Monday, October 17, 2016

Top Ten Characters I'd Name a Dog After


I'm linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for another Top Ten Tuesday.

I grew up in a cat family and married into a dog family, and we currently live in a place that doesn't allow pets. When we have our own house someday, my husband has his heart set on getting several large dogs like the kind he grew up with, though he's agreed I can get one "lap-sized" dog for myself. So I combed through some of my favorite books to see if there were any good character names for these future pups. Here's what I came up with.


1. Belgarath (The Belgariad series)
Of all the characters in the series, I had to go with Belgarath, since he's the wolf. It's a little cumbersome as a pet's name, so it might be better to drop the honorific "Bel" prefix and just call him Garath.


2. Bennet (Pride and Prejudice)
This name could represent the whole family central to the book, but I particularly like to think of it as referring to Mr. Bennet, the character that nobody else seems to find as funny as I do.


3. Fern (We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves)
OK, so Fern wasn't a dog, she was <NO SPOILERS>, but given the context it's still a good name for someone you're going to consider part of your family, right?


4. Holmes (A Study in Scarlet)
Although my favorite fictional detective is Hercule Poirot, neither part of his name rolls off my American tongue the way you want a dog's name to. I could definitely name a dog the snappy one-syllable Holmes, though, as a tribute to my love of mysteries.


5. Mango (A Mango-Shaped Space)
I know, I know, Mango is a cat. You could totally have a dog named Mango, though. Just work with me here.


6. Milligan (The Mysterious Benedict Society)
Milligan is the fierce protector who's always there at the right moment to save you from danger but who has a heart full of love. Don't those sound like the qualities of a good dog?


7. Rucker (Cold Sassy Tree)
There are a lot of great names in this Southern family drama, but Grandpa Blakeslee's first name has the sharp consonants that, to me, sound most like a dog's name.


8. Tock (The Phantom Tollbooth)
Look, I found a character who's actually a dog this time! I mean, a dog crossed with a watch. I love this book and would love to pay tribute to one of its main characters.


9. Tonks (The Harry Potter series)
I debated about which of the many colorfully named characters from these series would be best, but I finally settled on Tonks as the one I'd be most likely to actually name a dog after. It's not quite well known enough for non-Harry Potter fans to catch onto, but fellow fans would immediately get the reference.


10. Trunchbull (Matilda)
I tried to stay away from evil characters' names, but this one is just too fun, in classic Dahl style. Wouldn't it be cute to have a bulldog named Trunchbull?

What characters would you recommend for our future dogs?

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