Basic Trope: An animal is named after a different species.
- Straight: Alice has a pet cat named Bunny.
- Exaggerated: Alice has four cats named Welsh Corgi, Komodo Dragon, Hummingbird and Mahi-mahi.
- Downplayed:
- Alice's cat is named Panther.
- Alice names her cat Angora even though it's actually a Persian.
- Same idea, but the cat is anthropomorphic in some way and "Bunny" is a Species Surname instead of its first name.
- The cat's name is in another language, but it still translates to another animal, such as Usagi (which is Japanese for "rabbit").
- A Lizard Named "Liz", but for a different animal species (e.g. a cat named Woof, or dog named Mew).
- Justified:
- Alice is Book Dumb and thought her pet is a rabbit.
- If it's a Species Surname, this can be because of reasons relating to marriage or adoption.note
- Alice's cat actually does have some rabbit-like qualities, such as longer ears and/or a short tail, so it's understandable that she'd name it Bunny.
- Alice named her cats after Sailor Moon characters. note
- Inverted: Alice names her cat Cat.
- Subverted:
- The cat is actually named Bungee because it likes jumping to and from high places, but Alice has a lisp that causes her to pronounce it as Bunny.
- The series is set in a universe where cat-like animals are actually called "rabbit".
- Double Subverted:
- Since Alice's been calling it Bunny for so long, that's the name the cat answers to. Eventually, Alice just renames it into Bunny.
- However, in that universe, bunnies are not synonymous to rabbits—they're a completely different type of animal (that looks like the real world's donkeys).
- Parodied: Alice names her cat "I honestly have no idea what the hell this thing is it looks like a Cartoon Creature".
- Zigzagged:
- Since the cat doesn't actually answer to its name, Alice changes the name with which she calls it from time to time. It's been called Bunny, Kitty, Fluffy, Mew, Salmon and Otter.
- Bunny is a Cartoon Creature that looks like a cross between a rabbit and a cat. When Bob asks Alice why she named her cat "Bunny", Alice insists that he's a rabbit, and Bunny's exact species is a constant source of debate both in-universe and out.
- Averted:
- Alice's cat is named Charlie.
- Alice doesn't have a pet.
- Enforced: "Wouldn't it be funny if we had a character that was a different species of animal than its name suggests?"
- Lampshaded: "His name is Bunny? But he's a cat!"
- Invoked: Alice thinks it'd be funny if she named her cat after an animal it's not.
- Exploited:
- Alice takes advantage of Bunny's Non-Indicative Name to convince her ailurophobicnote friends to meet her pet as a prank.
- as above, but for the purpose of making the start of the desensitization therapy less cruel.note
- Defied: Alice considers naming her pet cat Bunny because it'd be funny, but her parents veto it and name it Charlie instead.
- Discussed: "Alice just got a new cat. She said she's going to name it Bunny. Real creative, huh?"
- Conversed: "Does Alice really think her cat is a rabbit, or is she just trying to be funny?" "Maybe that's what a rabbit is supposed to look like in this series' universe?"
- Implied: Nobody ever outright mentions what species Alice's pet is and it's never shown onscreen, but they do say it's rather ironic that it's named "Bunny".
- Played For Laughs: Normally done as is.
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