This puppy has everything she needs, except a name.
August 28, 2014 8:11 PM   Subscribe

We just adopted this 8 month old female Pekingese from a shelter in the midwest. We started out working through Buffy-verse names, and got excited about Fred, which we long-formed first to Winifred, then decided that sounded like a middle name and tried to think of a very generic first name, like Lady. We ended up with Lady Winifred and we call her Fred, but the grandparents object, and we're open to choosing something different, since we chose it before meeting her.

She has fun stripes and spots, a surprisingly giant mouth and makes some pretty ridiculous chirping and honking noises.

Aside from Whedon related names, names from swing era jazz are fun - but Ella just doesn't seem like it has enough consonants, and appropriate though it might be, we can't call her "Plunger Mute." Names relating to her fun coloring or over-all similarity to a monkey are also appealing.
posted by kevin is... to Pets & Animals (36 answers total)
 
She looks like Carol Channing. Call her Carol.
posted by brownrd at 8:19 PM on August 28, 2014


Louisa ? Louis A - for Louis Armstrong. He had a big mouth, too.
Calloway? Cally?
posted by beccaj at 8:28 PM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]


What an adorable dog. With her great mouth, she looks like a black lion, so "shih" is lion. Lady lion or black lion.
posted by effluvia at 8:41 PM on August 28, 2014


As soon as I saw her I thought of The Great Rumpuscat from Cats.

His eyes were like fireballs fearfully blazing,
He gave a great yawn, and his jaws were amazing;
And when he looked out through the bars of the area,
You never saw anything fiercer or hairier.

Rumpus or Rumpy
posted by Youremyworld at 8:41 PM on August 28, 2014 [2 favorites]


She looks a lot like my friend Steve, so I would call her Blind Melon.
posted by 724A at 8:49 PM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]


She's a Cordelia, not a Fred.
posted by jaguar at 9:02 PM on August 28, 2014 [6 favorites]


Or Natalie.
posted by jaguar at 9:07 PM on August 28, 2014


Best answer: FIZGIG
posted by moonmilk at 9:24 PM on August 28, 2014 [8 favorites]


She really looks like a Gizmo to me.
posted by Nimmie Amee at 9:43 PM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]


This doesn't meet any of your requirements but as soon as I saw the wee beastie I thought Kippers.

Or Basie, for the Count.
posted by prewar lemonade at 9:46 PM on August 28, 2014


Audrey

..like in little shop of horrors...
posted by rw at 10:02 PM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]


She's adorable! My (female) cat's name is Fred, though, so I'm selfishly glad you didn't stick with that one.

I do like the Cordelia suggestion. Nice number of syllables, can be shortened to Cordy, and means she'll probably do well on standardized tests.
(If you get another pet, though DO NOT name him Skip. Very dangerous combination.)
posted by Superplin at 10:21 PM on August 28, 2014


Look at those teeth! Darla, of course.
posted by clarkstonian at 10:22 PM on August 28, 2014 [2 favorites]


could Frieda be a compromise? I assume you don't like the nickname Winnie? I feel like either one could suit her. As a Pekingese, she's going to be a classy looking lady, so I can see how Fred would be less fitting.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 10:23 PM on August 28, 2014


Either Rascal, Bandit, or Loki.
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:31 PM on August 28, 2014


She reminds me of the peek my Mom had. Her name was Gwen. She was adorable just like your pup.
posted by cairnoflore at 10:33 PM on August 28, 2014


Minnie the Moocher.
posted by nacho fries at 10:38 PM on August 28, 2014


She's a Cordie.

Or a Joss.
posted by erst at 11:50 PM on August 28, 2014


How about Stephanie, after Lady Gaga (whose actual name is Stephanie Something)?
posted by motown missile at 12:38 AM on August 29, 2014


Her face looks like that dragon in The Neverending Story. I would name her Falcor(a?) if only to also have the excuse of shouting it in my neighborhood.
posted by DisreputableDog at 1:26 AM on August 29, 2014 [2 favorites]


Harmon is the name of a type of brass mute used in jazz, Harmony is buffyverse (and musicverse, of course) so... one of those? Alternative: Penny (Dr Horrible)
posted by Lotto at 1:34 AM on August 29, 2014


Louis Armstrong's nicknames were Satchmo and Pops.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 2:18 AM on August 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


Lady Day
posted by drlith at 3:03 AM on August 29, 2014


Elvira or Songbird.
posted by WeekendJen at 4:58 AM on August 29, 2014


Oh, my! What a sweetheart. I'm going to also have to go with Carol Channing. That's hilarious.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:54 AM on August 29, 2014


She reminds me of Stitch from Lilo and Stitch!
posted by fiercecupcake at 6:27 AM on August 29, 2014 [4 favorites]


Baskerville
posted by Bruce H. at 7:04 AM on August 29, 2014


She looks like a Suki to me.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:44 AM on August 29, 2014


Seconding Fizgig. I thought of it as soon as I saw the first photo, and the giant mouth makes it even more perfect. I was looking for a clip to share even before I saw the previous suggestion.
posted by thejanna at 11:08 AM on August 29, 2014


If it's the Fred part the grandparents object to, how about the nickname Winkie? I know a very lovely Winifred who goes by Winkie and would not mind a lovely pup sharing her name.
posted by carrioncomfort at 12:00 PM on August 29, 2014


Response by poster: So many great suggestions!

Fizgig became an immediate nickname, it's amazingly dead on, and that clip is hilarious.

If my dad's girlfriend wasn't named Carol, that would be very tempting.

We spent the morning trying out Harmony and it just isn't quite right. My favorite right now is Ko-ko, both for the initially for the Duke Ellington song* and then my officemate reminded me of the communicative Gorilla who shares this pup's love for kitties.

(* the baritone sax, ya-ya muted trombone and bass solo breaks are pretty evocative of her various noises and behaviors)
posted by kevin is... at 12:09 PM on August 29, 2014


Am I really the only person who read the story of Fred-not-Fred and immediately thought Illyria?
posted by solotoro at 3:08 PM on August 29, 2014


Countess Basie

(or Duchess Ellington)
posted by argonauta at 4:36 PM on August 29, 2014


There's also (the incredible) Koko Taylor.
posted by ChuraChura at 8:31 PM on August 29, 2014


My first thought was Charo!
posted by analog at 6:59 PM on August 30, 2014


Response by poster: We ended up with Daisy, which fits none of the criteria I mentioned, but is "grandmother's" favorite flower and is both cute and old-timey enough for me.
posted by kevin is... at 10:55 AM on September 2, 2014


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