If you adopted a pet from a shelter did you keep its name or give new one?

I have always kept the original names of my rescued pets even if they sound silly or odd.

And congrats on the new family member!

I’ve always renamed them and they quickly learn their new names. Good for you for getting a pound puppy!

I always rename them. My last boxer was named Bengal when I got her. I renamed her Jessie. She liked that name better.

I rename them although when I adopted Prince, my lovely cocker, he stayed Prince. Rusty was from a rescue org and he became Frodo Baggins. Somewhere I read that you should give a new name, if you want one, that is similar in sound to the old one but I haven’t always followed that rule.

Often for a rescue, the shelter has named them something so it might not have been their name for long.

Congratulations on the new member of your family.

In mid November last year, I adopted a senior cat. Her name was Saki, and I kept it. It has a beautiful meaning in Japanese, blossom. There was another cat simply named Kitty that I considered. I would have renamed her. That name is just boring.

I renamed mine.
The shelter named her Antonia, I renamed her Twinnie, which became Pinnie.

I have always come up with my own names for pets. I TRY to give names relevant to the animal’s personality. For example, I own a cat now that I’ve named Dora because she is compulsively driven to explore every nook and cranny of her environment.

A previous cat I waffled between Tigger and Newton because he jumped vertically straight up as a kitten when startled AND he liked to knock things off table to watch them fall (a trait all cats have, but he did it more)...which I joked was him studying gravity. I chose Tigger, unaware that it was one of the most popular cat names there was…and he promptly grew out of the jumping thing. He did the gravity thing right up until his passing though.

My neighbor adopted a rescue. They didn’t know her name. She started calling her Sony, but the dog didn’t respond. After a week, she called the dog Suni, and the dog was delighted!
I suspect her real name was Suzy or something with a hard U.

Something I just remembered…the reason you may want to rename it is because you probably don’t know how the previous owners treated it. If they were mean or yelled at him/her, that name may have a negative association for the dog. Just a thought.

@smudges I have taken in abused pets, and I found that keeping the name, using it with loves and treats every time has countered the negative. Obviously, that may not be true every time, but it has worked for me.

One of my adopted cats we got as a kitten was named by the shelter “Buddie” and I thought, what a generic overused boring name only second to Max. By the time I got home with him…BUDDIE was his name for good! He’s been my best buddie even since! Thank you for adopting a shelter pet! ♡

@canidmajor I hadn’t thought of that. Good point. And bless you for taking them in! <3

@RayaHope Yup! Just like kids, sometimes they just own their names. LOL

I’ve always kept their names. I figure they probably know it at least somewhat.

I would be inclined to not rename an adopted pet, unless it was called Kardashian, in which case it would be the first thing I do.

We renamed ours. Kayden —> Cupertino (“Cooper”). For context, all of the dogs in my family (sister, parents, aunt) have Bay Area names as a tradition (e.g. “Fillmore,” “Stinson,” “Jackson,” “Cupertino” and maybe one day a “Calistoga,” “Sonoma,” “Kirby,” or “Larkspur”).

Well, Cato was named Garlic when we got him. The shelter was naming them after pizza stuff.

No; last two pairs of dogs over the last 20 years were rescues, 11 years ago brother and sister their names were similar sounding. Before that we named the sisters Amber and Onyx they were golden and jet black. I think they were called them Daisy and Pam.

We adopted two senior dogs two years ago and kept their names. Patty Cake and Pinochle. :)

I adopted a cat from the SPCA 2 years ago. It’s name was “Orange”. But it was a grey and white tabby with no orange color at all. I changed his name to “Orance”.

The only time I’ve kept an animal name, was when the animal had been named by their previous family. Shelter names tend to just be temporary labels the animal doesn’t really relate to, but it’s good to ask, because the animal may like having their accustomed name maintained.

@Zaku I mentioned something similar above.

OK, thanks. They said pooch was owned by older couple, had to give up when they moved, lived at the shelter a couple months. Not sure if Kardashian is her given name as she doesn’t seem to respond to it. She fit in nicely here. Black & white, 32#, trim.

@Acrylic Enjoy her! You could try calling her Cardi – without the “B”!