The best name idea for some zoo animals

R

RhinoHippoElephantGiraffe

Well-Known Member
In this thread, I am sharing what the best name idea is for certain animal species and why it is a great name. You can comment any top name suggestions for any animal (sub)species you want, but I only want to see ONE name idea per animal (sub)species. Name ideas must be suitable for males AND females of that animal. No duplicate names either, please.
My list is:
Giraffe (any subspecies): Twiga Means "giraffe" in Swahili.
African Elephant: Tembo - Means "elephant" in Swahili.
Hippo (Common or Pygmy): Kiboko - Means "hippo" in Swahili.
White/Black Rhino: Kifaru - Means "rhino" in Swahili.
Polar Bear: Churchill - A city in Manitoba, Canada that has an insane number of wild polar bears and is ranked #1 in the best places to see polar bears in the wild. The 7 Best Places To See Polar Bears in the Wild
Giant Panda: Zhuzi - Means "bamboo" in simplified Chinese.
Lion: Simba - Means "lion" in Swahili and the name of the main character in the movie "The Lion King".
Brown or Black Bear: Yellowstone - A place where hundreds of bears live in the wild.
Tiger: Amber - Derived from the word for a beautiful "orange gemstone".
Gorilla: Sokwe - Means "ape" or "gorilla" in Swahili.
Asian Elephant: Chang - Means "elephant" in Thai.
 
mrcriss said:
Anyone else find the old "............., which means...........in............" formula a little laborious? Why have to explain a name every time it's used? What's wrong with "Steve", "Dave" or "Susan"?:D
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As the owner of a Kevin, and previous owner of a Steven, I agree :D
 
mrcriss said:
Anyone else find the old "............., which means...........in............" formula a little laborious? Why have to explain a name every time it's used? What's wrong with "Steve", "Dave" or "Susan"?:D
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Well and if you're going to use that route, at least be a little more creative than naming the animal what it is in another language. "Yeah our elephant's name means elephant in another language." Find something a little more unique.
 
I like the theme with Aye-Ayes being named after “scary” or “dark” people/characters (Nosferatu, Smeagol, Medusa, Bellatrix). I’d love to see a zoo name an Aye-Aye “Taboo”, in a similar vein to “Fady” from San Diego.
I also like Cincinnati’s King Penguin naming scheme, which takes words associated with “King” (Burger King, Larry King, Martin Luther King). If they ever acquire/breed another one, they should absolutely name it “Dedede” (who is also a penguin, so it fits even more!). I don’t know if Nintendo would have issues with this (they very well could), but if Brookfield can name an otter after Pascal from Animal Crossing, I think Cincinnati could get away with naming a penguin after King Dedede.
mrcriss said:
Anyone else find the old "............., which means...........in............" formula a little laborious? Why have to explain a name every time it's used? What's wrong with "Steve", "Dave" or "Susan"?:D
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Finally, someone put it into words! It seems like all the “traditionally-named” animals are old as heck now and the “new kids on the block” have the “species name in native language” names.
TinoPup said:
I'd rather see a lion named Doorknob than yet another Simba.
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Well, maybe not “Doorknob”, but I’d be down for some more abstract, Zoboomafoo-esque animal names.
 
Naming a elephant "Elephant in swahili" is just the same as naming a swan "Swan".

If you get personal name for your pet might as well do the same for zoo animals.
 
TinoPup said:
Most of your examples have already been done dozens of times in each species. Repetitive names make stud books, and tracking animals privately, confusing. Personally, I'd rather see a lion named Doorknob than yet another Simba.
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@TinoPup Do you really think that a zoo would name their lion Doorknob? I don't see a single reason how an animal of ANY species in captivity would get named Doorknob. Doorknob is an even worse name than some random old name, like Bob, John, Anna, or Mary.
 
Corangurilla said:
I like the theme with Aye-Ayes being named after “scary” or “dark” people/characters (Nosferatu, Smeagol, Medusa, Bellatrix). I’d love to see a zoo name an Aye-Aye “Taboo”, in a similar vein to “Fady” from San Diego.
I also like Cincinnati’s King Penguin naming scheme, which takes words associated with “King” (Burger King, Larry King, Martin Luther King). If they ever acquire/breed another one, they should absolutely name it “Dedede” (who is also a penguin, so it fits even more!). I don’t know if Nintendo would have issues with this (they very well could), but if Brookfield can name an otter after Pascal from Animal Crossing, I think Cincinnati could get away with naming a penguin after King Dedede.

Finally, someone put it into words! It seems like all the “traditionally-named” animals are old as heck now and the “new kids on the block” have the “species name in native language” names.

Well, maybe not “Doorknob”, but I’d be down for some more abstract, Zoboomafoo-esque animal names.
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To be clearer....it's more the ones that mean "spirit of the wind" or "beautiful one" that seem a little over thought to me.

I'm all for punny names ( "Monty" burmese python / "Bagot Chips & Bagot-for-life" bagot goats), and I love a dark twist (African civets Voodoo & Hex), but when it gets so convoluted that you have to explain the name in keeper talks, it seems a little silly.
 
RhinoHippoElephantGiraffe said:
@TinoPup Do you really think that a zoo would name their lion Doorknob? I don't see a single reason how an animal of ANY species in captivity would get named Doorknob. Doorknob is an even worse name than some random old name, like Bob, John, Anna, or Mary.
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Why not? Maybe it's like he hit a doorknob when he was being handraised and the zoo is like "yeah, doorknob!"
 
mrcriss said:
To be clearer....it's more the ones that mean "spirit of the wind" or "beautiful one" that seem a little over thought to me.

I'm all for punny names ( "Monty" burmese python / "Bagot Chips & Bagot-for-life" bagot goats), and I love a dark twist (African civets Voodoo & Hex), but when it gets so convoluted that you have to explain the name in keeper talks, it seems a little silly.
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Remind me to never name actual, real-life zoo animals. Otherwise, there’d be a whole lot of animals with super niche pop culture reference names.
(Thank goodness for zoo simulators)
 
RhinoHippoElephantGiraffe said:
@TinoPup Do you really think that a zoo would name their lion Doorknob? I don't see a single reason how an animal of ANY species in captivity would get named Doorknob. Doorknob is an even worse name than some random old name, like Bob, John, Anna, or Mary.
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It's more creative than Simba. You're not going to forget a lion named Doorknob.
 
1. Geographically appropriate names:

My personal preference is to see animals given names relevant to their heritage that are also original. Do we really need another giraffe named Zuri? Or another Sumatran tiger named Berani or Melati?

2. Original names:

I like names which reference the animal species, but think outside the box. Monarto Zoo named an African wild dog Sanaa last year - it’s Swahili for artwork and references the alternate name of this species (African painted dog). It was significantly more inspired than the Tasmanian devils they named X-box and Yabba-dabba-do.

3. People names:

People names seem to be the most enabling re. the general public. Wellington Zoo has had chimpanzee called Sam, Marty and Beni in the past, which got countless people tagging their friends named Sam and Ben in the social media comments; and a handful of Marty’s!

———————

As a side note, it should be pointed out that within the context of a database, names are irrelevant given the animal has a unique ID number. For some smaller species, names aren’t even given due to the number of animals held on site. Larger crowd drawing animals of course all have names for PR purposes; as well as training etc. - though in the case of the latter, an in-house name is often used. Melbourne Zoo have double names for their elephants and great apes for example.
 
I'm a big fan of names that reference icons in movies, music, etc. For example, I named my tiger nerite snail "Garfield" due to the fact that he stayed within 4 cubic inches of water during the first 2 days are of him being introduced to my tank. I named the next nerite "Grafield", a character who was a rip-off Garfield in a single comic strip in the series. I'd also appreciate people pronouncing named correctly :p I've heard Indian names for Indian elephants being butchered before, and for some reason it irritates me.
 
Bengal Tiger said:
I'd also appreciate people pronouncing named correctly :p I've heard Indian names for Indian elephants being butchered before, and for some reason it irritates me.
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This is something that will happen whether we want it to or not, the average teacher/professor calling roll for the first day of the year being a striking example. :p
No matter what language is used it will be mispronounced occasionally - or often depending on complexity. Turtle Bay's Golden Eagle is named Seteweela, you can imagine how often that gets mispronounced.
 
Great Argus said:
This is something that will happen whether we want it to or not, the average teacher/professor calling roll for the first day of the year being a striking example. :p
No matter what language is used it will be mispronounced occasionally - or often depending on complexity. Turtle Bay's Golden Eagle is named Seteweela, you can imagine how often that gets mispronounced.
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True, I am used to it, I have an Indian name after all :p
 
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