Baby names are hard enough but I've seen some comments suggesting people agonise more over the right name for their pooch or kitty! So if you are waiting for a new arrival how do you go about choosing a name for your dog or cat - or for any other kind of furry, feathery or scaly friend at that? Of course the Internet has no shortage of suggestions. At Animal Friends Pet Insurance we have a page dedicated to pet names for you to browse by letter or otherwise - navigate there from the pet advice and galleries for a huge selection of ideal pet names or use this link GREAT PET NAMES to take you there. If you would like a really short and quirky list then first check out the rest of this blog post

There are many other sites offering the same facility, perhaps too many as the choice then becomes bewildering! Perhaps one thing people don't realise - especially if they are new to pet ownership - is that whatever name you choose from day 1 is most unlikley to be the name the pet ends up with. So our old ginger cat Oscar became "Sprout" from the Jolly Green Giant adverts and our tortoises Daphne and Vera when they started showing that they were definitley not ladies became Dave and Vic! So we asked our pet insurance customers to give us an idea as to how they chose their pet's name and the results have been both interesting and amusing, for example:

Bovril - "the dog is jet black so I wanted to call him after something dark coloured. Bovril just seemed to suit him" "Skye" - "Because the sky is blue and she is pure white, just like a cloud and with green eyes like the trees"

Thor - "because he is our god of thunder, thundering past us when he is out running"

Reggae - "Reggae is a rabbit he is a lion head so he looks like he has an afro hence reggae!"

Eddie - "Eddie is a water dragon his full name is Eddie Lizzard

Roo - "Roo is a rat and I call her ratty roo. Didnt know what to call her but it just something that stuck"

Barley - "Her coat was the same colour as barley wine and maintained the alcohol theme of other pets!"

Ginny - "We bought her as a puppy from a breeder who also kept a pub"

Tiggy - "Mrs Tiggy Winkle was my son's favorite bedtime story when we got the puppy"

Lizzi-Beth - "We wanted a regal but modern name for our British Bulldog"

Kawaii - "It's Japanese for cute"

Pumpkin - "Cute name, I chose it around halloween"

Booker - "Booker was named after my favorite small batch bourbon. This bourbon was named for it's maker, Booker Noe (pronounced "NO"), I had a feeling that I would need to use his WHOLE name a lot in those first six months, if you know what I mean! Luckily, he grew up into the best dog ever !!!!! I thought of bourbon because it always keeps you warm when it's cold all around you." (One of our favorites for originality and passion)

Ayla - "Because on Tracy Beaker there was a child called Ayla. And also it was unusual"

Orin - "got the name from a steven seagal movie and he's one of my favourite actors" (Hmm)

Bitsy - "She is a mongrel / cross breed. She is bits of this and bits of that"

Shadow - "Because he's dark, like a Shadow and he follows me everywhere, like a shadow"

Kamir  - " It's a pun - Come here / Kam ir!"

Magnum - "He's named after the gun, not the ice-cream. He's a gangster" (Prefer the ice cream myself!)

Miguel - "We were on holiday and knew we were getting a kitten when we came home, my husband was drinking a beer and it was called San Miguel, I said what about Miguel and that was it"

Wizzle - "The only word I could find to describe him" I think you get the idea - possible names are all around you - from the alcohol you drink to the holidays you take, movies, TV shows or just plain made up names to describe your pet friend's characteristics.

So if you are thinking of "Rover" or "Kitty" - or even "Cat" or "Dog" as we have heard some people say - then I hope these suggestions have made you delve into the deeper recesses of your mind to come up with something just a little more original! Have fun and remember, the name is just the start of things, make sure your pet has all it needs by way of food, comfort and accomodation - as well as love and care; and don't forget to look into the benefits of pet insurance to cover the possibility of your pet needing expensive vet treatment so it receives all the care it deserves in times of need.