What's in a Name?

I've never been any good at thinking up original names for my pets. I favor the standard ones - all my dogs were named "missy" and the cats...well, I had a black cat named Merlin, after Merlin the magician, but Pandora was named by my daughter. Who has 3 cats - named Booger, Pretty, and Bailey. I think they have proper names but I can't remember them. Which means I'm in trouble when she (my daughter) reads this post. Maybe including this picture of Pretty will help. <sigh>

Anyway, I found a really great site online where you can get advice on how to or what to name your dog. It's Jenny's Puppy naming and training Tips site. Looks like Jenny is onto something. I think she is actually making money at this. I wish she blogged. Over at Clover's blog, there's a mention of Jenny and her site. I like Clover's Flickr account.

Speaking of blogs, the Merril Dubrow blog has a post on naming your pet. He says the 10 Most Popular Pet Names are...

Dogs: Max, Bailey, Buddy, Molly, Maggie, Lucy, Daisy, Bella, Jake, and Rocky.

Cats: Max, Tigger, Smokey, Tiger, Chloe, Shadow, Lucy, Angel, Oliver and Simba.

Well, both my girls (real live girls, not pets) made the list: Maggie and Chloe! No Yvonne, darn it!

Merrill included a picture of his dog - a tiny Yorkie. Adorable. Wonder what he's looking at...a mouse?

So, how do YOU think up pet names?

Would you hire Jenny?

Or, do you just open the phone book, close your eyes and point?