How to name a pet.


I'm seeing a lot of 'Is this a good name?' boards.
So, I figured it was time for a repost of the definitive book on the work.
It's a lot, but worth reading, so I am told. This is a direct repost of the blog I wrote about a year ago, though it has been updated slightly here and there. Mainly grammar and typos I wanted to correct, or altering the names of pets I no longer have but did at the time of writing.

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To make sure your pet really is well named, make sure it follows these simple rules. I have made this upon seeing people say their quell named Hawt_x_Buttr is a great name, or their Spiero named digm0nz is well named. So, to see if your pet is well named, read ahead.

Also, if anyone likes this and wants to copy and paste it into their blog, you definately have my permission as long as you leave this part in to say it was written by Sobolan, the giant Turnip Queen.

I hope this is helpful.
All my advice is details- it can be summed up by what a wise player once said:

"Common sense is mandatory in creating a good name." -Lunaire

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Capitalization
First, if you say your pet is well named, it had better be Capitalized. I don't care how nice the name is, if it isn't capitalized, it's not a proper noun. That's third grade english guys. (Maybe even second or first grade.) Proper nouns are names of people or places. <b>New York</b> is a proper noun, <b>city</b> is not. Even regular nouns can become names if you capitalize them. Like <b>stone</b> is a thing you find on the ground, but <b>Stone</b> is a common first name. And last name. That capital letter makes all the difference. Your name begins with a capital letter, why shouldn't your pet's name? One last thing- the first letter, absolutely should be capitalized. But not the whole name. Stone- Good. stone-Not good. STONE-also, not good. and st0n3- is even worse.

Symbols and Numbers
They are a no-no. I don't care if you think it's cool, or it's l33t. I don't care if your favorite online anime character is named B0n3zorz. If there is a number in the name, it is not a nicely named pet. Period. Same with symbols. Including the under_score. I know you can't have spaces in the name. But that's okay, pet names should really be one word anyway. Oh, and random letters or symbols on the outside of a name? b_Johnnie_b or XCutieX? Bad. Not good. Really bad.

One Word
This is not necessarily iron clad, and some would even disagree. But I'd say that 95% of names with 2 words in it Bobby_Joe or PeggySue or SpringBreak are not to be considered well named. In those examples, Bobby_Joe already loses out because it has a symbol in it, an underscore. The other two are capitalized, and have no symbols or numbers. They're not terrible, but generally are frowned on. Most players prefer their pets' names to be all one word. So, if you say your pet named AprilShowers is a great named pet, and people disagree, don't be surprised. Personally, I think that a 2 part name can be okay if it sounds really nice and is spelled correctly and otherwise follows the pet name rules. But I've never traded for one either. And I probably won't, and neither would a lot of people, so keep it in mind when you name your pet.

Spelling
It doesn't have to be perfect. But it should probably be kind of close. I once had a pet named Davei instead of Davie. But if you mess around with the spelling, you'd better make sure you keep it short and sweet- no 2 part names, and probably nothing too long. But altering a letter or two can be a good way to create a new name, to get a name close to the one you wanted but was already taken. Just be careful that your new name doesn't already mean something else. I know a girl who took a name, rearranged the spelling and sounds and came up with a pretty sound, so she named her pet it. And then it turned out to be a disgusting medical condition I can't/won't mention here. So, be careful when you mess around with spellings! And, if you make up a name, it doesn't hurt to Google it first to make sure it doesn't have some terrible scientific meaning you didn't know about.

Double Vowels
Don't go overboard with the vowels. Two together are fine, but I discourage three vowels next to each other, unless of course it's a hawaiian name or something and that really is how its spelled. If you have two letters together in a name not usually found together in english, you'd better have a good reason why. For example, take the viotto, Naara. Naara is the japanese word for Deer. This word actually has two letter a's next to each other; it is the real english spelling of the word. Anyone who watches Naruto knows Gaara, and should be familiar with the concept. If you're going to do a spelling that might throw people off, make sure it is spelled correctly, and be prepared to back it up, so if someone said Gaara is terrible, you could come back with, "Look it up, it's a real name." However, just throwing extra vowels in is usually not a good plan.
There is some debate on this- some like it. They find extra vowels are an easy way to get a name they want that's already taken, a variation on the spelling theme. I personally don't recommend it. Why? Think of it like this- picture a hand with an extra finger on it. Six fingers on your left hand. Sure, it might be kind of useful, but let's face it- that just wouldn't look right. (With all due apologies to Count Rugen, of course.)
As an added note- vowels are good. Important. And all the same rules apply. Bbobbbb looks just as bad as Jaaakeee. Brnht is capitalized, and short, and doesn't look bad, but surely it could use a vowel?

Real Word Bonus!
If your pet name is based on a real name or a real word, this is often considered to be a bonus, and isn't just well named but very well named. Get out your thesaurus if you decide to use a real word and make sure you can spell it right! Personally, I don't always like the real word names; but for you, naming your pet, think it over. Many people out there love real word names, and if this is a pet you may someday trade, consider this option. My first two pets were Equinox and Solstice, I still have them, and consider them to be great examples of this.

Place Names
An extension of real word names. Hinsdale, Keene, Vermont- they are all real places. Try your hometown, or cities near you, or the name of the county you live in. Or the street you live on. ((Just don't tell anyone that's how you got the name. Remember boys and girls, you should never give out personal information on the internet.)) You might be surprised! Maps can be a great resource. Ask your parents where they grew up. Look at small countries on a map. Plus, you can say they're well named because this pet is named after a place.

Or go to a baby naming website and search through. That's usually how I do it. Caolan and Diantha were all named off of Babynames .com Another good place is to research on Wikipedia. I named a ercuw, Yinglong off wikipedia after learning Yinglong means winged dragon. Aurochs is also named off wikipedia, after a large, now extinct type of ox. I can't emphasize researching your options- including spelling and meaning- enough. Laertes if from Shakespeare's Macbeth. There's tons of good names available if you use your imagination and creativity!

All in all it can take more time to find a good name that's not already taken for your pet- but it's worth it in the long run!
Another good source of help?

The Marapet Pet Boards! People are always glad to help name pets.

One last bit of advice:
Try to avoid naming pets after the costume they wear. Sure, right now you think that Burnt cosutme is the best, and you name your pet Bonfuego, after a mix of Bonfire and the spanish word for fire. But what if you suddenly get an ice costume for that pet? Now you have an ice pet named after a bonfire, which makes no sense.... It doesn't make it a bad name, it just makes it a wierd name, and sort of ties your pet to that costume forever.
Also, I recommend that you don't tie it to a species. I know you love fasoros, but what happens when you've been playing for six months, you have earned a kronk potion and your high statted fasoro is named Fassiegrl? You either get a new no-stats kronk or a kronk named Fassiegrl. Not good options, a statted kronk would be better, but do you want a crab named Fassiegrl? Of course you don't.

So, do I break my own rules?
Yes. I have. Aurochs name is tied to his species, for example. But I also will never trade him, and therefore, his name never has to suit anyone but me. This list is mainly to help clarify what is and isn't well named when pets are being traded, and to help you so that someday, when you trade that pet you're about to create, whether or not it has a good name won't be an issue at all.

Comments and opinions are encouraged and welcome. Come and put in what you think makes a well named pet- if you agree or disagree! Did I miss anything? Should I add something? Did I get something totally wrong? Comment, please!

All this is by sobolan