Japanese names for pets...and more!

[Goldiegirl]

What are some common names for pets (cats, dogs, etc) in Japan? Actually it would be interesting to hear from everybody what names they use for their pets. I worked as a veterinary technician for 8 years, and we ran a poll once and some of the common names were......
Harley
Smokey
Cleo
Chloe
Bear
Max
Fluffy
Kitty
Sparky
Rusty
Sam (Sammy)
Mittens
Boots
Socks (Sox)
Tinkerbell (Tink)
I am not the most creative person when it comes to naming my pets. But here is my list. Dinkum, KP, Mimi, Ethel, Sydney, Mr. Fish (1,2,and 3), Goldie, Cricket, Walter, CJ, Duncan, Lexi (Lexington), Finn, Jeanette, Isabella, Clementine, Fuji and Starbuck. What are your pets names?:car:

 

[Grandpa Frank]

After the movie.

My first 2 cats were named Butch Catsidy and the Sundance Kit.

Uncle Frank

 

[epigene]

The most common names I know are:
Chibi (Tiny One)
Kuro (Black One)
Shiro (White One)

Traditional common names:
Pochi (usually for a dog)
Taro
Tama (for a cat)
Buchi (for pets with spotted fur)

However, many petowners today like Western names:
Mary
John
Tommy
Kenny, etc.

I can't own pets in my apartment building...
But, my daughter in LA has a cat named Chloe. She commonly calls her Kuro, because Chloe is pronounced Ku-ro-e in Japanese.

 

[Goldiegirl]

It sounds strange to think of Mary as a pets name! I remember one client at the vet clinic who was Indian had a cat named Andrew. I always thought that was odd, but to her it was unique. I like the name Taro, is it a boy or girls name? And does Buchi mean "spot"?

 

[epigene]

Yes, I think Japanese petowners think Western names are modern and stylish. It's very rare these days to hear traditional Japanese names--they're regarded old-fashioned and uninteresting.

Taro is a boy's name and used for humans as well.
Buchi is similar to Spot, but the word means "parti-colored," to be more precise.

 

[Tsukiko-chan]

My pets are called
My oldest cat oeki (dutch version of the english name Pookey)
my youngest cat: Bayda (is an arabic word that stands voor the cute word of White)

My silverlooking goldfish : Tsuki (most of you probably already know what that means XD It is the japanese word for moon. I gave him that name because of his color)
And my white goldfish with orangje and black spots is called: Mitsu (A friend of mine chose that name Couse Tsukiko is my nick and Mitsuko is her nick XD and she tought it was funny because I alreaddy named Tsuki. (mitsu is japanese for shining)

My brother had typical dutch names for his cats
One is called tijger (one of the most commen names in the netherlands. it means Tiger.)
And Turbo (not really commen and yes is means Turbo XD )

 

[Goldiegirl]

Yep, Tiger....that's a really popular name for stripped cats! Maybe that is a name that crosses over many languages, because it is such a fitting name. I like the name Tsuki now too. It sounds cool and I like the meaning. Hmm, maybe I need a new pet so I can use some of these names!

 

[Mars Man]

I have three cats. Their names and sexes are as follows:

tora-male, gray-female, and bumbo-male. Tora's name is as just mentioned above, and gray is mostly gray (although my youngest son had at first suggested 'namako' as a name for her, we all objected). The last one is kind of slow, and is very often dirtier than the others...my nickname for him is, 'dumb, dirty, dumbo.'

The dog we had had was named 'poochy,' but she died last year in December at the age of 15.

 

[diceke]

I call my dog INU, and my teacher had a cat named NEMUI (sleepy), which is very odd.

 

[Goldiegirl]

Well, sleepy is kind of a good name for a cat. They sleep about 18 hours out of 24! Or should I say cat nap! Inu, isn't that dog in Japanese? I have a parakeet named Birdee. My niece has a pug named of course, Puggy! Gray cat, hmm maybe Cloudy or Smokey could've worked for names, but I don't know if they would translate well into Japanese.

 

[SushiShin]

haha my tamagochi used to called Masasushi Megumi, don't ask me why but i think it was a cool name, once i saw a guy yelling for usagi i thought it was a rabbit but that would be weird yelling for a rabbit, at the end it turned out that is was his dog. Who is called usagi

 

[Mars Man]

Gray cat, hmm maybe Cloudy or Smokey could've worked for names, but I don't know if they would translate well into Japanese.

Yes, those are good suggestions...although no one thought of it. (of course the naming was basically by the boys)

One cat that we had, which I really liked due to its strangeness, was named bilbo. What a funny animal.

Maybe that dog looked like a rabbit to that person? I kind of like interesting names, though.

 

[Goldiegirl]

Really I am not creative in naming critters. Kids either come up with really funky names or really traditional names it seems. I have been getting more creative. I have to admit that I had a cat named Kitty and one named Kittens! I had lots of gerbils that somehow all got called "Brownie" too!

 

[diceke]

Well, sleepy is kind of a good name for a cat. They sleep about 18 hours out of 24! Or should I say cat nap!

Sounds OK in English, but it doesn't translate that well into Japanese. I thought it has a humorous effect, though.

Inu, isn't that dog in Japanese? I have a parakeet named Birdee. My niece has a pug named of course, Puggy!

Actually, my inu has a real name, KENE, phonetically translated from the word "canine".:joyful:

 

[SushiShin]

well sleepy is mostly referred to 'nemui'
what about miuchi?

 

[Goldiegirl]

Well, I have my newest addition to my family curled up next to me and he's still nameless! I am still having a tough time coming up with a good name. Here's some that have been brought up. (besides skull crusher! )
Milo, Tater, Rico, Jedi, Frodo, Louis, Dasher, Pico

 

[mika_r]

Well, I have my newest addition to my family curled up next to me and he's still nameless! I am still having a tough time coming up with a good name. Here's some that have been brought up. (besides skull crusher! )
Milo, Tater, Rico, Jedi, Frodo, Louis, Dasher, Pico

OMG! here "pico" is the equivalent of ... um..

it's a bad word x)


xDDD


I have one cat (male) who's name is mono (monkey) because he looks and acts like a monkey xD

and a dog (female) name chloe.

but I used to have one cat named "butthead" (male) (xDD my brother put him like that because he love the show beavis and butthead)
and other cat named "simba" (male)

 

[Goldiegirl]

ok, Pico is out! No naughty names! Thank-you!!!
I like Simba very much for a cat!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I have 3 pet rats called Maya, Sunny and Tocca, i have about 170 pet fish too but there's so many i don't really bother to name them, i just call them by the names of their varieties or sizes etc .

 

[Goldiegirl]

Wow 170 fish...what size aquarium do you have? I just have 3 betta fish and a frog. The fish are all named "Mr. Fish #1 or #2 or #3, and the frog is Froggie! How original!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Wow 170 fish...what size aquarium do you have? I just have 3 betta fish and a frog. The fish are all named "Mr. Fish #1 or #2 or #3, and the frog is Froggie! How original!

I have 3 125gallon tanks (one tropical, one sub-tropical and one sub-tropical going on coldwater tank) and 1 5gallon quarentine/hospital tropical tank (all tanks are freshwater) .

Betta's are cool fish, i've had a couple of those in the past, just common veiltail ones but they were really lovely fish, are your frogs African Dwarf Frogs ?

 

[Goldiegirl]

Yep dwarf frogs! They are cute! People always freak out when they see them because they think they are going to drown!

I really want a saltwater tank. I love clown fish. I've heard they are hard to maintain, so I've stayed away. I do think it would be fun though. I love all the colored fish. So there are tropical fish that are freshwater? I never knew that. Can you get colored fish. Naturally colored, I feel a little off about buying fish that are altered for color.

 

[Arlet]

We have many fishes...
But one little brown one got the name : Zuignap... Don't know how to transelate this into english, but i gave him this name because he's always sucking on the glass.

And we have 3 bunnies:
Stamper, Lynn and Yumi ~!
And we had another one:
Typical dutch name : Flappy...

 

[Goldiegirl]

Bunnies, I love them! I had Bunners, Vinnie and Walter! All Dutch lops. I think Zuignap is probably the most unique name I've heard! Flappy is a great name, especially considering the long floppy ears. I miss having a bunny. Bunners loved bananas. He would stomp his back feet as soon as he smelled them.

 

[Sarapva]

We have many fishes...
But one little brown one got the name : Zuignap... Don't know how to transelate this into english, but i gave him this name because he's always sucking on the glass.

He sounds like a pleco (plecostamus). I had a pleco named Crusty - unfortunately he died not long ago at about 8 years old. I still miss him. He loved music and would let me pet him. Plecos get territorial as they get older, so you have to watch the edges of their fins - they use them as weapons, and I've had quite a few battle scars from getting too close to Crusty's tunnel! Do you have a place for Zuignap to hide? They love hiding places and it makes them feel more secure.