17 Cats and Dogs Who Got Their Names by Accident, and Why Cats Know Their Names

I had a beautiful black lab named Dr. Reginald B. Snicklefoot III. My girlfriend begged me to name him something normal, and not to make a joke out of it like I do everything else.

Challenge accepted.

Whenever he would pee on the carpet I would pick him up and yell, “Get yourself together!!! You’re a doctor!!!”

My cat’s name is Nimbus. It’s actually short for the “Nimbostratus” cloud. Because his fur is a dark gray, just like the clouds before the rain.

“Thought his fur was grey when I first got him off the street. Named him Snowy after his first shower :)”

he was exhausted when i first got him. Hes only 8 months old believe it or not and he still loves hugs :)

I found snowy under a car outside of my sisters workplace (I live in Dubai and it gets very hot out so he was trying to get some shade). He approached me squinting his eyes and wagging his tail furiously and I knew I wanted to take him home. .After inspection by the vet, he is deemed to be a local breed, of saluki mixed with K’naan. I love him and he brightens up our lives a lot and has a good home now.

My cat’s name is Dallas because he crawled into the engine of my truck, got stuck, and we unknowingly drove him all the way from Dallas to Houston. I actually didn’t even discover him until the next day when I was about to head out to lunch from work. Little guy is a survivor!

My rabbit’s name is Dog, because my neighbors have a dog named Bunny. It was a perfect match.

My favourite ever cat was the smallest kitten at the shelter so I named him Tad. He grew so big and impressive I had to upgrade him to Thaddeus.

“Am I crazy to think this cat loves me?”

I’ve recently started a temporary work placement at a vet clinic and on my first day some lady left this cat in my hands in a broken litter box and walked away. I’ve named him Tornado , because when he’s finished with a room it looks like a tornado had been through it. I’ve literally just finished my placement, i’m on my way back home on the train and I can’t stop thinking about my little tornado. He slow blinks at me a lot and would rub up and roll on the floor next to me.

going to get him tomorrow morning ! ☺️

Owners of cats named Tornado and Dallas may get more attention than they think. In a 2019 study in Scientific Reports, researchers in Japan found that cats can tell their own names from other words, even when a stranger says them.

The scientists played recordings of ordinary nouns and other cats’ names until the cats stopped reacting, then said the cat’s own name. Cats from regular households perked up again at their own names. Whether they then come when called is, of course, a separate question.

When I was 7 I had three goldfish by the names of Zero, Ten and Password.

I named them that because I was seven years old.

I named the puppy Herbert and began training him. By the time we discovered he was a she it was to late to rename her so the nearest girl name we could think of was Sherbert

A mistranslation.

Black kitten (now the cutest queens you’d ever hope to meet), and I thought “midnight” in Japanese would make a cool name.

Unfortunately I picked Ju-uniji — which means 12 o’clock. She’s just Niji now

“Found this little chunk on the side of the road today. I fell in love with her immediately. Yes, her name is Beef”

She smells like beeeeeeffff

My cousins wanted a black cat, with plans to name it Cleopatra. Turns out the cat was a boy, so they named it Cleopatrick.

Charlie he’s a cavalier King Charles spaniel my dad named him, he said the kids can’t be trusted to name him because they called the fish Tony.

“my boyfriends sister found this guy in the walls of our trailer. his name is squinch”

so the black cat in pic 4 is slate, the gray cat is grout. my boyfriend is a mason so they’re named after materials😂 i named the kitten

We found Buster in the trash (literal dumpster behind work) last Friday.

We almost named him Garbagio, but went with Buster after a house vote.

possum. I would walk home from my friends house at like 3am and I would always see big ugly possums on the side of the ditch just walking one day after school I saw a small Hairball walking on the side of the ditch and well it was a small puppy I took it home and named it possum

When our little girl was 2.5 yrs old she named our new kitten Tuesday because that was the day we went to our library’s story time for toddlers; it was her favorite word.