0.0.1 Naming your babies

[irEric]

So I currently have an approx. 8 month old golden greek. Still unnamed and refered to as "it".

I was wondering what some of you do when choosing names:

Do you have a predetermined desired gender/name and stick to it until sexing?
Do you decide a gender/name based on observing its behavior for a while?
Or do you just give it a unisex name?
Just wondering what some people come up with.
I guess most people would have back up names.

 

[MichelleCarrigan78]

When naming my baby Red Eared Sliders, they all feel like boys to us. Though more than likely they arent. We let them name themselves. For example one of them was named Boo, because he was the most skiddish of the bunch. I feel that even Jack (who was sick and therefore "jacked up" when we got him) will still be Jack even if he turns out to be a girl. The adult RES we got was named Eurasia when we got it, we found out "she" is actually a "he" and we changed his name to Hermes.

 

[-JM]

I picked out two names (Bernadette and Benvolio) then asked the person I got her from to guess at her gender. They guessed that Bernie is a female, so I'm calling her Bernie until I am otherwise convinced. So yeah, I guess that's saying I have a "backup" name.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

When in doubt, I generally go w/ a "unisex" name or at least one that can be easily "modified"..."Bobby" can easily become "Bobbi-Sue", "Trevor" can morph into "Treva", etc.

Both of my present torts were pretty obvious as to their genders, so it was much simpler.

 

[TortieGal]

I have been wondering what I am going to call Hermen if he turns out to be a she. What do you modifie that to? I can't think of anything cute.

 

[MichelleCarrigan78]

@TortieGal, Harmony is the closest thing I can come up with.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

I have been wondering what I am going to call Hermen if he turns out to be a she. What do you modifie that to? I can't think of anything cute.

Hermione (what, you've never read any of the Harry Potter books? )

 

[Missy]

I don't know if Tank is male but even if it turns out to be female I can't see calling him/her anything else. I don't think the torts care one way or another. LOL. Lana is female and I named her after the girl that found her and gave her to me.

 

[Angi]

When I got my Torts they were tiny babies. Bob bobbed his head when I rubbed it. Shelby's shell looked like it had been piched when someone picked her up (it is fine now). So the names just fit them. With my boxie I asked for suggestions on Facebook after posting her pic. Someone said Trooper but that didn't fit her and I decided Trudy was what fit her. It took a few days.

Tortie Gal~ I thought of the Harry Potter thing too. She would be a cool carachter to be named after.

 

[moswen]

i surfed the web forever searching "reptile names" or "tortoise turtle names," but none of them fit my guys. my sulcatas were temperature sexed so the gender part was a breeze... so in the end i researched "mythology legends words tortoise africa" and found their names from african words, moswen means white, ayana means beautiful, and safina means noah's ark. i was kind of hoping to read a legend about a turtle that actually had a NAME, but african legends just involve the animal, and if it has a name it's "turtle" or "tortoise..." and tula's name was from the main girl in "my big fat greek wedding."

 

[Laura]

generic names are best.. but i dont think the tortoises care. i have a cocaktoo,, Jasper.. I recently discovered he is a she.. but Im not changing her name...

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't normally name my turtles and tortoises, but occasionally I do think of a name for one of them. For instance, the little Manouria emys phayrei that hatched two years ago became "Emmie." The rescue leopard that was brought to me from Ohio is called "Cincinnati." Dudley, the sulcata came to me with his name, as did Darth the Manouria male and his girlfriend, Phay.

My birds and mammals usually name themselves. My little manx kitten looked so much like a bear cub that he was called Bear Boy. And the next manx kitten was called Cubby.

Then there are the real inventive names like "Little Brother," a black cat that came to my house right after I had gotten a new kitten. So he was my new kitten's little brother...and my all time favorite in the inventive department, "Little Girl Kitty."

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I don't normally name my turtles and tortoises, but occasionally I do think of a name for one of them. For instance, the little Manouria emys phayrei that hatched two years ago became "Emmie." The rescue leopard that was brought to me from Ohio is called "Cincinnati." Dudley, the sulcata came to me with his name, as did Darth the Manouria male and his girlfriend, Phay.

My birds and mammals usually name themselves. My little manx kitten looked so much like a bear cub that he was called Bear Boy. And the next manx kitten was called Cubby.

Then there are the real inventive names like "Little Brother," a black cat that came to my house right after I had gotten a new kitten. So he was my new kitten's little brother...and my all time favorite in the inventive department, "Little Girl Kitty."

But your horse names are much more inventive...The solid brown Appy foal was Plain Brown Wrapper and the Appy stallion was Big Mac because the spots on his butt looked like sesame seed buns and his girlfriend was Wendy.
I have a small tortoise who has an abscessed nose so his name is Abscess Nose and that's exactly how he is listed at the vet. I have Wobbles who only has 2 working legs so she wobbles as she moves, and I have a blind Ornate box turtle named Bright Eyes. I have a male 3 toed box turtle who only has half a brain so his name is Goof Ball, he continually tries to mate with my hand and if he gets a hold of my hand I can't get him off. He was stuck to me once for about 15 minutes! I have a Russian who started out as Natasha (from Boris and Natasha) but she kept gaining weight and out grew her shell so now her name is Fat Nat. I let my animals name themselves.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

When I got my Torts they were tiny babies. Bob bobbed his head when I rubbed it. Shelby's shell looked like it had been piched when someone picked her up (it is fine now). So the names just fit them. With my boxie I asked for suggestions on Facebook after posting her pic. Someone said Trooper but that didn't fit her and I decided Trudy was what fit her. It took a few days.

Tortie Gal~ I thought of the Harry Potter thing too. She would be a cool carachter to be named after.

Actually, the more I've thought about the name Hermione, the more I like it, myself, so when I get a few more E. Hermann's females, one will very likely also be christened Hermione...and the male will either be Hermann or Aristotle, as I like both names for tortoises a lot.

Ptolemy was originally supposed to be Aristotle, but my "god-niece" just insisted on Ptolemy, and I've spent 5 years spoiling her rotten, so why stop now?

 

[ChiKat]

I chose the name "Nelson" when I first decided I wanted a Russian- it's what I always referred to my future tortoise as. If Nelson turns out to be a girl (which is looking probable) I'll still refer to him (uh, her) as Nelson.
Nowadays it seems like practically every name is unisex anyways

 

[Edna]

Missy: I always think that the female counterpart to "Tank" is "Muffy." Can't explain that.
OP: I have named lots of critters in my day, but do not currently have an animal that *I* named. Ponette the Aussie, Iris the Beagle, and Marianne the dove were named by my daughter. Colleen the Westie came with her name. My male dove has no name, and we're all OK with that. Torty might be waiting for a name, or that might be his forever name, and we refer to him and he because it's easy, we don't know for sure and aren't concerned. I named my two children, but each has adopted another name, even if only on Facebook. Brooks became Bjorn, and Katie became Tinka. Names are, or can be, fluid. Edna. And that's my real name.

 

[TortieGal]

I did think about Hermione, and now that you got me thinking about it even more I think I'll go with that, its a cute name. That is if he turns out to be a girl. Herman is only 1 1/2 years old so I have awhile to wait. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Missy: I always think that the female counterpart to "Tank" is "Muffy." Can't explain that.
OP: I have named lots of critters in my day, but do not currently have an animal that *I* named. Ponette the Aussie, Iris the Beagle, and Marianne the dove were named by my daughter. Colleen the Westie came with her name. My male dove has no name, and we're all OK with that. Torty might be waiting for a name, or that might be his forever name, and we refer to him and he because it's easy, we don't know for sure and aren't concerned. I named my two children, but each has adopted another name, even if only on Facebook. Brooks became Bjorn, and Katie became Tinka. Names are, or can be, fluid. Edna. And that's my real name.

Edna is a very old fashioned name that is becoming popular again. My mother was Edna...