History Main / IWasNamedMyName

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/OliverandCompany''. Jenny Foxworth is the ''only'' character to ever refer the title cat by the name "Oliver", while everyone else just calls him either "kid" or "cat."

* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear'' after Kenai is turned back into a human by Sitka [[spoiler: in order to save him from being killed by Denahi]], he is still able to refer Koda to by his real name, and Koda still recognizes Kenai in his human form. [[spoiler: Sitka then turns Kenai back into a bear again, only this time the transformation is now permanent, so that he and Koda can remain together forever.]]

* Averted in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/118727/sun-princess Sun Princess]]''. Winona refers to herself as "Faithful Student" because she considers herself extremely faithful to her owner, Applejack (whom she calls "Sun Princess").

* {{Averted}} in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}.'' The main character is a rat named Remy, but his human friend always calls him "Little Chef."
* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'', where Oliver's dog friends only call him "cat," "kitty," "child" or "kid" until Jenny names him "Oliver." Only the voiceover song "Once Upon a Time in New York City" calls him Oliver from the start, and that can be chalked up to the singer being an omniscient narrator.

* {{Averted}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheStar.'' The main character, a donkey, is never named until he's adopted by Mary and Joseph, who call him "Boaz." This is odd because a.) he had a different owner beforehand who apparently never named him, and b.) his friend is a wild dove who ''does'' have a name (Dave).

* Averted in the original literary version of ''Literature/TheJungleBook''. The protagonist is named Mowgli by his wolf foster parents (though he is usually called "little brother" by the other animals, at least until he gets bigger) but the humans who adopt him when he returns to the world of Men call him Nathoo, after their long-lost son. (His new mother believes that he really is Nathoo returned at first, but it is clear that Nathoo was lost at a later age than Mowgli was - she recalls giving Nathoo shoes, but Mowgli was lost before he could walk, and she sees from how his toes are splayed that he has never worn shoes.)

* Averted in ''Literature/{{Catseye|1961}}'' by Creator/AndreNorton: main character Troy Horan [[PsychicPowers communicates telepathically]] with a group of animals -- a pair of foxes, a pair of cats, and a kinkajou -- with intelligence upgraded to human level. When he asks about their names, the female cat says somewhat disdainfully that they were given "Man's names!", and Troy senses a hint "that there were other forms of identification more subtle and intelligent, beyond the reach of a mere human." There's a touch of HypocriticalHumor there, as she told him that '''after''' she referred to the male fox by his human-given name.
* Averted by TheBookOfTheFilm ''Film/FreeWilly'', in which it's revealed that Willy's "orca name" is Three Spots (referencing the dots under his chin), and the name change is listed among the many ways that life in an aquarium is highly confusing and frightening.
* Averted in the ''Remy Chandler'' series. When Remy picks the puppy that will become his pet, he asks the puppy what his name is. Pretty reasonable, given that Remy [[spoiler: who is really Remiel, a seraph and a warrior of God]], can understand all languages, including the languages of animals. The puppy replies he's called "Fifth of Seven." Remy names Fifth of Seven Marlowe, after his favorite fictional detective.

* Perhaps averted in ''Literature/BlackBeauty'' in the case of the titular character - despite the title, only one of his various owners ever calls him Black Beauty. His other names include Darky and Blackjack. However, we don't really know what he calls himself, given that it is narrated from first person and the other horses don't call him by name, so he could regard his name as being Black Beauty. However, Ginger definitely fits in with the trope, and so does Merrylegs.
* Averted in ''Windrusher''. A cat named "Tony" is abandoned by his owners. Other animals call Tony "Windrusher" instead of "Tony".
* Averted in the novelization of ''Film/Annie1982'', which narrates Annie's adoption of Sandy from Sandy's point-of-view. In his mind he calls himself "Scram," because that's what most humans "call" him, until Annie gives him his new name.

* Averted at the end of the first ''WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies2010'' episode, where Yipper is matched up with a little boy who decides to name him Bob, to the bemusement of the other pound puppies. Also, averted with Taboo, who is called "Lucky" by his Human. Played straight with Niblet's sister Rebound (so named because she's always returned) after she's adopted by [=McLeish=]'s mother Agatha.
* Averted with dolphins in ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar''. People called Doris "Dotty" and Dr. Blowhole "Flippy".

* Averted in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/118727/sun-princess Sun Princess]]''. Winona refers to herself as "Faithful Student" because she considers herself extremely faithful to her owner, Applejack (who she calls "Sun Princess").

* The ''Animal Ark'' book ''Tabby in the Tub'' has a variation involving human-given names of pets (about the closest one can get to this trope in a series fully grounded in realism), when the protagonist names a stray cat "Blossom" after watching her play with some fallen flowers. When they find the cat's owner near the end of the book, she tells them that she had named the cat... Blossom.

* The ''Animal Ark'' book ''Tabby in the Tub'' has a variation involving human-given names of pets, when the protagonist names a stray cat "Blossom" after watching her play with some fallen flowers. When they find the cat's owner near the end of the book, she tells them that the cat's name (that she had given her) is... Blossom.

* Tthe ''Animal Ark'' book ''Tabby in the Tub'' has a variation involving human-given names of pets, when the protagonist names a stray cat "Blossom" after watching her play with some fallen flowers. When they find the cat's owner near the end of the book, she tells them that the cat's name (that she had given her) is... Blossom.

* ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatianStreet'' both averts and plays this straight. In "My Fair Dolly", Dolly gets a random Human so she can compete against Clarissa in a Dog Show. The Human, upon seeing Dolly, calls her Camilla. In the Episode; "Doggie Da Vinci", Da Vinci becomes a local celebrity for her art work. When she is being chased by the crowd, they call out different names to her, such as "Labrador Dali", before settling on calling her "Doggie Da Vinci". Dylan lampshades this, questioning how the Humans knew what her name is. Of course, the joke is that Da Vinci shares a name with a famous artist that the humans are referencing when they call her that.

* Tthe ''Animal Ark'' book ''Tabby in the Tub'' has a variation involving human-given names of pets, when the protagonist names a stray cat "Blossom" after watching her play with some fallen flowers. When they find the cat's owner near the end of the book, she tells them that she had named the cat... Blossom.

* In the ''Animal Ark'' book ''Tabby in the Tub'', the protagonist names a stray cat "Blossom" after watching her play with some fallen flowers. When the cat's owner is eventually found, it turns out that "Blossom" is also the name that said owner had given to her, for the same reason.

* ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatianStreet'' both averts and plays this straight. In "My Fair Dolly", Dolly gets a random Human so she can compete against Clarissa in a Dog Show. The Human, upon seeing Dolly, calls her Camilla. In the Episode; "Doggie Da Vinci", Da Vinci becomes a local celebrity for her art work. When she is being chased by the crowd, they call out different names to her, such as "Labrador Dali", before settling on calling her "Doggie Da Vinci". Dylan lampshades this, questioning how the Humans knew what her name is, and Dolly figuring that Humans are smarter than she thought they were.

* ''Fanfic/TheDogfather'' is a ''Literature/HarryPotter'' AU in which Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban years before Harry goes to Hogwarts and gets himself, in his "Padfoot" dog Animagus form, chosen as Harry's pet dog. Harry's Muggle foster parents Tim and Caro McIntyre decide to name the new dog Padfoot. It's justified by saying that they choose the name because he reminds them of a dog toy Harry had when he was very young, that he called Padfoot (which, unbeknownst to them, was because the toy reminded baby Harry of the real Padfoot).

* ''Fanfic/TheDogfather'' is a ''Literature/HarryPotter'' AU in which Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban years before Harry goes to Hogwarts and gets himself, in his "Padfoot" dog Animagus form, chosen as Harry's pet dog. (It's also an AU in which Harry is being raised by a nicer Muggle family than the Dursleys who let him have a pet dog.) Harry's foster parents Tim and Caro decide to name the new dog Padfoot. It's justified by saying that they choose the name because he reminds them of a dog toy Harry had when he was very young, that he called Padfoot (which, unbeknownst to them, was because the toy reminded baby Harry of the real Padfoot).

* ''Fanfic/TheDogfather'' is a ''Literature/HarryPotter'' AU in which Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban years before Harry goes to Hogwarts and gets himself, in his "Padfoot" dog Animagus form, chosen as Harry's pet dog. (It's also an AU in which Harry is being raised by a nicer family than the Dursleys who let him have a pet dog.) Harry's parents decide to name the new dog Padfoot. It's justified by saying that they choose the name because he reminds them of a dog toy Harry had when he was very young, that he called Padfoot (which, unbeknownst to them, was because the toy reminded baby Harry of the real Padfoot).

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', this is averted. While Remy's real name is, well, Remy, Linguini names him Little Chef.