Animal Welfare Professionals

Who comes up with the names for pets that are available for adoption at your shelter or rescue?

Are there any trends you've seen that work better to catch potential adopter's eyes?

What are some of your favorite names you've seen for adoptable pets?

Typically the dogs are named after they have had their behavior evaluation. The evaporators name them after they have spent some time with them. 

usually the volunteers like to name our pets but we( the workers) will try and help too

We try to use the street name or location. We use Google and search names that begin with for example TAM.  Occasionally we use the rescuer/finders name too. 

I've always wondered this! I love when siblings or pets found together have names that go together. Recently saw some kittens for adoption named after That 70s Show characters: Kelso, Fez & Hyde 

Our rescue gives each transport of dogs a theme.  Then we have an amazing team of volunteers that name the pups based on the theme and then use inspiration from the name to add that extra umph to each pup's bio.  We had a Candy transport with Gummy Bear and Nougat, a back-to-school transport with dogs named after local high schools in our area, a books transport with siblings Hansel and Gretel, and a patriotic transport with dogs names Liberty and Justice.  Our transport theme and names has become something many of our followers look forward to.

We allow the fosters some leeway but try not to have multiple animals in our system with the same name. We'll usually do a theme for a litter (Star Wars, Harry Potter, beaches, cars, seasons, holiday-themed, all starting with the same letter, etc.)

Sometimes the name might reflect where the animal was found: Taco and Belle, McDonald, Kohl, Shed, etc.

If it's an owner-surrendered pet, we try to keep the name so the vet records will be consistent.

I usually do a theme based on where they were found, the time of year (spring, football, holidays), colors/patterns, things that are trending at the moment (baby yoda, words like Bae, etc.) 
I try to steer clear of super unusual names that sound like they're from teen fiction books. I've found that nobody wants to adopt a cat with the name Ragnar, Renesmee, or Twom. Just no.
I do find that more cats get adopted when they have a prefix such as Doctor, Mister, Captain, Mrs., etc., or a two part name like Sylvester Butternut. The sillier the better, and we've used a Benedict Cumberpatch name generator that was a HUGE success with an entire litter (many of whom retained their original names after adoption!) https://benedictcumberbatchgenerator.tumblr.com/

Since i do all the adoptions, if the Great Pyrenees is not name when he/she comes in, we try to find a name to remind us of where they were found or something about the time of year or something else creative.  For litters of puppies, I like themes.  It is much easier to "market" the pups when we have a theme.  The nine pups born right before Christmas were named after the eight reindeer and Rudolph ("Rudy").  People are loving it!

At some of the organizations I worked at we tried to have a running list that we could pull from when new animals came in. For groups or litters we often did themes, sometimes related to pop-culture or current trending tv, movies, etc to try to get attention. We often saw that food-related names were super popular, funnily enough --- think Pierogi, Apple Fritter, Huckleberry, Dumpling, Sage, etc. I have no idea what's behind it but we often remarked at how people responded to those kinds of names favorably!

At HeARTs Speak currently, we put out some name inspiration graphics regularly to try and help get creative juices flowing! Example attached

Our rescues come from Kentucky, we're in Wisconsin, and we are not allowed by state laws to change names, breed, age, etc. So we are stuck with that they give us. We had a litter of puppies all named after prisons such as Alcatraz and Rikers. When we have puppies born in-house they always have the same letter for their name so it's a little limiting. I think the staff names them after people they know which is not too creative. 

Are there and cat to rehouse. 

Let me know

Names are absolutely critical for marketing a pet. I've been in rescue 20 years and have pulled many cats from shelters where they've been in cages for months and months, I change their name, take good pics, add a video and promote them on Facebook and they usually get adopted within weeks. I have a pet name list in my Notes on my phone I refer to and also made a Google docs name list. Feel free to use this to make your own lists!

Attachment(s)

Pet Names List.pdf   67 KB 1 version

We allow fosters to name their pets, within reason...nothing that doesn't "market" well or could be construed as offensive.  I usually do a theme per pull group.  For a while it was just letters--made it easy to figure out who had been here longer, at least--but now we're doing different themes.  Jazz musicians, authors, etc.  One of our other foster volunteers named a whole bunch after characters from Once Upon a Time.

I have gotten to name a few of my foster kittens and I always feel like they are depending on me to name them something good! We named a trio of kittens Meghan, Archie and Harry (this was last summer) and a pair Mario and Luigi. I think we did them proud!

I'd like to get a foursome and name them after the Schitt's Creek characters. 

I name every cat I bring in, even if I have known them only for 1/2 hour. The reason is, so I can follow up on them easier, since our shelter does not allow volunteers to go in Intake or Sick Room. I don't ever name a cat Bella or Buddy, just because I think a little more unique (but not too complicated) is nice, and potential adopters remember it better. I always hope that I find names cool enough that the adopter keeps it. Often the name is associated with the trapping location or the circumstances. I keep a list of name ideas too.

We pick a theme each month that goes paw in paw with our monthly focus or adoption promo. 

In tucson on February is the annual gem and mineral show.  Its 3 weeks long.  We do a hidden gem adoption promotion and name our pets things like "rose quartz". 

I love that you use Minerals and Gems.. so Ruby, Sapphire, Diamond, Topaz, Tanzy (for Tanzanite)..... I'll definitely use!!!

We often let our campers (grades K-8) come up with lists of pet names to give to our intake team. Kids are so creative, and this is such a fun activity for them - having "naming power" makes them feel super important (which they are!). During our summer camps, we do a lesson on fostering each week and incorporate a kitten naming activity in as well. They love it.

We (the Jacksonville Humane Society) also recently held a very successful fundraiser giving the public the opportunity to name a kitten for a donation! 

I occasionally get to name animals and I always use the letter of the month. Flowers and sweet names for girls and silly and rugged names for boys. For example we are in March so Melody, Magnolia, Maple, Marigold for girls and Marshall, Mitchel, Mickey, Morgan, Martin for Boys. I always use names that the 'most" owners will like. I think if one uses odd names such as Moo, Schmoo, Malificent, KooKaRoo, or MillyVanilly owners just think '???' and become less in love with the pet.

We tend to try and keep names in season so we will use the holidays as inspiration but  to keep them unique so to prevent having a million "bella" or "Charlie" we add another name to the end. or our favorite is to use the name generator . like "whats your Leprechaun name" or "what's your unicorn name" its always a fun time when we come up with something funny but cute. we also pull from whatever TV show we are binge watching at the time.