From Fido to Milo – What We Call our Pets
Written by Paul Siluch
October 26th, 2022
Pet supply companies have been excellent ones to own the past few years. We love our pets and will do almost anything for them. Including giving them our own names.
Pet names are increasingly human names, another sign that animals are now members of the family. In some cases, pets even replace children. We give our pets an unprecedented amount of gifts and the best quality food – why not our names as well?
In the Middle Ages, pets were named for their appearances. For example, Whitefoot or One-Eye. The Victorian era of the late 1800’s ushered in official dog breeds where names became status symbols with regal names, like Rex and King.
Today, as pets became part of the family, we now anthropomorphize them with names like Kyle, Fred, Leo, and Finnegan.
Of course, we still have fun with pet names because, well, it’s funny. There’s a rooster named Ludwing van Beaktoven and a chicken named Henjamin. Our favourite is a donkey named Donkey Hoté (a play on Don Quixote).
What we spend on pets will slow in a recession, but the trend higher won’t change.
(inspired by Goodbye Fido, Hello Frank: Pets Get People Names by Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic)
