Not a dog.I hate it when I hear of dogs named Charlie. I'm sure you can imagine why. My oldest son is named Charles and we call him Charlie almost exclusively.
So, when, shortly after his birth, I started hearing of lots of dogs who are called by the same name, I tried not to let it bug me. I did try.
But at the park today, my son Charlie was running his little legs off trying to catch up to a girl riding a motorized razor scooter. I could see him across the big field as another mother wandered by me with her doggy and her little boy. She pointed to John and asked how old he was. I told her and then asked the age of her son, mostly out of courtesy. Next her dog wandered over to John and wagged his tail. Johnny said "Dog!" and the other mother said, pointing to the dog on his neon pink leash, "His name is Charlie."
Why does this bug me? Maybe it has to do with my need for people to understand that dogs and humans aren't the same thing. I'm so passionate about that truth, I guess, that I don't want this name crossover as an ugly reminder that not everyone can clearly see the differences.
Maybe someone out there is thinking, "Well, if it was going to be so annoying for you, you shouldn't have named your son a dog name." Right. I suppose when I was studying online baby names records trying to choose a name for my son that wasn't overly popular or trendy, I should have been checking the pet names databases to make sure my favorite names weren't at the top there.
You live and you learn, I guess. Oh well. I still love my son's name.
7 comments:
i deal with a lot of pets and their names...you are absolutely right; when a dog has a name that is close to what you would name child it makes me uncomfortable. (except, for some reason the name bob.) it's even worse, however, when cats have human names. you should not name your cat 'john,' 'larry,' or something else you might call your dad.
Bah, a name is a name. But I'm a dog person, nuff said I suppose. But I can see how it would bug you, it would get old. I had a friend who had a pug named Charlie, but we always called him Charles D. Winchester the Third for short. However, I have never made the association of Charlie being only a dog name - since I was hoping to use this name one day myself. I guess I would just say to take it as a compliment that you chose a name people like to say. I'm rambling... sorry you were bugged.
Erin
PS my verification word this time was "trecki". Live long and prosper my friend.
Fido? Rover? Benji?
I absolutely love the name Charlie too (for people).
How come no one commented on how CUTE that child is? C'mon people. THAT was the point of the post.
I've heard of at least two dogs named Sarah. Sarah! Who names a dog Sarah?
Charlie is a cutie, by the way. I'm going pack to the post to admire his cuteness again.
Ann, I have to say that the name Max might be worse than Charlie for dog names. In fact, my parents had a dog named Max who died right before my son Max was born. Tyler is responsible for the name Max and the dog thing is exactly why I begged to name him Maddox. Why is it that people blur the lines between human and oh, he has fur and drools and pees on trees, he's exactly like a human dogs?
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