Quotes / Animal Naming Conventions

It was with horror that I soon discovered that all the cats in the Commune called each other by names. Some actually chose to be called by the name fhey had been given by their human masters. Others who had lived in the wild all their lives pathetically tried to ape this habit, like red-eyes, who had never lived in human ownership, but who was most insistent that we should all call him Tom-Cat.

— Stray

When I tell you a cat must have three different names
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey
All of them sensible, everyday names
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames
Such as Plato, Admetas, Electra, Demeter
But all of them sensible everyday names
But I tell you a cat needs a name that's particular
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo or Coricopat
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum
Names that never belong to more than one cat
But above and beyond there's still one name left over
And that is the name that you never will guess
The name that no human research can discover
But the cat himself knows, and will never confess

— The Naming of the Cats, Cats