Comments on: How Ancient Greeks Named Their Puppies

By: Jane Lee

Jane Lee — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:58:10 +0000

I got my first dog when I was five. I named her Riki-Tiki-Tavi(sp?). The night before my mother had read me the story of the brave mongoose from Kipling’s Jungle Book. I spent the next 13 years (her whole life) explaining that name. Next time I picked something shorter and simpler: Madchen, which means maiden in German. Of course, I still had to explain, but not as much.

By: Eowana

Eowana — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:52:49 +0000

OH, one more thing, Ouzo was as sweet as is the drink ouzo, which turns white with water, which was my dog’s coat color.
I was tempted to call her Flokati, like the white rug. When she laid on it, you couldn’t tell where the dog started or stopped.And I will stop with that!

By: Eowana

Eowana — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:49:09 +0000

I am laughing so hard at all these clever comments! I had no idea anyone would comment on my comment! Okay or Endoxie in Greek, for your info, while I was a school librarian, I had a student who was named Ouzo!! No kidding! But that was not as strange as a lot of other names which I will not go into here and now. But thank you so much for your positive comments on my comment! Yes, Koukla is what Greeks call their children instead of honey or sweetie. It means doll as one of you said. Like the Germans calling their sweeties Schatzi, which is why you hear a lot of wiener dogs with that name. I will explain that the reason I had two dogs with the names Ouzo and Zoe, which is Greek for life, is that they were Cairn terriers and both names had the word OZ in them backwards. And their initials spelled OZ. I do spend some time thinking of names. Ha. I probably wouldn’t have named a child Ouzo, but Zoe would have been one of my top choices. In 35 years in education, I only came across one Zoe! Again, thanks for the nice comments!

By: Phil CAne

Phil CAne — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 19:51:24 +0000

As a seven year old, I named my family’s shepherd/collie mix Archimedes. He was the runt of the litter, but he proved to be a great little dog.

By: Lou Stewart

Lou Stewart — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 00:09:25 +0000

Our little town has a yearly fair they call Frog Fest. Some kids were carrying a 2 week old kitten in a bucket, saying they were going to kill him. My friend, an animal rescue worker, told the kids she knew a good home for the kitten. I named him Rana, which is Italian for Frog, and gave him a second name Vandrad, an old Norse name for “One who is in trouble.” I spent 6 years in Italy and loved the language, and have studied Snorri Sturleson. Rana now is 3 years old and a very loving, funny pet. So glad we found him!

By: Lee Bannor

Lee Bannor — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:45:37 +0000

I met a girl named Brandy Booze! What were her parents thinking?!

By: Tom Wood

Tom Wood — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:58:21 +0000

BTW I looked up “Tawny” and its said “Fulvus” hmmm

By: Tom Wood

Tom Wood — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:40:51 +0000

Thank you James, ok. Now how do you say any of that, its all greek to me. lol

By: James Raptis

James Raptis — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:12:48 +0000

Used translator to modern Greek: Lurcher, Whitey, Blackie, “Tawny”, “, Μπλε, λουλούδια, κάτοχος, ξιφομάχος, κρεοπωλείο, Αεροτομή, βιαστική, βιασύνη, επίμονα, Yelp, Tracker, παύλα, χαρά, Jolly, Trooper, Rockdove, Growler, οργή, τα ματ, Λανς, Pell-Mell , τολμηρός, δολοφόνος, πανούργο, ταχεία και ξίφος.

By: RMU

RMU — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 18:13:07 +0000

FYI – Koukla means “doll” – seeing as Koukla was a puppet, it was a great name!! It is also today, as I am sure it was 2000 yrs ago, used as a term of endearment – one calls a baby or cute child koukla, or even a sweetheart.
IMHO I think the name Molly is overused for a dog.
So – name your animals what you will and don’t comment negatively on others’ choices.

By: PugDad

PugDad — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:42:39 +0000

I tried to name our first pug Bellasarius. After some negotiation with the family, it became Stella, which is fun to yell in a Marlon Brando accent.

Could Eowana or a scholar of the classics tell us what those names listed in the article would have been in ancient Greek, since our esteemed author did not provide them? I confess to finding most of the listed names kind of blah, but maybe they sounded better in the original.

By: MIchael Shaffer

MIchael Shaffer — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 09:54:43 +0000

At the time of puppyhood we give our dogs names easy to phonetically hear and identify … e.g., Fido. So, it’s strange to read this article list the English translations of Greek names(?)

By: Tara Greene

Tara Greene — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 07:54:41 +0000

We have a new German Sheppard puppy which we named JASPER.
I have always been fascinated with ancient Greece, and also name destiny. We came up with Jasper by default, we thought he might be a Dutch sheppard at first and our daughter liked the name Kasper because it means keeper of the jewels.We went to Jasper as it was close, Jasper the stone is for nurturing.Everyone now suggests we have to go to Jasper in Alberta Canada which also looks so gorgeous.

By: Rodney Porter

Rodney Porter — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 07:45:54 +0000

By the way it’s from QLD Australia

By: Rodney Porter

Rodney Porter — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 07:39:44 +0000

I had a Lab called (named) Tequila. They don’t care they love you unresvededly.If their name worries you. You haven’t much to worry about.