"If there must be a cat, do not, for the love of God, name it: Magnifi-cat or similar pun; Mr. Adjective-Anatomical-feature; with two or more words all starting with the same letter; or with any name plus the surname of the cat's owner."
Sometimes it's just not worth making up original names for animals. These are names that have been used forever in real life for (usually domesticated) animals, and carry over well for animal characters in fiction. Sometimes its an obvious pun or description of the animal's appearance. Sometimes, the stock names are a more colorful way of referring to the animal's species: If you say "Fido," the reader will instantly understand that you're making an allusion to dogs in general, with no further context necessary.
For dogs and cats it seems like a new "stock" name is "Mr." or "Mrs." something; Mr. Muggles (dog, Heroes), Mrs. Norris (cat, Harry Potter).
The bottom line is, if you want an original name for a character, don't use these ones. Note that in Real Life, these names are very much a Dead Horse Trope; they'll only generally be used by small children (probably because they saw it on TV) or people who don't care one way or another about their pet having a cliché name. They certainly no longer show up in the lists of most popular pet names. But, if you use the names correctly, people know immediately what kind of all you mean.
Compare Species Surname, A Dog Named "Dog", A Lizard Named "Liz", A Pig Named "Porkchop", and A Dog Named "Cat". See also Stock Animal Diet, for stereotyped animal food. Stock Foreign Name is a similar trope of stereotypical names applied to human ethnic groups.
Since this is pretty much a Universal Trope, don't bother listing specific examples. But if you know of an interesting subversion, it's probably worth adding.
Examples:
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Dogs
- Spot, Rover, Patch(es), Fido, Rex, Buster, Max, Sparkynote , Doug.
- According to The Other Wiki,
the name of Cerberus (the three-headed guardian of the gates of Hell, in Greek Mythology) may derive from an Indo-European root meaning "spotted" (Κερβερος = Kerberos). In which case, Hades, God of the Dead and Ruler of Hell, named his pet dog "Spot".
- Hong Kong Phooey had a cat named "Spot" (who was, of course, striped), as did Lt. Cmdr. Data.
- An early Warhammer Fantasy campaign featured its own take on Macbeth: The Tragedy of McDeath. Lady McDeath is a sorceress, and has a giant two-headed hellhound who can obey simple commands like attacking, fetching, and leaving the room. Her command "Out Damned Spot" gives him his name, Spot.
- According to The Other Wiki,
- For female dogs: Queenie, Princess, Duchess, Lady, Ginger.
- For more aggressive dogs, Spike, Wolf, Fang, Killer, Butch.
- In the UK they're often named after boxers. Tyson in particular.
- Men at Arms has a dog called Butch whose upper and lower canines both extend beyond his jawline, cartoon bulldog-style. The Lemony Narrator claims that this is the inevitable consequence of calling a dog Butch.
- These can also be used for non-agressive smaller breeds for the irony.
- For Scottish Terriers: Scotty.
- For German Shepherds: Ace.
- For poodles: Fifi (especially for French poodles), Mitzi.
- For collies: Lassie, Shep
- For small long-haired dogs: Fluffy
- For hounds: Blue.
- For Dalmatians: Pongo. Not originally from The Hundred and One Dalmatians; it's a plot-point in the book that Pongo is a traditional name for Dalmatians.
- For St. Bernards: Bernard, Bernie, Beethoven
- Great Pyrenees: Sebastian
- In the Deep South: Beauregard, particularly in Looney Tunes cartoons.
- In The Savannah Reid Mysteries, while we see Granny Reid's old hound Colonel Beauregard early on, in a later book it's revealed that all the dogs she's owned have been named Colonel Beauregard: each is given a different first name, which is quickly forgotten.
- In Japan: Pochi and John.note
- The female leads in He Is My Master have a pet named Pochi, who the male lead assumes to be a dog. It's actually an alligator.
- Massively indebted male students in Kakegurui are called Pochi in Japanese.
- In France: Médor. (Pronounced May-Dohr)
- In Hungary: Morzsi/Morzsa (especially if small or if a light yellow - it means "crumbs"), Bundás, Bodri (especially if the fur is curly), Tappancs, Foltos/Folti/Pötyi ('spotted'/'Spot') if it has a spot.
- In Finland: Halli (obsolete), Murre or Rekku (onomatopoetics), Musti ("Blackie", and "the" name)
- In Poland: Azor, Burek, Reks
- In Sweden: Karo, Fido, Rex.
- In Dutch: Max, Fikkie
- In Italy: Rex and Leo for male dogs, Laica and Luna for female dogs. Also, Fido.
- In Denmark: Fido, Trofast ("Loyal"), Charlie, Simba, Vaks ("Smart"/"Alert"), Rollo and King for male dogs (a former Danish pop group amusingly called themselves "Rollo and King"); Lady, Molly, Laika, Chili and Bailey for female dogs
- In Russia: Sharik for smaller dogs (means “small ball / small round thing”) and Barbos for bigger dogs
- In German: Waldi (mostly for dachshunds), Hasso, Rex, Struppi (from "struppig", which means "shaggy") or Bello (from "bellen", which means "to bark"). In older works: Nero or Sultan.
- Old Sultan, one of The Brothers Grimm's fairy tales, is the story of a toothless old dog.
- Ännchen in Der Freischütz tries to reassure Agathe with a story in which an apparent ghost turns out to be Nero, the guard-dog.
- Struppi is Snowy's name in German.
- In Brazil: Totó.
- In Mexico, Firuláis. (The rest of Latin America may know the name because they watched El Chapulín Colorado, but for them is mostly a joke; it's a specifically Mexican dog name.)
- Duke, Prince, or King for a fancy male dog.
- Rolly.
- In Vietnam:
- Milu/Milou (the localized name for Snowy the dog in Tintin). Sometimes just shortened to "Lu".
- Vàng ("yellow", Exactly What It Says on the Tin and also the name of a famously affectionate and local dog in a tearjerking short story by Nam Cao).
- German Shepherds are commonly named Rex (for the same reason as German dogs - the titular character of Inspector Rex).
- There's a theory that the spate of dogs being named John (Giôn), Ních (Nick/Nix), or Ki/Ky is after John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Henry Kissinger, unfavorably comparing them to dogs note because of their actions in the Vietnam War. The names remain common to this day.
- Corgis: Fussy, old-fashioned names that are usually last names. Often accompanied by "Sir", "Mister", "Lady", or any other titles of nobility. Food-themed names are extremely popular, and Asian food particularly so, since a disproportionate number of corgi social media accounts are run by Asians or people of Asian descent. Ein(stein) the corgi from Cowboy Bebop is also a popular namesake. Other popular names include Luna (for female corgis) and Winston (for male ones).
Cats
- Sassy, Fluffy, Whiskers, Max, Felix, Shadow, Chloe, Kitty, Kat.
- Quite a lot of cats in Britain these days are being hopefully named Greebo.
- In Japan: Tama. note Usually (but not always) said "Tama" will be a calico.
- Tama from Chi's Sweet Home, even though she is not calico.
- A Code Geass audio drama shows the Student Council debating what to name their new cat. Kallen (who's Japanese) insists that they have to name him Tama. (They name him Arthur.)
- Also "Mike" (mee-kay) after a well known manga, derived from "mikeneko", the Japanese word for calico cat.
- "Nora" is also a common Japanese cat name, usually used for stray cats, derived from "Noraneko" meaning stray cat.
- Tama from Chi's Sweet Home, even though she is not calico.
- For tomcats: Tom.
- For tabby cats: Tabby, Tibby, or Tabitha.
- For queens: Queenie.
- For white cats: Snowball.
- Subverted in The Simpsons with a black cat named Snowball II. It was a replacement for a white cat named Snowball that was run over by a Chrysler (the animators don't always remember this in flashback episodes, although Snowball does appear with the correct color in "Lisa's Sax").
- Tiger, whether striped or not.
- Subverted with The Brady Bunch who have a dog named Tiger.
- Ginger for ginger cats.
- Cinnamon is also used for these types of cats, as well as cinnamon cats.
- Mittens, Boots, or Socks for cats with white paws.
- Socks, Chelsea Clinton's cat while her dad was Governor of Arkansas and then President, is a famous example.
- "Oreo" for tuxedo cats...not typically used in fiction for obvious reasons.
- Callie and Patches for calico or tortoiseshell cats.
- Smokey for grey or black cats, whether smoke patterned or not.
- Midnight for black cats.
- In France: Minou, Mistigri, Gribouille
- In Finland: Miiru (obsolete), Mirri ("the" name)
- In the UK: Tibbles/Tiddles.
- Lampshade Hanging in Going Postal: When Moist gets told the Post Office cat is called Tiddles, he refuses to believe it: "I thought it was just a joke name".
- Fun fact: "Tibbles" is a corrupted version of "Tybalt", the name of the Prince of Cats in the Reynard the Fox stories. Tabby is a related word. (Now you know why Mercutio repeatedly calls Juliet's cousin Tybalt "prince of cats" in Romeo and Juliet.)
- In Malaysia: Comel is a very common name for cats, it means cute. Putih is another common name for white/mostly white cats.
- In Poland: Mruczek, Puszek
- In Norway: If the cat is grey, Gråpus, meaning grey pussy.
- In Sweden: Misse, Mirre (or some very similar-sounding name).
- Kisse can be used for cats in general
- In Dutch: Minoe, Minoes
- In Italy: Fufi, Fuffi
- In Hungary: Cirmi/Cirmos (literally meaning 'Tabbie' if tabby), Cili, Kormi (meaning 'Sootie', if black)
- In Hebrew: Mitsi
- Cats belonging to scientists: Schrodinger. Also occurs in science-fiction stories.
- Played with on The Big Bang Theory. When Sheldon got a glaring of cats after breaking up with Amy, he named them all after the scientists on The Manhattan Project, except for Zazzles, who he said was "just so Zazzy!"
- Black cat in the UK: Lucky. Even in the US, "Lucky" is a fairly popular name for a black cat, mainly for the sake of irony.
- In Russia: Murka (onomatopoeia for purring: “murrr”)
- In Germany: Miezi, Maunzi, Muschi (The last one even has the same double meaning as "Pussy" in English.)
- In Brazil: Bichano.
- In Spanish-speaking countries: Micifúz.
- In the Philippines: Muning
- It's also common to give cats a regal, but goofy, name, like Lady Whiskers or Sir Wuzzles.
- Mog is a common one, since "mog" and "moggy" are both slang for cat.
- Cutesy cat-related names such as Puss-Puss.
- Any variation of Catherine/Catarina is common among cat-themed or feline characters.
- And if you really want to be funny: Mr. Bigglesworthnote
Cows/Cattle
- Bessie/Bossie, Clarabelle, Bella
- Elsie, after the mascot for Borden dairy products.
- Flower names, especially Buttercup or Daisy.
- Sirloin, Porterhouse, or other varieties of steak.
- In Hebrew: Edna
- In Finnish: Heluna, Mansikki, Muurikki (all "the" names); anything with the suffix -kki will be recognised as a cow (Tiistikki, Punikki etc.) "Äpyli" (a corruption of Swedish "äppel") used to be common but has now fallen out of fashion.
- Punikki may not be used that much actually, since it's a derogatory term used for the Finnish Red Guard (and probably also the Russian Red Guard)
- Punikki may not be used that much actually, since it's a derogatory term used for the Finnish Red Guard
- In Denmark: Karen, Maren, Mathilde(Or just Thilde)
- In Poland: Krasula, Mućka
- In France: Marguerite
- In Hungary: Riska (a diminutive of the Hungarian version of Mary) or Bimbó (flowerbud).
- In Russia: Мilka (from “milaya” – darling/nice/sweet), and Zorka (little sunrise)
- For bulls: Toro
- Ferdinand for bulls in Spain, likely due to the popularity of the classic book, The Story of Ferdinand.
- In Brazil: traditional black and white cows tend to be called "Malhada" (which is a case of Exactly What It Says on the Tin).
Bears
- If it's a bearcub, then Little Bear. This remains true, despite this name being heavily associated with the popular book and television series by Maurice Sendak and Else Holmelund Minarik.
- If you don't want to allude to that series, Cubby.
- Barry. Females may be called "Ursula" (literally "She-bear").
- "Bosco," probably due to the alliteration.
- Teddy. Example: The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin.
- Bruin. (Dutch for "brown", originally from Reynard the Fox).
- In Swedish: Nalle.
- Same for Finnish, as well as variations of it, like Nallukka. Or being named after some famous fictional bear (like Nalle Puh from Winnie The Pooh, Bamse from the Swedish comic of the same name or Uppo-Nalle from the childrens book series of the same name).
- In Russia: Misha (nickname for Mikhail).
- In Hungary: Brumi, Dörmi (both imitating the bear's growling).
- In German: Bruno.
Horses/Ponies
- Dobbin
- Silver, particularly when paired with the expression "Hi-ho!"
- Patches for a paint.
- Horace
- Horace Horsecollar
- Spirit
- Lightning or Thunder, especially if it’s a racehorse.
- Blaze, Star, or Stripe for ones with the corresponding facial markings. (A star is a small patch on the forehead, a stripe is a thin streak running from the forehead to the nose, a blaze is like a stripe but wider.)
- Trigger, thanks to Roy Rogers.
- If it's a My Little Phony, expect a cutesy, usually two-part name like "Cupcake Flower" or "Moonlight Shine".
- In Finnish: Polle.
Lions
- Leo, Lionel, Noble/Nobel (from Reynard the Fox)
- Originated from the constellation (or astrology sign if you prefer), or more simply, the Latin name.
- Elsa for lionesses.
- Elsa from Born Free.
- Simba (the Swahili word for lion). Popularized by The Lion King (1994), but actually goes as far back as the twenties.
- Variations of Lionheart are also common (especially if the lion is an actual king in-story) thanks to the famous English king Richard the Lionhearted.
Other Mammals
- Rabbits: Whiskers, Binky, Cottontail, Bugs, Roger, Hoppy, Thumper, Peter, Bun-bun
- Plant names in general (usually edible), popularized by Watership Down.
- In Hungary, Tapsi or Tapsifüles.
- In Japan, "Mimi" (Japanese word for "ear") or anything that includes "Usa" in the name.
- Goats: Nanny, Billy.
- Pigs: Hampton, Hamlet, and other variations on "ham." Bacon is also growing in popularity.note Also Sooie, particularly for sows.
- Porky
- In Russia: Borka (nickname for Boris and also because the term for male pig is borov)
- In Hungary: Röfi (imitating a pig's grunt)
- Raccoons:
- Rascal. See also Rascally Raccoon. Sterling North's novel of the same name is the Trope Namer for this.
- The third live-action television special based on Case Closed has Kogorou looking for a runaway raccoon called Pascal. Every character told this for the first time remarks that Kogorou must be confused because raccoons are called Rascal. The name Pascal is actually a Chekhov's Gun to remind Shin'ichi of Pascal's law.
- Bandit is also common, due to their markings around their eyes looking like a mask.
- Beyond that, they seem to be more prone to Alliterative Names than almost any other species.
- Rascal. See also Rascally Raccoon. Sterling North's novel of the same name is the Trope Namer for this.
- Foxes: Reynard (also from Reynard the Fox), Todd, Tod.
- In Denmark, vixens are often called Rita, which is a Shout-Out to a popular Danish book series for little kids. Since people tend to assume that animals are male until the opposite has been proved, they generally call foxes "Mikkel", though (Danish equivalent of the Swedish "Mickel" and English "Michael").
- In Sweden, fictional male foxes are almost always named Mickel.
- In Hungary, Ravaszdi (from "ravasz", meaning "cunning")
- Skunks: Stinky.
- Pepe, after Pepé Le Pew in Looney Tunes
- For a little irony, Floral Theme Naming is very popular with the females (and sometimes, males, Flower in Bambi being the Ur-Example).
- Hamsters: Hampton, Hammy, and other variations on "ham."
- Flying Squirrels: Momo, derived from "Momonga".
- Also Rocky.
- Apes and Monkeys: Bobo, Coco, Koko (after the gorilla who adopted kittens)
- Gorillas will have the last name Kong, or a last name with the word Kong in it, based on King Kong
- In Hungary: Maki (despite that it also means "lemur")
- In Japan: Saru, the Japanese word for "monkey."
- Elephants: Jumbo (after the 19th century circus elephant), Dumbo (after the Disney movie Dumbo), Pachy, Hannibal (after Carthagian general Hannibal Barco who crossed the Alps with elephants) If female, Ella or Ellie. If male, Elliot.
- Kangaroos: Joey, Wally, Skippy (from the Australian TV series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo of the same name).
- Mice: Squeak, Cheese (and all its variations like Mozzarella and Gorgonzola), Jerry, Mickey
- In Italy, Gigio (from a popular Italian TV character)
- Dolphins: Flipper, after Flipper.
- Orcas: Willy, thanks to Free Willy. Another common orca name is Shamu because of Sea World's orca show.
- Deer: Bambi, after Bambi.
- Otters: Tarka (after the famous novel Tarka The Otter)
- Walruses: Wally, Walter, names starting with "Wal-" in general.
- Paul, for those trying to be clever.
- Hippos: Hyacinth, Hallie, Henrietta, and any other name starting with an "h."
- Moles: Moe, Monty.
- Squirrels: Chip (especially if it's a chipmunk), Dale, Chappy, Nutty.
- Hedgehogs: Spiny, Sonic, Spike, Hedgie.
- Sheep: Lammy, Dolly (like the one that was famously cloned), Mary (as in "Mary had a little lamb"...).
- Camels: Sopwith (after the Sopwith Camel plane).
- Tigers: Tony, Tigger, Tyler.
- In Japan, anything that includes "Tora" in the name.
- Wolves: Beowulf, Fenrir, Ralph (literally means "Wolf"), Wolfgang. See also Werewolf Theme Naming, which can apply here as well.
- Coyotes: Wily.
- Llamas: Dolly.
- Lemmings: Lemmy.
Parrots
- Polly and its variations (Paulie, etc.)
- In France, Coco.
- In Italy, Loreto (large parrots), Cocorita or Cocorito (budgies).
- Pete.
- Einstein for African Grey parrots in particular.
- In Hungary: Pityuka, Gyurika
- In Denmark: Poppedreng.
- In Brazil: Louro ("Blonde")
Other Birds
- Non-Parrot Birds: Pete or Petey. Tweety. Peep.
- In Denmark: Piphans (especially canaries and similar birds, though it can also be applied to parrots).
- Ducks: Ducky, Quacker, Quacky, Donald, Daffy
- Chickens: Chanticleer, Canteclaer (after the rooster from the Reynard the Fox stories), Egbert, Nugget, Clucky
- Crows: In Japan, crows are commonly called Kankuro.
- Vultures: Buzz, like in Buzz Buzzard
- Seagulls: "Sammy" or "Sally". Also "Steven", as a pun on Steven Seagal.
- Ravens: Edgar.
- Turkeys: Tom.
- Penguins: Penny, Tux, Waddles.
- Eagles: "Sam", an allusion to Uncle Sam if they're an American Eagle. Examples include Sam from The Muppets, Sam from America Sings, and Sam the 1984 Summer Olympics mascot.
Reptiles and Amphibians
- Turtles: Sheldon, Shelby, or Shelly, Speedy.
- If you've got four of them, Leo, Raph, Mikey and Don.
- In France: Caroline
- Pythons: Frequently called Monty by people trying to be funny. That is, "frequently" as far as anything related to keeping snakes can be called frequent.
- Lizards: Liz, Lizzie or Liza. Jade if the lizard is green.
- Chameleons: Leon, like Leon Powalski and Cameo Leon.
- Iguanas are Iggy or Spike
- Bearded Dragons named Draco have become popular, otherwise Beardy or Spike.
- Bullfrogs: Jeremiah (as in the lyric "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" from Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World")
- Tyrannosaurus rex: Rex or Rexy. More rarely Regina for females.
- Triceratops: For males, Spike. For females, Sarah, as a pun on "Triceratops".
Fish
- In General: Gil or Gilbert (as a pun on "gill"), Finn, or ocean-themed names like Marina.
- Goldfish: Goldie.
- Sharks: Jaws, after Jaws. Bruce too, as that was said shark's nickname.
Invertebrates
- Ants: Anthony, Antoine, Anita, or any name that sounds like the word "ant".
- Bees: Buzzbee, Beatrice, or any other punny name playing on "bee".
- Octopuses (Octopi?): Octavio, or its diminutive, Otto. Octavia for females.
- In Japan, a Punny Name including either "tako" (octopus) or "hachi" (eight)
- Beetles: John, Paul, George, Ringo.
Fictional Animals/Creatures
- Dragons: Drago, Drake, Draco. Words that have to do with fire are also very common. In Japan the name for dragon is Ryu.
- Unicorns: Eunice, Uni. If it's a My Little Phony, expect the same kind of cutesy name listed under "horses".
- Fairies: Typically have nature-themed names like Daisy or Leaf. Also common are fancy woman's names like Theodora.
- Vampires: Male vampires will have slightly archaic names like Vladimir, Vlad, and Cornelius. Some vampires also have made-up names that typically end in "K".
- Mermaids: Sea-themed names, like Marina, Shelly, or Pearl.
Generic
- Whiskers for anything with whiskers.
- Blackie or Sooty for anything black.
- Tripod or Kickstand for any quadruped missing one of its legs.
- Stripes or Stripey for anything with stripes.
- "Lucky" for an animal missing either a leg or an eye.
- Snowball for anything white.
- Fluffy for anything with fur.
- Annie or Oliver for stray/orphaned animals.
