Why did you name your pet that?????

My litters go by the A,B,C's.
I try to pick the dumbest names possible for a Rottweiler.
Agatha
Beulah
Beatrix
Cornelius
Daphney
Dudley
Dora Mae
and Elwood

because he is/was berserker. he's mellow 80% of the time now and berserk 20% but it used to be the other way around when he was a pup. we got it from the movie clerks.
 
we call him puppy alot, i joke and say when he is old we will start calling him dog. his full name is puppensteiner lowenbrau berserker, lol, dh calls him that to get him all riled up. i call him super duper mega looper paratrooper pooper. my daughter calls him boopers. he has lots of names, they all seem to evolve into other names as time goes by.

Jetta was named after the volkswagon Jetta car (my Dad's favorite car ever). He did not want a "fru fru" dog like her when we brought her home, but naming her after something that he really liked made it okay!lol[]
Nicknames:
Jetters
Stinker
Monster
Bobo dog
Reeker

Dora Mae

 
my kid was almost named that [sm=blush.gif]

Our first dog was named Ananda, but we stopped with the Buddhist disciples after he passed. He was such a special dog, we sort of broke the mold after him. Conrad and Marlowe have literary names. That kind of happened my accident. We brought Conrad home and he had a name we hated (Simba--clearly named by children!) so we were desperate to change his name and quickly. DH threw out all sorts of names I hated ("Aristotle"--can you imagine calling that every time to get the dog in?) and finally we were both just wandering around the house wracking our brains and DH's eyes alighted on a copy of Heart of Darkness on one of our bookshelves. DH and I have both done time as English teachers, so we have a lot of books and we know how to use them. We both liked "Conrad" as a name for a dog and it stuck.
 
When Marlowe arrived on the scene (his original name was "Bubba" *gag* why must people always name hound dogs things like Cletus and Elvis?) it was my turn to throw out dorky names. I liked "Guinness" because he's black and tan (I know, super creative, right?). I don't even like beer. I'm such an airhead. I was at PetCo buying the basics in anticipation of picking Marlowe up from the shelter that night and DH texted me with "Marlow". Marlow is the main character in Heart of Darkness, so he was working within the theme. Due to the vagaries of text messaging, an "e" got tacked on to the end and by the time we worked out that it's with the "e" in the book, I'd already had Marlowe's new tag made.
 
Our cats both came with their names already firmly installed (Kay and Rudy) and neither was overly objectionable.
 
But yes, I have a family of amimals who all have human names. People frequently giggle when I talk about my pets: Conrad, Marlowe, Kay and Rudy. No Fluffies or Bandits or Fidos here! I think the name that tickles me the most right now is this rhodesian ridgeback that goes to the dog park who's name is Mike (and when he's naughty, he's Michael). Mike the dog. Mike the ridgeback. I love it!

I would have put more thought into Gizmo's name if I would have know that I was going to keep her, she was only going to be a foster till I could find the pup a home. Well... She's mine[]

I had just watched the movie "The Gremlins" and the next day this puppy comes into my life that had the same markings as the main little fuzz ball in that move, so without thinking her name was "Gizmo" She has certainly lived up to her name and can be a gremlin much of the time.

People around here seem to think that because her name ends in an "o" she must be a he. I call her Gizzy most of the time so she sounds more like a she and it's also easyer to say then Gizmo when I'm training. Often I just call her Giz but she reconizes all of thoes as her name.

Crusher is the mascot for our local hockey team, the Ice Dogs.  Ice Crusher I guess.  But I didn't really mean for him to be named that.  It was just on a list that I gave to BF of potential names, the remainder of which were way cooler, and was the one he picked. 

Onyx is a Pokemon.  Kale loves pokemon.  Onyx is also black. 

I have a family of amimals who all have human names.

Many traditional Border collie names are people names. My own dogs are Ben, Maggie, Doug, Rock, and Ted. Cord and Zhi are oddballs. I've also had Jen and Ann, of course.

My current trainee is named Zelda. []

I made up a list of names and Tonka perked up when he heard Tonka, but I finished reading the list and he just sat there listening, then I went back to Tonka and he got excited, so Tonka it was.

Tonk Tonk
Tonka toy
Tonka tough
Little fur cake (Laddie was the Stud muffin)
Puppy popper!

Jade had her name when we got her, my mom named "Alex" (Alexis) after our old dobe mix that had to be PTS named Alex, my mom just started calling Rocky Rocky, so that stuck.  Brandyn was Riann (But my brother's best friend is Ryan so he made us change it), then Jordyn (our neighbor is Jordan so that didn't work either!), and then finally Brandyn to go with the boy name theme xD  I don't really think it's that hard to think of a dog named "Brandyn" as a girl, but SO many people say "i'll call her Brandy so I remember she's female" []

Jade is most commonly Jadey, Jaders, or Fatty.  I almost never say Brandyn's whole name, so she mostly goes by Bran or BranBran.  Rocky is Rocko or Rocky-talkie or Rockstar or etc xD

For our old dogs- Pete- I have no clue, my dad was probably just trying to pick a hunting dog sounding name.  Shack- my mom named, but then right after Shaq came into the basketball world so everyone thought she named the dog after him.  Rosie- I was little and she was really sweet so that came about as a cute name.  Nikki- just looked like a Nikki and I called her that the moment I got her so everyone else was like... okay, I guess her name is Nikki.  Nicknames- Nikita, Nicotene (xD), Chiquita, Lovey, Baby, but most of the time just Nik.  Trey- came with that name as a 1 year old.  Trey isn't a very doggy sounding name imo, but we didn't want to change it.  I call him Buddy most of the time to solve the Trey issue.  Also goes by Alexander (his middle name), Trey Man, Man Dog (due to the fact he was our only boy forever in a house full of girls), and Alejandro.  We're creative.  Beau- my mother named him because she wanted a French name.  Actually it's Beauregard Junior if you want his full first name.  His sire is also named Beauregard.  He goes by Beaubeau, Beauba (after Star Wars- Boba Fett), Beauzo(Bozo), and Stinky (I call him this, it's affectionate, really).  Harry also came with a name.  He was named by the breeder after a friend from the dog world who passed right before the litter was born.  Kind of sad, and morbid.  There's a debate in my house as to whether Harry is short for Harrison or Harold.  I prefer Harold.  My personal nickname for Harry is Squishy because he's so soft and cuddly.  Scout, the chin, was named after the main character from To Kill a Mockingbird.

So the dogs as I call them most of the time- Nik, Buddy, Stinky, and Squishy, and then there's Scoutie. 
 
My dad and my sister have both caught on to calling Beau Stinky, much to my Mom's dismay.  She thinks it's mean, but I think it's affectionate.  

We have always tried to name the dogs a mix of both parents names unless it was a stray then we named them based on personality.
 
Babydoo got her name thanks to DH she was going to be called just baby since she was the runt but DH had to add the doo part to it lol.
 
Midnight was named after her black fur and the Name Midnight was part of DH's first Husky female
 
Sky was short for Skylla  which means man eating she beast.
 
Gizmo came with his name. 

Brown was named by his foster family. I think the lady's daughter named him. They were tired of fostering chocolate Labs named Hershey and Cocoa (because they named many that) so they came up with Brown. I know...how original lol.
 
Brett named Grey. Grey is black and white, and I always maintain that you'll get grey if you mix up those colors, but I think Brett just liked the name. Most people ask us why we didn't keep with the color scheme and name him Black, but he's not all black. His front paws, back toes, chest, and a lot of his face is white.
 
Tar was already named by his first foster family. The guy said he was "black as tar" (he's a black Lab) so he named him Tar. I kept the name because he responded to it, and I couldn't think of another name that fit his personality.
 
Nicknames:
 
Brown--Brown Dog, Boo Bown, Bown Bown, Brown Dog Grouchy Pants, Bruno

Grey--Gravy Dog, Grey Dog, Steve (he loves that name)
 
Tar--Tar Dog, Potato Chip, Potato Head

For our old dogs- Pete- I have no clue, my dad was probably just trying to pick a hunting dog sounding name....

That's how my black Lab was named Jethro.  My mother said a country dog needed a country name, like Jethro from The Beverly Hillbillies.

The dogs we've had since we've been married:
Heineken (Husky/GSD)- hubby found him right after we got engaged.  A couple of years before that, he had a puppy he named Heineken that he wasn't able to keep (long story).
Nick names:  Numb N*ts (I have no clue why) and Beer Dog. 

Michelob (Lab/English Setter)- it was just natural to keep with the beer theme.
Nicknames:  Mickey, Mick, Mick Man, Mickey Mouse, Mouse Dog, Mouse, Knobhead, Goofy, His Royal Highness

Caleb (Lab)- after 25 years, we've deveated from the beer theme!  LOL  Caleb was my husband's 4th great grandfather's name.
Nickame- Stink Pot.  Since he's only 4 1/2 months old, I'm sure there will be more nicknames coming!  []
 
ETA- Forgot Caleb's other nickname- Darlin'