If you’ve ever walked through the WI Humane Society or scrolled its website, you might have noticed some of the animals’ names are … well, unique. Grilled Cheese, Princess Peach, Aristurtle, PuttPutt, Baroness Von Barkington. The list goes on.
“The name is the first thing that people really see when they come in to adopt,” says Rachel Hahn, director of animal and client services WI Humane Society’s Milwaukee Campus. “It can be a real attention grabber.”
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Hahn and her team have to give names to the majority, if not all, the stray animals that come in. “A big part of that is because they’re not coming to us and telling us what their name is,” she says. If the animal doesn’t have a collar with a tag or a microchip, it’s up to the team to decide.
They pull inspiration everywhere from food to tv shows to holidays – and even keep a binder full of ideas to reference when new animals come in. And they get to have fun with it. “We really want to focus on names that are positive and celebrate the human and animal bond,” she says.
Some of Hahn’s favorites? “We have a cat named, very properly, Maxwell Montague, which is hilarious to think about. I want to get him a monocle,” Hahn says. She also shouted out a rabbit named Side Salad, a dog named Taylor Sniffed and an energetic cat named All Panic, No Disco.
And while some of it is fun and games, they also are mindful of the impact a name can have.
“It’s really important to us that we avoid using names that may negatively impact reinforced or stereotype or racial or ethnic groups,” Hahn says. “We’re also trying to avoid things that highlight the animals’ physical appearances, especially if it relates to some type of physical abnormality due to a medical condition, because that can be perceived as making fun of their unique physical attributes.”
They also avoid names that can be construed as vulgar or offensive and are sensitive to names that borrow from other cultures or have different meanings in other languages.
“There’s a lot of thoughtfulness and care that comes into it,” she says, “Because we recognize that people see these names. And these names are quite important. We do want to ensure that they are as supportive to our community as possible.”
And if you want to change the name once your pet’s adopted? Don’t worry. “We’re all for it,” Hahn says.
