Qld: A pose by any other name

AAP General News (Australia)
12-28-2005
Qld: A pose by any other name

By Rosemary Desmond

BRISBANE, Dec 28 AAP - Australians nowadays are giving their pets the kind of names
they used to reserve for their kids.

And that's because for many people, pets are substitute children, says Amy Lyden, owner
and managing director of Bow Wow Meow, a Sydney-based company that makes hundreds of thousands
of pet tags a year.

Ms Lyden said today said the most common name for dogs in 2005 - Bella - also featured
in the top 10 names for baby girls.

Molly and Max, Jack and Charlie, she said, were also popular canine names.

But a decade ago, a survey of 3,000 pet owners showed they were more likely to call
their beloved pooch Jessie, Sheba, Patch or simply Dog, Ms Lyden said.

Oscar was the top name for cats this year, with Bella - short for Isabella - coming
in at number two and Molly the third most popular.

In 1995, pet owners were more likely to call their moggies Cat, Puss, Smokey or even No Name.

Ms Lyden said the more sophisticated human names reflected the added importance people
attached to their pets.

"The pecking order in the household has changed," she said.

"Animals have gone from being outside where we just put some food out for them to moving
into our houses and into our beds and we cook them gourmet meals," she said.

"Pets are the children of the 21st century, with people waiting longer in life to have
kids. Some people never have children."

Selecting a name for four legged "children" was a task performed conscientiously, by
consulting a book or a website, such as www.bowwow.com.au, which also provides the meanings
of names.

"Twenty years ago, they would have picked Smokey or Rover or something that's obviously
a pet name, but nowadays, they are just drawn to human names," Ms Lyden said.

"Names like Jack and Bella both make the top 10 (for pets) and even names which are
coming up on the baby names list, such as Lilly and Ruby are also very popular for cats
and dogs, too."

The names of famous couples were also popular for pets, such as Oscar and Lucinda,
from the Peter Carey novel and film of the same name; Fred and Wilma from The Flintstones,
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet or the romantically-named Scarlett and Rhett from Gone
with the Wind.

Ms Lyden said her company's data base showed Australians' taste in names was roughly
in line with those of poet owners in other countries.

"We sell not only to Australia, but New Zealand and Asia and all over the world, so
we have access to that pet name information," she added.

The tags were available through vets, pet shops or online at www.bowwow.com.au.

AAP rad/jvb/it/de

KEYWORD: PETNAMES

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