I once worked with a woman whose first name was Dimple. Yes, that was her given name. I told her that I thought that was such a sweet name, and she said, "Yes, it was sweet when I was four years old." I've also known a Lovey. Real names, on real birth certificates.
Names are very important. People like to be addressed by their names, not just 'hey!' My first husband and I thought we were on the cutting edge by naming our son Joshua; it turns out there were three Joshuas in his class.
When our humane society takes in a dog or cat, that animal gets a control number and we come up with a name to go with it. After all, you can't call a dog by saying 'Here, D2092! Here, D2092!' And you wouldn't believe how difficult it is to come up with a new fun name after so many. Through the years we have used country music singers (Tammy and Dolly), actors (Selleck, Cruise), rock stars (Elton, Cher), etc. Once we had a little German Shepherd pup who had to have his eye removed and we named him One-Eyed Jack. I mentioned him in an earlier column. If you don't have a sense of humor about some of these things you go crazy.
And we have to be careful about some of them. Bob Barker, former host of The Price is Right, is a great advocate for animals and he has a foundation to work for them. One of our foster moms wanted to honor him so she named a dog Barker. Probably not the best idea. Another name you don't want to give a dog is Digger.
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