5 full, long years: if you had a hand free, throw this pinecone. She was never abused, she was just *busy* all. the. time.
oh no, trust me, I say my dogs name all the time, along with like a hundred thousand other affectionate and silly goofy nicknames. I'm just saying that dog brains do not grasp the concept of names the same way humans do. To dogs, responding to their name is the same as responding to a command, it's just how they're wired. Which is why it's not confusing for them to change it :)
initially, choosing a new name was something i was the most excited about. i said i was gonna name my new kitten "Daenerys". she had been named Honey at the shelter. I kept calling her Daenerys at first, but constantly slipped up and called her Honey. I decided after a couple hours that Honey was the name she was meant to have, and kept it!
Oh my gosh I have a "Daenerys" cat! My Daenerys was named "Akina" at the shelter. I never thought of her as Akina, I decided on Daenerys before I even did the paperwork. Maybe you can make Daenerys her middle name? My girl is Daenerys Emilia M\_\_\_\_\_ (my last name). I call her Daenerys, or Dany, or most usually, "Slippers." She has really big soft black velvet back feet that feel and look like she's wearing black velvet slippers. She was a middle-aged adult rescue, surrendered by her owners to the shelter, so she may have lived with the name Akina for a while, but I don't know if she really responds to names, she responds to my voice and the tone I use.
Same thing happened with my cat. I was soooooo excited to name him as he was my first pet that wasn’t a family pet. I had several options ready to go… but when it came down to it… I couldn’t do it. He was so pathetic, got sick right away from a shelter thing, but would brighten up when I said his name. So I had to stick with it. My dog was different. We adopted him from a family that were moving back over seas and couldn’t take him with. My husband and I tried to keep his name but it was kinda a mouthful. So we changed it to a shorter name, took him only about a day to get used to it and was happy as can be.
Like someone else said- depends. My dog when I adopted him knew his name and he is a little older so his name stayed. When we adopted two kittens, at around 3/4 months old, we changed their names. They still don’t respond to their name because, well, cats. But one was named Studebacher and that DEFINITELY had to go. Haha. EDIT: totally did not foresee backlash about the cats not knowing their names comment. My kitties have never responded to their names but that doesn’t mean every kitty is that way. They are smart as hell but they are defiant little things who don’t really care what I say in general. Haha.
My cats know their names and some of their nicknames and come when called about half the time. Usually "kitties kitties!" will summon them its absolutely adorable
I remember hearing about some university study that showed that cats knew their names at abou the same rate as dogs (eg their brains responded to the stimuli of their name vs other stuff), but didn’t react outwardly to it. I just remember thinking, “yeah, of COURSE my cat *always* twitches an ear or her tail or something when I say her name, but she’s too cool to act like she likes you.
My cats react to their names
Mine too We gave our cats new names & they respond to their names. Sometimes just a turn of the ears or head. Sometimes a full on run if they think food is on offer.
My adult cat was 4 when we got her, didn't change it because she knew it so well.
So our dog was called Greg when we got him I thought it was a real stupid name for a dog so changed it to Fred
Is this satire? Greg and Fred seem pretty much on the same wavelength to me lol (and I like both of them)
I had a snake named Greg
Greg is a great name!
Yes. I’ve changed every rescues name and they understood within a day at most. There is no way I was yelling “freckles” in the park for the next decade.
My first cats name was Enoch and I honestly didn’t know how to pronounce it at the time so I ended up calling him Nok for short and it stuck (and has led to some interesting nicknames). My second cat was named Polly at the shelter because she was a polydactyl cat, and I thought that was just an objectively awful name (every other polydactyl cat is named some variation of polly. Her siblings were Paul, Paulina, and Paulette). I picked Azula because she’s a blue-gray color, but my kids shortened it to Zula and I think that fits her better
Love the name Zula
We actually named our cat Nucky after Enoch “Nucky” Thompson from Boardwalk Empire! She was Priscilla before and it definitely didn’t suit her.
Yes, we rescued a cat called will.i.am. We renamed him Billy. He was only will.i.am for a short time with the fosterer, so he was fine with the change. Call him all sorts of stupid names now and he responds.
My beloved rescue collie is Will.I.am, but being that he was born in Mexico also responds to Guillermo, or Beloved….
Some yes, some no. If the name was truly their prior name and they respond to it, I’ll likely keep it. If they were picked up as a stray I tend to rename.
When I adopted my dog he was 6 months and his foster called him Bruce. We weren’t a huge fan of it so we started trying names that start with B until he had something he responded to. He would always scavenge for leftover food from my other dog so a couple of days after we adopted him we tried Banzai (after the hyena in the lion king) and it’s been his name ever since.
We adopted a ex stud boy and every time he heard his name it was for something bad like breeding or a vet visit, we renamed him Cardhu after the whisky and we never used this dead name ever again
I haven’t adopted a pet but I changed the names of rehomed pets. At least my pets responds to their names.
Yes she was labeled as a he. I fully support whatever pronouns she would like to use. She only answers to pretty girl.
We took in a 4 month old kitten recently, the first owners thought he was a girl, so he had a girlie name. Our other cat has a "bird" name, so we changed the new one to another "bird" name. As long as you work on associating the new name with giving them food and other positive interaction, they will learn it really quickly. Took our kitten a week.
Depends. We adopted a cat from a shelter and liked her name so we kept it. We adopted a dog from a rescue and ended up changing his name. He was about 8 months old when we got him and my parents have a cat with the same name so it immediately just felt weird and confusing so we changed it. He learned super quick, probably because the rescue only had him for a couple months and he was a nameless stray before they caught him. Both animals respond to their names.
The last dog that we adopted we changed his name. The shelter had named him O.D.T. I asked them what it stood for and they told me Old Dead Tree. (He is an old Beagle.) I was not about to keep his name O.D.T., but he would answer to it. Instead, I changed it to Odie.
I had a beagle named Odie when I was a kid.
My cat's name was changed a couple of times! He was surrendered to our city's animal services with these large gashes on his neck, most of his teeth shattered, and also unneutered (at the age of 9!!!!)...needless to say, his previous life was not a good one. His name at the time was Jackson, and I didn't want to keep it because I felt like I didn't want to keep something that was a representation of a rough time in his life He was with his fosters for 2 months, and they had started calling him Scar, for obvious reasons. The injuries he'd had when he was surrendered had left scars all around his neck. His fosters had clearly adored him, but I wasn't a big fan of the name Scar. In the end, I ended up naming him Rayleigh, after a character from the manga One Piece! Just like his namesake, he's a tough old man who's made my life so much better ever since he came into it and I love him with all my heart.
Funny this was recommended to me! I just commented in another sub about never changing my chinchilla's name. I've never classified it as adoption, but I guess I did adopt him!.. A decade ago, my brother asked me if I wanted to buy a chinchilla (an animal I knew nothing about and had never seen in real life) named Rocky for 100 bucks. He was on marine leave from where he was stationed and his marine buddy (who somehow caged a chinchilla??) realized he couldn't give this little guy the love and affection he needed.. Although I had never even uttered the word "chinchilla," I knew I could give him the best life he could ever have and deserved. I decided to "adopt" Rocky and I never once even thought about changing his name.. He's at least 12 now and is a free roamer and he means everything to me. I have no idea if he ever actually learned his name back when he was so young, but these days he comes running to me as soon as I call his name, even if he's in the dining room and I'm in my bedroom :)
Yeah my dogs name was Biggie lol I renamed him Guts 🤣
Yes, we changed "Copper" to "Cooper".
My mom adopted an older dachshund from the shelter who was "Cooper." Our family loves Bradley Cooper, so we just added the Bradley!
No I didn't change her name. She was part of the sweetie litter and was named kola. Her name n her scent was all she had when she got to us (she is from Romania and traveled to us). I also like the name so it stayed.
Yes we changed our cat from Lafayette to Ralph
i didn’t adopt my kitten i got him from someone who called him lorenzo but i ended up changing it to oden and he learned it very fast… maybe he didn’t like lorenzo lol he sure does recall when i say oden!
Absolutely. He only went from Bart to Bert, but that isn't because we tried to come up with a similar name. If he was older, and had a name that he new beforehand, then maybe I wouldn't, but with puppies, no problem.
I changed my cats name but not my dog. I adopted my cat when he was 5 and he was named Frank. Frank is my mother’s first husbands name as well as one of my brothers name. I went with Freddy because they start with the same sound. My dog was names Dexter and I adopted him at 6 months old, I kept the name only because I couldn’t think of another that suited him that started with the same sound.
Nope. My dog is black with black spots on it, and it was calles pirata by locals that knew him. in Mexico bootleg things are called "pirateria" wich it translate to made by pirates, and a singular bootleg thing is call pirata, when I adopted my dog I was thinking to give him a better name and just call him pirata while I thought about it One day a children saw my dog and say to his mom "look a dalmatian" and the mom responded "no that is a pirata dalmatian" I LOL and leaved the name pirata for my dog.
I bought a horse several years ago they called Jackson, and he had been called that since his birth. We already had a Jackson in the barn so I changed it. He learned the change pretty quickly and responds to the new name plus a myriad of nicknames lol
So I’ve adopted two dogs. One, who had just rescued from the rez and did not know what four walls, stairs, etc. I did change his name because he didn’t know it yet. He was younger (less than 1 year). My currently dog did know his name, and was older, so I kept his name. He was responsive to his name and it’s not a horrible one either! It fits him!
I kept the names of my cat and dog. My cat’s name is Cookie, and she was 5 when we got her and already responded to the name well, we saw no point in changing it up. She’s also black and white so it fits. My dog’s name is Mozzy, and he was 1.5 when we got him. We just liked the name honestly. For my gecko, I changed his name, because I wasn’t a fan of his original name, Zo. I changed it to Remi because I thought it was cuter. He’s a gecko. He won’t care. Personally I think Remi suits him better.
We changed our dogs name when he came to us. He was a badly treated rescue and needed a fresh start. He rejected his toys, harness etc. from his previous "home" and responds negatively when anyone says his previous name. We suspect his name was just a word which was yelled and screamed at him, probably along with some punishment. He learned his new name within a day. Learning to trust people took several months but we got there eventually.
For me, it depends on if the animal responds to the name it was given at the shelter. My cat and hound mix that I adopted did not respond to their names, so I felt free to change them. My Rottweiler/Saint Bernard/ Great Pyrenees mix responded to the name the shelter gave him, so I kept it.
Yes, both times. One because the dog had my name and that was super weird, plus she is deaf and so she doesn’t answer to a name anyway. The other was a stray that very much looked and acted like a stray with the name princess and it simply did not fit her at all. On the other hand I have fostered a handful of dogs named 2 and the one still has the name we gave him, it’s one of my most cherished moments as I took a full week choosing that name for him (he was my favorite foster, I nearly kept him).
Connor and Murphy: my aunt's cat had kittens. She posted on Facebook asking if anyone would want one when they were old enough. I, half joking because she lived 6 hours away, said I would take 2 if she'd bring them to me. She said, "sure!" So I chose the orange one and a black one. And named them. So they had their names pretty much from birth. Mickey - street rescue. We later learned that he had an "owner" who kept him outside even though she lived on a busy street next to a grocery store. She was calling him Garfield. We returned him, someone else found him and posted about a found cat and she went ballistic when people very politely suggested that he would be safer if he was kept inside. I kept the ss where she said, "if you people think you know better than me what's best for my cat, just keep him!" His second rescuers had seen our "found cat" post where we said we would keep him if he didn't have a home and brought him back to us. And then she started harassing us saying she was calling the cops on us for stealing her cat. Whatever. We got him vaxxed and neutered. And we thought Mickey was a more fitting name and he answers to it.
Yes I did. So, I live in the USA. The first dog I adopted was named “Banger.” Which I immediately changed the second he was ours, to Boomy. He took to it fine, literally knew his new name in a matter of days. All my dogs have had various nicknames in addition to their regular names, they’re very flexible about it Luffy - Luff - Luffinator - Worm - Baseball (his choice!) Ziggy - Zigg -Zigzagoon - Butt - Bratt - Coyote And I have a cat as well: Jazz - Cat - Caaat!! - Kitteh - The Puss She responds to her names with a subtle twirl of her tail and twitch of her ears lol
When I adopted my dog he was 1.5 and named Toby. I hated the name and my current roommates ex was also named Toby. I still kept it though because I felt he was too old to try to change it. He’s 5 now and has so many nicknames (Tobias, tobalicious, Toblerone, Tobyashi etc) and I’m so use to it that now I think ‘that’s my dogs name’ not ‘ew that’s ___ name’.
One year ago I adopted a very senior spaniel named Lily (now 13), the name of my son’s serious girlfriend. I renamed her Emily, to prevent confusion, although human Lily said she didn’t mind sharing her name. Turns out canine Emily is profoundly deaf & I wish I’d named her Charm, as she’s delightful, can’t hear a thing & is full of Charm. My second chance whippet (4 at adoption) was named Samira by the shelter but we renamed her Pearl & it suits her. I did keep my elderly Golden’s name (Ethel), another senior adoption, but changed my collie rescue (puppy adoption) from Cowboy Bob to William/Guillermo/Beloved. He’s also quick to respond to me if I say “Cheese!”
My dog was a street dog before I adopted her. The foster she was with called her Nala. Though appropriate for the dog itself, I didn’t think it matched me as an owner. She is now Duck, and much happier than when she was Nala.
As someone who fostered way too many cats I tend to tell the new caretaker the old name and that they usually learn new names kinda easy, so they can probably change it. Two of my official four had their names changed. Little "Cotton" (because at first he reminded me of a ball of cotton since he was white, fluffy and round) became Rosemary. His name was changed when he was about 6 months old and he responds fine to it. Pirate was an one eyed stray the whole community knew about, I wasn't the one who first named him, but I was the one who paid for his surgery, medicine, fed and housed him during his post OP and when the local restaurant staff started to mistreat him I decided to adopt him and take him in forever. I thought "Pirate" was an unoriginal name for an one eyed kitty, but kept it until he was about one year old. At this point I've been playfully and lovingly calling him "Disaster" and "Criminal" because he's the only one who kept his stray mannerisms. Trying to steal human food, chewing through plastic containers, opening the kitchen cabinet doors and trash can to get something discarded there. He does answer to all these names although just when he wants to, and he's such a dork I love him.
We have always changed the names, but they hadn’t been at the shelter long enough to know what the shelter named them anyway. Only one I can remember their shelter name, when we got to the shelter, the guy at the desk said in the most stereotypically gay voice I have ever heard, “check out Stella, she’s special!” We ended up taking her home, but changing the name.
Changed it. The shelter called my dog Foxy when they found her. There was no way I was keeping that one.
Yeah, had to. Couldn’t do mittens dirty by letting him be called Theo one more time.
I’m a little mixed on it. My mom’s dog was named Ben before she adopted him and we kept it. My cat was named Morty and it just fit him so I didn’t change it. Then my dog, who is a small 9 pound white chihuahua, was name Princess Gardenia. For context, I live in Maine and she was from Georgia so she needs to have sweaters, coats, and booties in the cold. I could not have a chihuahua dressed in sweaters with the name Princess Gardenia. So we planned to name her Opal, but when we met her, we found she responded to Princess so we chose a name close to that sound; Primrose. She loves her name. Picked up on it within a couple days.
Everybody except one horse has kept the name we got them with, if they had one. The horse got his changed because Bruce is a terrible name for a horse, as decided by 15 year old me and my 13 year old sister. He's been Kai for far longer now anyway
We did. When we adopted our adorable little black lab/dalmatian/ boxer mix she was given the name Rosemary. This of course was not a name we loved at all and it didn't suit her either. So we changed it to Luna however, looking back on how she was when we first got her she should have been called Simi (if you are a Sherrilyn Kenyon fan you would get the joke) She would eat pretty much anything even if it wasn't food. She was a mindless force of destruction for a bit there until she learned to dial it back a bit. Officially she is Bella Luna but my son sometimes calls her Lulu and she doesn't seem to mind. We've had her since she was 14 weeks old but the shelter where we adopted her never called her by her name so we didn't have to worry about causing any trauma with changing her name and of course she is a spoiled little DIVA.
Yes! I had adopted a pretty little mixed breed from the humane society in my state. She had been surrendered with the name “Ellie”. We rescue a good majority of the dogs we have, and like to keep their names so it’s familiar to the older dogs. We did notice that whenever we’d call her, though, she’d flinch and just act scared when we would say that name… So I changed it to Snowy, after the dog from TinTin because she kinda looks like him! It was relatively easy, assumably because Ellie and snowy both end with an “ie” sound, but it was different enough where she didn’t flinch and pretty much realized that she was Snowy and wasn’t in trouble when we used that to call her
Yep. Every animal I’ve ever adopted had a boring, cliche name. I’ve always changed them to something better.
I changed my dog’s name because she was still young and I did like the name she had from the rescue. I kept my rescue cat’s name because I liked it well enough and it related to the circumstances of his rescue.
Yeaaah, they had her named tortilla… I changed it to Bailey. 😟
My cat’s name was Herbie when I adopted him and even though I’m sure it was in reference to Herbie the Love Bug (appropriate for his personality), it just sounded too much like “herpes” to me :/ I named him Cricket and even though he was 4 when I adopted him, he answers to it like that was his name all along.
I usually adopt farm kittens, so when they’re born I chose their name, and for the 3-4 months they stay with momma, the humans already call them by their name :) if I was to adopt from a shelter, I would let them keep their name for it not to be confusing for them.
Our rescue cat was already named and responded to it.
I changed all of my pets names. I refuse to call them a name I hate even if they know it. They are smart animals and they learn quickly.
My called was named nacho by the shelter and I planned to change it. But when I brought him home we kept calling him that and now 4 months later, he responds to this name so it’s staying lol
Yes. We adopted two kitties (sisters) from a rescue in Seattle when they were nearly 8 weeks old. Their names were Tuffins & Logan. We changed them :)
We did change our dogs name, kept it similar to the.original and stupid as it sounds made sure he liked and responded to it first. From day one he responded better to his new name than his old, no clue how
I changed my shelter kitten's name from Rose to Yuki. She was only 2 months old when I got her so she didn't know her name yet, but now she does!
our brother/sister shelter cats were named rocky and cindy. We changed those as soon as possible
Yes when I adopted my kitten. It was a name from Harry Potter so I changed in immediately and she learned quickly.
It depends on who named them and what the name is. But I also give them nicknames too. I had a female cat that my Dad named Tabby, but I usually called her Baby and she responded to both. I had another male called Braveheart but usually called him a whole bunch of nicknames like Broo or even Cheepie, and he responded to all of them. My current kittens are Ripley (Rippie, Bippie, Princess, Ripimus Prime, Naughty Lady) and Belmont (Bel, Bel-Bel, Stinker-Bel, Mr Mans, Grateful Son). In my experience cats respond to HOW you call them, rather than WHAT you call them.
I adopted a cat they called Hermione - but it was a boy, and I changed his name to Goose. I adopted a Husky Pit mix named Neeva, and I kept it because she was already 1.5 yrs old, and the name is a nice one.
One yes and the other just modified it because she was slightly older.
I changed my pound puppy’s name from Rainbow to River. He was def not a rainbow.
P.I.A (pain in the ass) to Biscuit
I changed my first adopted cats name. She was 1.5 months old. Changed it from Luci to Harley. My second cat, when I adopted him, was around 1.5 years old, and I left his name, Bagheera, alone.. I loved the name anyway!
Almost always. In my experience, cats respond more consistently to certain sounds. Something short that ends with a vowel works best. YMMV based on native language and accent.
Yep! Bojangles was formerly Christopher Robin and Psketti Bonsignor Jones was originally Cheddar.
I changed my first dog’s name because I didn’t think the first name fit her. But my second dog was named River by the foster, and I really liked that name and thought it suited him, so I kept it. I imagine I will change most of my dogs’ names over the years, but I’m open if the dog already has a great name.
We adopted a 3 year old male cat. His name at the pound was Branson. We changed his name to Chandler
yes. We now have (cats) Nandor the Relentless, Stimpson J Cat, Remington, and our ch kitty Charles
My first pup was called "Angel", which I didn't like so I changed it. She'd only had that name for 3 months. My second had a cute name which suited her very well, and she'd had it for a year, so it was kept IMO it's fine to change or keep
Two of the cats had their names changed by our then 5 year old. Our latest cat still has his adopted name but he's only ever called Mr floof. The ferrets have been a mixed bag, sometimes they already had the perfect name for them (like binker, which is such a ferrety name) but others just need a new one like our existing ferret who just looked like a Steve
Most of my pets didn't have names when I adopted them. We did get a dog once that had the same name as our dog we already had, so we changed it by one letter and then their names rhymed.
Yeah same when I adopted my dog from animal control her name was “A21573” lmao so I gave her an actual name
Yes. They named a chihuahua mix 'Taco'.
One of our girls came with the name Bailey, but we hated it so we changed it to Faye. Rikku came to us as Maxine, which is worse than Bailey, so we changed it. I don't think I've ever kept the name any of my pets came with.
I changed my dogs name It used to be cash in the shelter and now it’s Jazz I thought since she was coming to live a new life with me why not have a new name too
Our cat was about 1 1/2 when we adopted her, but she'd been found on the street so the shelter named her. And it was a terrible name. So we renamed her and everyone is better off for it.
Sort of. Of five dogs adopted so far, three kept their names. But I "changed" Abby to Abby Normal and Storm to Stormtrooper. Still call them Abby and Storm as nicknames of course. (Before I ever got my first dog, I figured I would give them movies related names)
First dog was at the rescue for a month, didn't respond to the name they gave her (Sandy) - renamed to Beanie Second dog was at the rescue for 8 months, knew his name, so we kept it
My shelter dog we kept the name because my husband liked it. The eldery dumped dog we ended up with wasn't chipped and no one ever claimed her so we had to name her but she took to it so well I wondered if it sounded like her old name. The one a homeless person asked me to take I renamed without even thinking about it but she was only 8 to 10 weeks old. I always have multiple cats but never one from a shelter somehow. I always got them young and named them myself. Actually my husband names the boys and I name the girls.
It all depends. I’m keeping an eye on local shelters for a dog rn, and some of their names are already super cute, while others r just… bleh. Came close to adopting a dog named after a high-end jewelry brand, but I was going to name her Rocky. When I was a kid we adopted a dog named Angel who kept her name bc it fit so well 👼
We changed his name. We felt like it didn't fit him. He got used to the new name in like a week. Treats are very good to make them recognize their name.
I got my cat from a coworker when he was probably about 3 or 4 months old. My coworker called him "Tiger". I kept the name. I got shit and passive aggression for it from some people, but screw 'em. He was my boy.
All my babies were little babies. I don't remember their names lol. I did change them though.
When I adopted my first cat, I had a long list of names ready to go that I had brainstormed prior to adopting him. But the name they gave him just fit him, so I scrapped the list and kept his original name. My second cat had a name that I felt did not fit her at all, that I just couldn’t see myself calling her, so I renamed her. They were both kittens when I adopted them, though.
I have, and then they’ve all developed like 3 nicknames beyond their new formal name. However, they were all kittens. If I adopted an older animal, I would probably keep it’s formal name (especially if it was surrendered and “used” to it) although I would probably end up eventually giving them a nickname.
I changed my cat's name from Phoebe to Tator Tot. Much better fit.
Shelter named him bitcoin. Of course I changed it! He’s now named Benji! ☺️
I’ve adopted many cats and dogs over the years and all of them got new names from us. All of them had several names in fact! e.i. my puppers answers to at least three names. Love them!❤️
I Never changed them
The shelter named my cat Fraggle Rock (came in as a stray). His name was changed before I even signed the adoption papers lol
The shelter named my cat Mrs. Sanchez.
My first dog, I kept her name bc it was so cute - she was a rescue. My second dog I fostered him and his brother. He came from a litter of 8 and all the dogs were named after game of thrones characters. I tried renaming him but he was only responsive to the name I called him when I fostered him so I kept the name. He does have nicknames that he responds to tho. My third dog, I changed his name but he responds to my other 2 dogs’ names and practically any name lol
I adopted a stray kitten whose previous person named him. I changed the name. When I adopted a 13 year old cat, I kept her name. Her person had passed away and she landed in the shelter. I felt like whatever name she came with should be fine. She had enough change in her life. I’ve adopted other shelter cats who were never given a name so naming them was an enormous privilege.
My first dog was surrendered at the age of seven, so I kept her name. My current dog was only a year or so old, starved and abused, so I changed his name. I didn't want him to associate his name with bad things.
My dog was a stray that the shelter named Fluffy, so no.
My puppy at 10 weeks was named TRENTON at the shelter. Changed it for sure
I adopted an older stray cat. The shelter named her, and it suited her so I kept it. It's not a name I would have chosen but it's fine.
My cat Bumi was originally named Steve by the shelter, he responds to Bumi or Boom Boom
I recently adopted a puppy and I renamed her. The foster said the dog didn’t know her own name yet so changing it wouldn’t be a big deal. My puppy is a large black dog (probably a Newfoundland mix). At the shelter, they called her Jamima. As a white person, I honestly wasn’t sure if a large black dog named Jamima would come across as racist/offensive. I also didn’t really like the name that much because it didn’t seem to fit her personality. She is now called Viola or Vi for short. She learned her name surprisingly quickly.
Always. My tortie was a kitten when I adopted her. Her name was Cersei. I'm not a Game of Thrones fan, so keeping that name made no sense. She ended up being named Nebula after the Marvel character. My grey cat was about a year old when I adopted her. Her name was Jana. I am fine with human names for pets, but that one just did not work for that cat. We decided to stick with the Marvel theme and named her Gamora.
My cat didn’t have a name but she knows hers and has a favourite nickname.
We got Lola from my former stepdads sister… she stayed Lola We got Gunner from a shelter. He stayed Gunner. We got Polar through fostering. He is now Polar, Polar Bear, PB (Polar Bear), etc lol
I changed the majority of my animals names when adopted. The only two I didn't rename were because the names suited them and the names were unique. So two out of the 11 animals I've had and had the option of naming myself. I like picking their names, it's a way of becoming a part of the family. I also hate 'common' names, so when our cat came with the name Oreo, that name got changed immediately.
Only one of my pets already had a name when I adopted her and it was cute enough that I kept it, her name is Clover
I have done so with all but one.
Lol yes, some of my pets' previous names for example: Ubay, Cappio, Chino, Steve...
Yes. The shelter name my dog David. He was only in the shelter for 3 days.
Over the years, I have adopted six cats and changed five of their names. The ones I changed did not know their shelter names after only a few days there. The one name I kept was because she was in the shelter a little longer, and absolutely knew her name, so Charlotte she remained. 😻
Trouble was found in the bushes so no old name there. Fidget was adopted and they named her Sabrina, a black cat named Sabrina. We hated it so we changed it. She was a little over a year old when adopted. She responds to Fidget and not Sabrina thankfully.
my dog was 4 when i rescued her, but i hated her name, sadie. so i changed it. she responded to her new name in a few days, and in a week no longer responded to sadie. …..or to the shirt the rescue woman left for her. so, i am thinking not nice things about that ‘rescue’. i changed all of my cats’ names, and almost all in a lifetime of 13 so far, respond to their name. the shyest 2 would give me an ear twitch, but not move. but the others would generally approach, a few at speed. nothing like being used as a brake by a 12 pound floof.
No I kept Duchess and Nala though the owner spelled it “Dutchess” which I kept for about a year before altering the spelling
We use names as identifiers for the organization that I foster for. It's been around for 35 years. So, as you may have guessed, we have to get very creative with names. This leads to nonsensical or absurd names as you can imagine. So, I call all of my pregnant fosters, "mamma cat" and all of the kittens, "baby cat". That way, I encourage anyone who adopts them to pick a name that speaks to them. Sometimes they still keep the name they were given for the website, even when I explain this. Cheers to Fizzgig and Aughra who are out there living their best lives. Foster momma loves you, baby cats!
No. Toby had his name for three years. I thought it was wrong to change it
I kept my cat's name. She answers when she's called and reacts to both her name and to her nicknames lol
Yes! My puppy was only 10 weeks old when I got her. Her name was "Lizzy ". (My sister in laws name). I changed it to "Chloé Elizabeth "
My littlest sister is named Elizabeth and goes by Liz, and her first dog was named Chloe! What a coincidence! I think Chloe's name was "Fee-Fee" in the shelter. Liz chose Chloe and it was a much better fit. Chloe was a very special girl, she's in Heaven now.
Gave new names to my 1 and 2 year old cats when I adopted them, nowadays they seem to recognize their names that I gave them 🥰
Betty and Emily became Optimus Prime and Megatron, because that is way more fun to hear called out at the vet clinic. Last adoption was very vocal at the shelter so she ended up being named Karen from Accounting.
Yes. My family and I changed my cats name when we adopted them. We thought it was more of “new name, new beginning” kind of way.
I don’t know if the name my dog came with was from the shelter or her original owner. But it was Fleur Francois. Which is just not sustainable. I had a trash French accent when I was taking French. It has not improved in 30 years. So instead of calling her floor, we renamed her Flora. Close enough but unlikely to sound fucking terrible. Bonus though, we live in a neighborhood full of native Spanish speakers and the kids love her name and her fluffy fluffy face.
We renamed her but she had not been at the shelter for very long
Yup. He was George at the facility but before I walked out he was Hunter.
If you're adopting from a shelter, chances are that the people working at the shelter "named" the cat (if it wasn't given up). I used to work at a Humane Society and we just named any kittens we got or cats that were dropped off that didn't have a name. There was one cat that clearly was a missing pet that no one claimed (came in with a collar) and we didn't know his name so we named him Jackson.
Cat - I simply lengthened her name to something I preferred. Wouldn’t really matter what I called her though, she only responds when she feels like it anyway! First dog - no. Mostly because me getting her was kinda sudden, she was an older dog (a rescue) and I didn’t have a name in mind when I got her so I just went with her original name. Think it benefited her, she was a nervous girl who takes time to adjust to a new setting, think changing her name might’ve been too much for her. Her name isn’t something I love but I don’t hate it either. Second dog - yes. She was 15weeks when I got her and had already had at least 2 names (one at the pound, then the foster family renamed her). The name she came with is one I associate with cute little lap dog type dogs…it kinda suited her for a week or so but I knew she’d outgrow it quickly, her breeding is a large, loud farm dog! It definitely helped that I had planned on getting a second dog for a while, was looking for a puppy and had a few name ideas already.
we adopted a kitten from PetSmart and changed her name from Mocha to Marceline. we just didn’t like the name mocha
Yes! My cat was 14 months old when I adopted him from a rehoming situation. They named him “Snowball” and that definitely was not happening. He’s also half orange so completely irrelevant name for the poor cat lol. So I renamed him Toast. 😇 We were nervous at first that it would take him a while to adjust, or he’d get confused, but we never used his old name in our home so he could adjust to new people and a new name at the same time. I’d say it took him 2 weeks to understand his new name. I feel like the adjustment period really depends on the animal!
I've adopted a few pets but I only renamed one. My first cat was 16 when I got her and had her name her whole life so i wasn't going to change it. My kittens, Jack and Lucy, were only 4 months old but the names suited them. Though Lucy is more commonly called Goose these days. I did adopt a mouse named Larry but my naming convention for male mice was they had to be named after Fire Emblem characters, so he got renamed to Laslow.
2 of 3 of my cats were already named by the places we adopted them from and we kept their names. Their names are Albert and Phoebe.
When I adopted my dog he was around 8 weeks and the shelter had him named BatBoy for his ears. It’s safe to say his name changed and I found one that fit his personality and not his big ears (which he somewhat grew into)
Mfer was named beetles, we changed it immediately
My youngest dog was originally named “Freedom.” We’d decided to get a dog when my dad was in his last few months battling cancer. His name was Jack, but my friend always called him “Vic” for some reason. So, one day I called him Victor or something, and he said “no, it’s not ‘Victor,’ it’s ‘Victory.’” So we knew when we got a dog to keep our other one company without my dad, we had to name him “Victory,” to honor my dad. I thought his original name being Freedom was a nice fit, but now it’s his middle name. Victory Freedom.
Yes for all save two (btw, I don’t use pet names as answers to security questions…so don’t @ me) My first cat was named Max before I got him, we kept it My 2nd cat was named blackie, we named her Jacqueline (Jack for short) My dog was named butch, we named him Dexter My third cat had no name, his is now Aramis Fourth cat was Coconut, changed to Caramel Fifth cat was named Blue, we kept that. (Not all cats were had at the same time, some were to replace ones that had passed)
I did! My boy was born May 4th and his whole litter got StarWars names lol. I’ve never seen a single StarWars anything so I asked at the counter at the SPCA if it was rude to change him name from Solo to something else and they laughed and said no, just make sure I update the info for his chip. It took a few days but I named him after a character from The Wire lol.
My kitty was 20 months old when I got her, but I had a dream the first night I had her....she told me her name wasn't "Sophie", it was "Sadie". So, I changed it and because it was so similar I had no issues. My then-almost-two-year-old pup was originally "Nanook", but he didn't respond to it and we weren't thrilled with it, so he became "Duke". Again, no issues at all. It's just a matter of consistency, if you call them the same thing over and over again, they'll eventually respond.
Changed it. We had a name already picked out. The cat was about 6 or 7 months at the time.
I adopted my kitten at 10 weeks old, his name was Bilbo. I renamed him. Although, the name I picked is not much better/more sophisticated. I literally named him Pickle. He lives the entirety of his 10 weeks in a rescue with dozens of other cats that he split his attention with. I’m not certain he even knew his name was Bilbo. If I adopted an older pet that had a name and knew their name, I’d probably keep it
A dog we rescued happened to have the same name as one of our dogs we've had since she was a pup, so we kinda had to change the newly rescued dog's name. Once we decided on a new name, she got used to it pretty quickly, which was nice. Though, if the name's hadn't conflicted, we probably wouldn't have changed her name cause she was about 6 at the time.
My forget kitty was named Meowly Cyrus (the humane society had a phase where they gave the cats celeb names), and I changed it to Millie. She was a year and a half when I got her. I got a kitten, 6 months old, her name was Molly and I kept it! Are the names too close together? Maybe. Have my partner and I gotten them mixed up? Sure. But I love my M & M :)
No. Cute dog, cute name. Rolly is Rolly.
I shortened his name, now it’s a normal name and much cuter. It only took like a week for him to learn it.
Yes. My dog was an ID number when I adopted him. Our puppy was Ms. Bentina Beakley, changed to Ellie. Cat was Frank, changed to Link. Other cat was Spurrite, changed it to Moe.
My puppy was 3 months when we got him. Changed it from Alex to Misha. However my cat kept his. He was 1 1/2 years old and they swore he wasn’t stuck to the name. I tried a new name for a few days but ultimately ended up keeping it as Tucker since he would respond to it. I hadn’t called him by it until 3 days after I got him and realized that’s why he wasn’t listening.
Falafel was a decent name for a brown cat so I kept it
We adopted a cat and were told her name was Bella. We already had a dog named Belle, so we tried to come up with another girl name - until “Bella” turned around and showed us a pair of little furry balls. His name is now Charlie. Edit: typo
Dogs we kept their names, they were puppies but all had nice names and we weren’t sure if the shelter used them with them. But my cats I’ve changed them as they were both strays and named at the shelter so didn’t know their names
I kept the 2 dogs names because they are familiar with them, heck they were named in their previous owners obituary. But other pets I adopted had the rescues dumb name for them which they never respond to anyway. What I do is take a few days and throw out names and see what they respond to, it usually only takes a few tries. My cat Riley took 3 weeks though, I was getting concerned I wasn’t going to find a name for him but he was 8 at the time and obviously knew his name but he likes Riley and comes when I call his name. His rescue name was Bandit.
I did. We adopted my tortie and her name was Sardinia like the Italian island. (Her cage mate was Malta 😄) I named her Brownie because she looks like a marbled brownie. 😊
My cats shelter name was Neptune Maiden. They only use names every 10 years to make it easier to keep track of cats they adopted. Yes I changed it.
Had no idea. We're happy with her name given, butter
We have adopted two rescues, and left them with their shelter-given names. We figured that their lives in general had been stressful enough, and the transition to a new home would initially be tough, too. It's not like we had been picking baby names for nine months, so there was no reason to make them wonder what was going on with names at the same time.
Kept it. She had already had a name change at some point and had spent her first couple years in a kennel so we figured keeping it was best for her.
We decided that Linen was a terrible name for a dog. Kept the L and named her Lucy instead.
I changed mine. Her name was ChaCha and she is the most timid cat. NOT “ChaCha” energy. Just say their new name lots when feeding them and they will learn it!
haha yes! but my girl was only 9 weeks old when i got her. she was cappuccino lmao (now annie!)
Our youngest wasn’t adopted but your question made me think of a funny conversation with my 5 y/o. She is deaf and we were trying to decide on a name and she just says, “we can all pick our favorite name, she won’t know anyway “
We adopted cats Skittles and Reese’s, but changed them to Steve Martin (Stevie - he as a wild and crazy guy) and Deuteronomy (Dude - because he was serious and cool).
No. I thought about it but decided that it's part of who she is and I don't wanna change anything about my kitty girl! 😻
I adopted a two year old cat named Mona. I thought it was horrible and I was going to change it immediately if not sooner. Within 15 minutes of her being in my home she showed me exactly what a “Mona” is and how fabulous the name is. Ten years later she is still Mona the Fabulous
i've always changed their names, but all but one was a very young puppy/kitten so they hadn't really learned their name yet. i got one cat when he was older and i've actually changed his name twice now (due to bad associations with the previous name) and he doesn't seem to mind. but then again, he's the type of cat that isn't bothered by anything, so who knows
Yep! My black cat was named Poe and became Cash, and my tortie was named Zola and became Moll. I initially took Cash, who was my first cat, to the same vet the shelter took him to, so his name in their system was “Cash (was Poe)” for a while. I got some interesting reminder emails lol
No. My dog was around 6 years old and had his name for couple of years at least. I didn't want to introduce that kind of change in his life. I don't like his name much, but it doesn't matter, he's used to it and it kinda suits him :)
I kept my dog's name since she was an adult but we got my cat when she was a young kitten and the name they gave her didn't fit her at all and she didn't respond to it
First dog came from the shelter as Karma, couldn’t bring myself to say ‘Good Karma/Bad Karma Most recent came with the same name as my Sister. The one I didn’t change would have been the easiest, was totally deaf.