What's in a Name?

The other day I found out that my given name, Teresa, is represented in the Catholic faith as Saint Teresa de Avila--the patron saint of Headache Sufferers.  I kid you not.  Oy vey.  How apropos. Were my parents psychic when they named me?  Or was this a naming curse? After all, I suffer from terrible migraines to the extent that I take daily medicines to prevent them.  Saint Teresa also suffered a great number of physical afflictions throughout her lifetime.  I have had my fair share of health issues in recent years, but I don't want to blame it on my birth name.  But I have to wonder how much emphasis we place on the naming process and I suggest we be more careful about assigning them even to our pets because I think they live into those labels. 

My pets, for example, are named Tigger, Toonsis, and Pepper.  Tigger was so named because of his cross-eyes and playful nature, and we felt a more cartoonish name seemed appropriate.  He resembles all things "Tigger-ish".  Now I see how many Tiggers there are and his name seems so ordinary.   But he will answer to anything.  Dumdum, Here-Boy, Hey You, Get Down, but my husband's personal favorite is Dumb Shit.


Toonsis was named after a Saturday Night Live skit from the 80s.  (see video)  My daughter and I loved the sketch about a cat that could drive a car and in every episode it drives the family off a cliff.  This absurd and childish skit makes no sense, but for some reason having our own Toonsis and telling people her name and them catching the reference brings everyone a laugh.  We just love to say, "Toonsis!  Look out!"

Pepper went through a few different names because we didn't plan to adopt her.  We thought about giving her a title, such as "Mrs. Piddlesworth" or a very human name like Susan.  We were imagining her potential families saying her name at the shelter and to us that was a form of entertainment.  But once we realized we were stuck with her, the bad attitude she had just made the spicy nature of her name stick.  She's so full of herself but so cute.  You just want a dash of her.  But you can only take a little Pepper.



But what about the people who name their KIDS things I wouldn't name my pets?  If I named my cat Blue Ivy you might think I was a little odd. "Would you take Apple for a walk?"  Coco is definitely a dog name.  I wouldn't be surprised if we hear more celebrity names like Whisper Waterbottle, or Wallow Basket, or Meander Mikah.  You wait.  I feel bad for these kids because someday they may marry other celebrities and become Mrs. Blue Ivy Blanket Jackson, or Mrs. Apple Ice-T (??).  Seriously, folks, what were they thinking?


So in the future, I will probably continue to give the cat names serious thought.  And I'm always curious about the names other people give to their pets.  But when I meet a person who names their animal something funny, just to get a laugh, I know I've met a kindred soul.  Sorry, kitty.  Nothing personal.  You know I won't be calling you by your name much anyway unless you deserve it.

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