Help us out here. Since we got him right around the time DeForest Kelley died, we talked about calling him "Bones" -- get it? Doc? Bones?

Oh, never mind.

"Bones" had another significance, as well; my dad called me "Bones" or "Bethie Bones" when I was a kid, and my brother "Sam Bones," and my brother's teddy bear "Bear Bones."

Oh, never mind. (My brother is going to kill me.)

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

Answers

I don't think a nickname is something you can just think of and say, "oh yeah, I'll call him that." I think it just happens naturally and comes out when you least expect it. Maybe after you have him a little longer something he does or something that happens will provide a nickname.

Also, nicknames don't always have to be similar to or include the original name (as in Docster etc.) I have a cat named Punkin whose nickname for 11 years has been Punkin Man (only you have say Punkin Maaaan). He got that name when my sister had a dog named J.J. that she called J.J. Man. Now my husband of 2 months calls Punkin "Goober" and "Dog". My other cat named Frisky, he calls Mr. Whiskers or Mr. Frisky, even though she's a girl. Now he has me calling both of the cats "The Goobers" and "the dogs". So it may be the unexpected nickname will come from a friend or neighbor when you least expect it.

I loved Val Kilmer in Tombstone, and I think Doc is a great name for your pup. Just relax and be patient and the nick will happen on it's own.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

That's good advice. For a long time Benny was Bing Bong, which obviously has nothing to do with his actual name. (That nickname just sort of died, too. He was Bing Bong for two or three years, and then one day he was just Benjamo. Weird.)

And Sally is and always will be Miss Thing. Rudy has always had name specific nicknames, though, like Rudeboy, Rudeball (Jeremy read a really disgusting definition for "rudeball," and it just stuck), and Ruditude -- but we mostly call him Rude. It is an extremely apt nickname. (Jeremy's dad calls him Rudolph, which I like, too.)

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

For some reason, I can't fathom giving a dog a nickname. It's probably an aversion that I developed from having seen Muppets Take Manhattan once too often. (And if you get that, well, you've seen it once too often too.)

Mind you, that doesn't stop me from calling my dog, Mr. Bones "Mr. Boney-Woney" from time to time. (Mr. Bones is, coincidentally, a Duran Duran inspired name, and I heartily favour Rio for a girl dog)

But like Michael J. Fox's son Sam, (oooh, I'm just the refernce queen today) what can you do with a name like Doc? Unless he had pointy ears, in which case you could call him Spock. . .

I've clearly lost it.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

If this helps you could give all your pets mafia names like we did Cecil the Greek, Simon Two tone, and before Charlie died he was Charlie Seahorse. I also call them the female equvilant of their names but this works best with Simon=Simone although Cecil's is not so bad Cecil+Cecilia. Add ons with rhymes work well too: Simoney Chimoney Or you could give him a last name (Cecil and simon Poopalopagus)

You all are gonna take away my animals now aren't you?

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

Nope, nicknames don't have to be derivative of their actual names. Hook into a behavior or attitude, like you did with Sally.

Howard, on walks, gets called Watermelon. As in, 'whatcha smellin' watermelon?' I also call him sugar dog and bubbahead. My sister calls her dog, Daisy, dayday and hootiehead.

Of course, Bliss also calls my dog Howie, which I hate. Except, of course, when it's paired with Cowie, as in Howie the Cowie.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

All my pets' nicknames are versions of their *real* names. And most of the nicknames are longer than the actual names. My dog Vasha is Vasha-Voo and sometimes just plain Voo. My dog Rain is often called Rainbow and Rain the Pain. My cat Onyx is called Onyx-Bonics and Sonics. My cat Oktobriana is often shortened to Tobriana. All these nicknames were definitely spontaneous; I would not admit to coming up with them on purpose.

I guess the exception to the variation of the real name thing is Cheyenne. She is almost always referred to as The Garage Cat, as she will not come in the house. It took my boyfriend 2 months after moving in to realize she existed.

Me: "I'm getting worried about Cheyenne. I haven't seen her for at least a week."

Dave: "Who is Cheyenne?"

Me: "The other cat. The Garage Cat."

Dave: "We have another cat?"

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

Buddy. All dogs are nicknamed Buddy.

At least, in my house they are. So many come and go, and some of them we don't know their names and it isn't our place to name them (the problem with naming them is that they're yours once you name them).

So all my dogs answer to their own names as well as Buddy, Bud, Buddoo, Jar Jar Bud, Budapotamus - Buddy has great potential.

The girl dog I call Bunny instead. Or sometimes Punkin.

Plus, they are my buddies, so it's sort of a fitting nickname.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

I agree with whoever said that nicknames have to evolve or spring forth organically, rather than be planned. Our cats are George and Emma and over time we've addressed them as Mr. Cat, Little Miss Cat, Emma Emmarino, Curious George, Madness of King George, Fatso, Buddy (that was almost George's name in fact) and other things. Oh, also (for no reason) Ugly Joe (when George is being bad).

The friends we hang out with have a tradition of calling each other Buddy and referring to each other as the Buddies so extending it to the cats fits.

My dad used to address all strange animals as "Sport" ("Well, hello, Sport") which I always thought had a pleasant, old fashioned sound. He had a dog named Lindy when he was 7 so that tells you his generation.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

Ya know, I was just reading through these repiles thinking some of the same things.

First I was thinking that the dog doesn't have to have a nickname that goes with their name and that I always call Mack 'Buddy'. Cause he's my buddy.

Mack gets called Buddy, or Macky-Mack. Brandy gets called Brandy Girl, Brandy Brandy Brandy (in quick succession) or Sweetie.

The only thing we've called Ginger so far is Ging or Monster. We had a really hard time naming her though. We'd decided on Ginger before we even saw her and then later when we went to get her we thought she might not be Ginger. We tried Hanna on her, we tried Lacy, and all sorts of other names. And then we just decided she'd be Ginger after all.

I think the nickname will come from his personality or something that he does. Ginger is 5 months now and she's just starting to exhibit some personality that might lend her to getting a real nickname. She's turning out to be a cross between Mack and Brandy.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

And I remember when I swore I would never be like that crazy woman who lived down the street and sent Christmas cards from her pets. At least I haven't gone that far (yet), but I do have many pet names for my pet.

His name is Casey. I dreamed I had a cat named Casey, which I took as a sign. When I adopted him from the shelter, his name was Libby. Libby? For a boy?

I call him Buster and Buster-boy. Sweetpea. Beasty-boy. Boogie-boy. Sweetie.

Sometimes I do call him Casey...

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

In honor of your punk rock past, what about spitting out "Doc Marten!" every once in a while?

As for my cats' nicknames, Pudding is "Bubba" when he's whining for food (in hopes of shaming him into being less greedy -- fat chance, ha ha), "Peanut Butter" when he's being sweet; Smokey is always, ALWAYS *Miss* Smokey. Or "chickenshit," if she's being skittish.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

Shorty

They're all "Shorty". Criffin is "Crimtheann", "Criofan", "Criff", "HEY!", "Criffin-butt", and "Shorty". Cinsand is "Cinsand". Sometimes "Sweetie". Often "Shorty", "Hey you!", and "stupid-kitty". He doesn't know his name, so he gets to stupid-kitty pretty often.

Of course, Sheila is "Sheila, Puppy of Power". or "Sheila the Wonderdog". Bridget is "Bedelia" or "Rutabega".

It's a long process, really.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

I already e-mailed this, but now I can actually enter the forum! So, how about "Docko"? Rock? Something will suggest itself, I'm sure. Hey, I LIKE "Dockster"! (so shoot me...) "Dockage"? You can see why I don't have pets -- I can't name them! We had cat named Klyde Krashkat and a dog named Henry Ford. What can I say!

Sunshyn

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

So the name "Bailey" for a dog is equivalent to the human world of Jennifers and Michaels? I didn't realize that!

These are Bailey's nicknames: Baloo
Baloobie
Loob
Loop Loop
Lupe
Lupe-Loo
Luberotomy
None of which, of course, sound anything like Bailey...but he responds to all of them.

Poor dog probably has an identity crisis.

Lupe is his middle name, by the way.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

Personally, I always find adding "The" and "meister" around their names works. My cat is Hattie, aka The Hatmeister.

But I agree it's also a matter of attitude. If they pack an attitude these things often write themselves. Thus she's also Hattie Catkinson (prim), Constable Kitten (when she's on patrol) Wee Stinky (hygienically challenged,) Princess Tubbythump (stroppy), Precious Puss (full of herself).

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

What up, new?

What up, D?

(Too much KWOD. Ugh.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 1999

We have four cats. Their names are Spot, Spanky, Snoopy and Stimpy. We call them, respectively, Buddy (pronounced "Buhhhhhhhhhhdy"), Skitty-Boo, Tubby, and Mr. Fancypants. Their nicknames have nothing to do with their names and everything to do with their personalities...

-- Anonymous, September 11, 1999

I tend to make up songs or rhymes to go with animals and their nicknames evolve from the songs.For example, "such a pritty kitty cat" (sung) became "splitty splat" became "splish splash" (sung like the song splish splash I was takin a bath) so sometimes now I call Emilie "Splish Splash" or just "Splash".

The rats are called "tit for tats" or sometimes just the Tits.

I'd be singing "Tick Tock" (Hickory Doc) to Doc in no time. No telling where it would go from there.

God, I sound like a completely insane person.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 1999

This was my one and only problem with Jake's pick for a new name for the kitten. Sebastian. He suggested it, and I fell in love with it for a split second before my brain started reeling: "But what are you going to call him for short? Sebs? Bassie? Bastian? What the hell, there's no way in HELL you can allow this to happen."

But it did, and now, like you Beth, I'm stuck with a name that I can't nick, and it's KILLING me. I've TYPED "Sebs" a coupla times in reference to him, but I've never actually said it, and my mouth is SOOOO tired from saying "Sebastian" all the time... SE-BAS-TIAN. Three syllables! My buddha!

Of course, like others before me, I agree that the nickname is something that can fully NOT be derived from the name itself and can be based on the animals' behaviour - or in my case, look.

My Nick Names for the other two cats are: Aliera: Aliera-beera, leera, Meower, Sweet Cat, Black Cat.

Jezzabel: Jezzabella, Bella, Jezzy, Jez, Fat Cat, Fattie-Patatie, Babygirl, Purrer, Sweet kitty, Grey&White Cat.

So... going by this pattern, I'm sure that Sebastian will gain names such as: Sweet Boy, Whiny Kitty, Baby Kitten, and of course Orange Cat.

Oh yeah - he HAS already gained one name - though it is much longer than Sebastian: "Oh mighty eater of faces!" I'm telling you, don't get too close to that kitten, you could lose a nose! (=

-- Anonymous, September 13, 1999

Hey, didn't Dennis Quaid play Doc Holliday in a movie? Yeah, Wyatt Earp. A much better source for the "Doc" name, if you ask me. Talk about a hottie.

My dog's name was Albatross. My brother wanted to name the puppy Albert Einstein but she was a girl and we figured "Albatross" was a good feminine alternative. We called her "Trossie" or "Al

-- Anonymous, September 14, 1999

Oh, and as for a nickname for Doc: I think "Dockers" would be suitably annoying. My friends and I call any 40-something geek-wanna-be who wears those pants "DockerBoy." I find it hilariously appropriat

-- Anonymous, September 14, 1999