This is not a pressing matter as I'm not pregnant, but I've been thinking about this lately as we already used up our longtime favorite girl name on a puppy. We really liked the name Penelope/Penny after watching Lost but assumed we wouldn't have kids, so when we got a second dog last year there was no question that we had to name her Penny! Unfortunately we ended up rehoming her. So we've been wondering if we could use Penelope as a middle name if we have a girl someday, or if people would just think we're bonkers for reusing the name.
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Oh gosh, Penny on Lost. Love. DH and I had a very random, long discussion about Desmond last night.
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I love that name, but no, once I gave it to a dog I couldn't use it for a baby, even if I didn't have the dog for long. I couldn't do it.
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I have had like 100 pets.
Henry
Dexter
Minny
Pepper
Sparrow
Gracie
Scout
SkippyI wouldn't use any of those names just because I would probably treat them like a cat...
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My sister's dog is Penny too haha! how funny.
I guess in general I wouldn't... but as a middle name I might if I loved the name enough.
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DH wants to rename the dog and use his current name for a son!
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I wouldn't. DH had a dog named Bridget, which is a name I like but can now never consider!
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I wouldn't either. Feels weird to me. I had a chihuahua named Mimi and I can't ever imagine naming my DD the same name.
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This is why I don't give my animals people names : ) I could definitely never use a name for a baby that I had previously used for a pet.
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@autumnlove: My husband has the same idea. Our dog's name is Charlie and he thinks it's the best name and we could use it for a girl or a boy. He doesn't think anyone would notice if we changed our dog's name. And, he says it every. single. time. we talk about names. Ummm. NO.
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bailey and buddy are our furbabies; i don't think we'd use either of those names
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Probably not. I had a dog named Brittany for a while and I don't think I could name a baby that. Besides my current dog she's the only one with a people name that I've had though!
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I don't think I could name my child after a pet's name. I love the name Penelope though!
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@twodoghouse: His mom named the dog after her brother...so it is a cool family name! LOL...MIL's Bro to dog to baby? No, thank you!
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Argh now I know this is considered too weird. I would never give a baby the same name as my 5-year-old dog but I thought a name we used for a couple months might be okay.
Oh well, I have plenty of time (and who knows if we'll ever even have a girl) so I'm sure I can think of a similar 4-syllable name!
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I know people who have named their kids the same as other family members' pets. Not in the same house, so not a huge deal.
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@spaniellove: Even though I would never want to change my current dog's name to use it for my child, I sort of vote that you just use the name if the dog is no longer in your life and you love it! (Also, Penelope is a really cute name! Just last night my husband and I were talking about using Desmond as a name!)
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unfortunately no...
BUT! I would reuse it on another pet, no problem. -
We avoided Zoe for that reason...
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Yeah we give our pets non human names. BUT our best Friends recently got a puppy and were so close to naming him one of our favourite boys names... But they picked another thankgoodness!!
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Hmm, I think in your case since you only had the dog for a couple months it isn't that big of a deal?...
Penelope is such a pretty name
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@spaniellove: and @highwire: Funny, we're naming DS Desmond after falling in love with the name and watching Lost together.
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probably not. once it was used, i couldn't think of it the same!
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I love the name Penelope! BUT...I wouldn't use a name I've previously given a pet. Sorry :(.
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This is too funny. Our dog is named Mattie (when we got her her name was Matilida) and for our baby girl I actually considered the name Madelyn, so another "Maddy". I mean, I hate to let the dog affect her name choice but there was just no way I could do that. So, Maddy/Madelyn is on hold!
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Oh wow this thread popped back up! We decided we'd have no problem doing it since 1) the dog's name was never really Penelope (she was just Penny) 2) it would be a middle name and 3) she was only with us for a short time. However, I'd never reuse the name of our long-term dog.
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I think it would depend on how long we had the pet/if it was a super "close" family pet (if that makes sense). We had a dog for 14 years, so that would be a little weird, be we had another dog before her for a month or two, and I don't think I'd think twice if we wanted to use that name.
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No, even though I love the pet names we've given, I wouldn't use them again. I am glad though I named my furbaby Chloe when I did because I still couldn't have used it on a real baby (we know too many Chloe's, including in the family). I always say though that my Chloe is the oldest and the original!
Oh well, I have plenty of time (and who knows if we'll ever even have a girl) so I'm sure I can think of a similar 4-syllable name!
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