Animal names

elefante

elefante

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
It seems that zoos have been giving animals names that are derived from their native ranges for quite some time. For example, elephants might have a Swahili name or bison might have Native American-inspired names. Is it very common for zoos to give their animals more common names anymore? Such as naming an elephant Frank? I think the more foreign names are more interesting but curious what is the norm now. Of if there is one.
 
Depends on the zoo, and the species. A lot of animals get named after athletes. Popular entertainment is another common theme - so many named after harry potter characters, star wars, game of thrones, lord of the rings. There are still plenty given regular "human" names. For example, Columbus has cheetahs named Zemba, Kibibi, Kvamme, and Kesi, but they also have Lucy, Bob, Debbie, and Dave. Omaha has some cheetahs named after Mean Girls characters - Cady, Karen, Janis, Gretchen, Kevin, and Damian. They also have a Kathleen.
 
To add onto what @TinoPup said, some names I’ve seen in my home zoos are derived donors or members of their organization. Example, our baby Gorilla at the LA Zoo is named Angela which is from the daughter of one of the zoo’s big supporters. So perhaps by that rationale, it wouldn’t be unusual to see some common names used frequently depending on whether or not the zoo will do so. Also, it can be seen as a sign of respect to where the animals originated from and culture names help with telling the “bigger story” as to their background/history. Personally, I do find it rather nice to see the tribute of culture names placed onto wonderful animals and I don’t mind if they tend to have Americanized names either :)
 
Interesting question! With the exception of Australia Zoo (which is run by the Oregon born Terri Irwin), Australian and New Zealand zoos give their animals names that reference their heritage/country of origin (99% of the time). While I prefer these sort of names, some of them do tend to get overused e.g. Zuri (Swahili for beautiful). I enjoy seeing zoos that think outside the box and come up with names like Saana (Swahili for artwork) for a Painted hunting dog.

One trend that was rampant amongst zoos in my region during the 80’s and 90’s was naming family lines with the same initial e.g. Cleo > Claudette > Claudius. This was down to keep track of lineages in large social groups e.g. a troop of 20 baboons. This has largely died a death, but is still done with great apes at Auckland, Melbourne and Taronga Zoo.
 
At least in my home zoos many animals have "human" names of variable frequency, tipically those that come from rescues ("human" names and nicknames are common for pets as well). For example one of the most famous animals in a Chilean zoo was the late Fresia, a female Asian elephant from the Santiago Zoo.

Buin Zoo has the custom of giving some of the animals born there names of Catholic saints, based on the day of their birth. Most of those which come from other continents retain their foreign names, such as the red pandas (Ichiha and Popo). Others have names related to the circumstances of them coming to the zoo. For example a famous sea lion at Buin (now deceased) was named Domingo because he was rescued in the wild near the locality of Santo Domingo. Some of the native animals like the Chilean blue eagles have Mapundungun names. And finally there are those named after pop culture, like a Humboldt penguin named Chilly Willy or the Nile crocodile named Juancho (Wally Gator).
 
London named female giraffes after sportswomen. These included Virginia (Wade) and Jo (Durie). I suggested Steffi and I'm pleased to say that this idea was followed.
 
When I went to Bursa zoo I saw a differing views regarding animal names. One keeper thinks that giving animals Turkish human names could confuse or enrage visitors while the other staff refer animals in Turkish people names.

I get the respect aspect but I just feel like the native names thing feels a but pretentious.
 
In practically all German zoos it is usual to give African names to African mammals. This is based on mountains, nationalparks, rivers or certain regions, or the Swahili names for certain animal species or generally on Swahili. There are of course already great, euphonious names, but of course this is not particularly original. On the other hand, the zoos have to get the names for their animals from somewhere. Nevertheless, countless African elephants in Europe were named Tembo...how imaginative. Still, the idea that African zoos give their animals from Germany German names after cities, rivers, states, regions, etc. amuses me.... A wild boar named Bavaria, a brown bear named Berlin, a wolf named Isegrimm, a red fox named Fox, an ibex named Alps, or an otter named Rhine.... Personally, I like the fact that the youngest elephant offspring in Munich has a wonderfully old-fashioned German human name: Otto.
 
I have seen “human” names used for animals, as well as names from the language of their native range. As mentioned earlier, characters from books and movies have been the namesakes of quite a few animals. My local zoo (the closest one to my town, which does not have a zoo), is Scovill Zoo. Last year they got four new cheetah brothers, from Fossil Tim Wildlife Center. They are named after characters from Guardians of the Galaxy (no I have not watched it). The names are Drax the Destroyer, Yondu, Groot, and Star Lord.
 
Mayki said:
Chester named penguins after crisps of all things a while back :p
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Maryland Zoo breeds a lot of African penguins, and does a theme each year :) They've bred over 1,000 chicks, so it's a simple way to help them come up with names, and also makes it much easier to know how old each animal is. The one I met was Tetra, who was from the fish species year.
 
TinoPup said:
Maryland Zoo breeds a lot of African penguins, and does a theme each year :) They've bred over 1,000 chicks, so it's a simple way to help them come up with names, and also makes it much easier to know how old each animal is. The one I met was Tetra, who was from the fish species year.
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I think Chester does the same, it wouldn't surprise me if this was common across the zoo world!
 
Chester Zoo name all their Rhino Birth’s in alphabetical order (example: Asani, Bashira, Chanua e.c.t.).

Dvur Kralove Zoo, Magdeburg Zoo and Ramat Gan Safari give their baby’s names with the first letter of the mother’s name (well, as for Rhinos anyway), such as Elba’s daughters, Eva, Ema and Etosha at Dvur, Rihanna’s calves Rami, Rainy Rafiki and Ruvi at Ramat Gan, and Malaika’s sons, Makibo and Malte at Magdeburg. Seems as if naming children after their maternal lines is quiet common, also makes it easy to find maternal lineage ;)
 
I am aware that indigenous-sounding names are nothing new.
Though I do wonder how much thought goes into all of them....
The only kiwi in the UK is named Manu. [see my profile]
and recently I learned what Manu's name means in Maori.
It means.............
............
...........
...........
...........
bird.
 
I immediately think of Nashville Zoo's Clouded Leopard triplets, Bakso, Bao and Bahn who are all named after foods you'd find in the animal's native range, namely Bakso (Indonesian for Meatball), Bao (Chinese Dumpling) and Bahn (probably referring to Banh, Vietnamese for cake or bread)

It's an interesting naming scheme, as someone who is a fan of all of the cuisines mentioned
 
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