It may be a wee bit early but I think we should start coming up with a naming convention for this year’s lambs and kids. For those of you new to the blog, we use naming conventions for a bunch of reasons. It makes it super-easy to figure out how old an animal that was born on the farm is but mostly it’s just easier than coming up with a million names on the spot during birthing season.
Two years ago we named our babies after candy and varieties of cheese. Last year the shareholders voted to name the kids (baby goats) after herbs and spices. We have, up till now, named our ewes (female sheep) after islands and our rams after presidents of the United States, but we have so many sheep now that we are going to name the new lambs the same way we name the kids from now on.
With so many readers I’m sure we can come up with a really good naming conventions this year. Post your suggestions here. We’ll winnow the list down to five or six and then let everybody vote.
Here’s what you need to know:
The category needs to be something with lots of naming possibilities. Candy was great cause there are umpteen jillion kinds. Think broad. Characters from fiction? Good. Characters from Dickens?Fine. Characters from Salinger novels? Not so much.
Be creative. Chinese food dishes. The counties of Ireland. Just be sure there are names suitable for males and females.
We can do two different conventions for the goats and the sheep as long as they kind of go together, i.e. goats are herbs and sheep are spices.
This is one of the most direct ways in which you get to help us on the farm so have fun with it! I can’t wait to see what ya’ll come up with.
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I think it wold be funny to name them after different breeds of cats and dogs.
Cats: Persian, Tabby, Manx, Siamese
Dogs: Rottweiler, Terrier, Pekingese, Poodle
Shareholder Peggy Kane emailed me this suggestion- she was having trouble getting the comments to work- and it is such a good idea I have to post here for ya’ll to read.
“How about Fonts? Fonts are very trendy these days.
Arial
Lucida
Verdana
Baskerville
Bauer
Unicorn
Vagabond
Tahoma
Palatino”
I like the font names and that pays homage to the old typewriter as well as the computer keyboard. Being a cat lover the breed names are precious. How about the birds and the bees! You could name the sheep after bird species and the goats after different bees(or maybe other types of cross pollinators).How about Greek and Roman gods and goddesses (Greek for goats, Roman for the sheep?)
I propose naming them after characters from The Simpsons.
Here’s a full list
So many great possibilities:
Kang, Kodos, Disco Stu, Hans Moleman, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Duffman, Itchy, Scratchy, and Santa’s Little Helper…just to name a few.
(I hope it’s ok that I posted here, I am the husband of a shareholder)
of course it’s okay Damon! All readers are welcome.
Some ideas:
Cartoon Characters
Soft Drinks
Cocktails
Songs/Hits/Bands of the 80s
Hairstyles
Types of Dances
Famous Olympians
Oh yeah, in honor of gardening:
Types of tomatoes – there’s only a million varieties I think
Types of pasta
Harry Potter Characters…
Couldn’t slog through all the suggestions, though those I saw were great. And I don’t know what has been suggested in past years. But here are a few:
How about kids book/juvenile fiction characters (curious george, madeline, ferdinand, maisy, courderoy, ramona, heidi etc.)
Or disney characters? There’s a never-ending supply)(micky,cruella,pongo,ariel,lady, tramp,)
Clearly, two suggestions from a stay at home mom…
Living with two boys 7 and 9 it came to me that Star Wars’ Characters would be fun.
Or names of Cookies/Pastries.
how about fancy desserts….mousse,ganache,brulee,parfait,
I was on to the tree theme too..balsalm,pine,hemlock,aspen,cherry,apple,peach,olive,there are so many…….
My two ideas are:
Spinning wheels: e.g. Ashford, Kiwi, Saxony, Lendrum, etc.
Politicians: Lincoln, Kennedy, Nixon, Spiro Agnew (I just like his name:)), Obama, etc.
I love all these ideas! I would add Ben and Jerry Ice cream flavors, or any ice cream flavors:)
what fun!!!
Hmm…so many possibilities. Gemstones might be fun. Aquamarine, Topaz, Ruby, Diamond…
I like the colors idea, in the first post. Lots of great color names out there. Fruits was the other thing that came to mind…Fig, Plum, Apple, Tangerine, Lemon, Blueberry…etc.
ok i guess all my ideas were already mentioned….i should probably read the posts BEFORE I comment!!
I do have to give a second shout for Muppets. soooo fun.
I also love the shareholders-in-a-hat idea. Probably lots of options out there!
My only other idea was to use names from places on Martha’s Vineyard and New York State. I have a relative who’s daughter names all her pets after places on Cape Cod because that’s where they live. and yeah, they have a lot of pets:)
I was going to suggest States but I see that it has already been suggested several times.
How about naming them after different yarns? Sundara, Cascade, Yartini, Sweet Georgia, Noro, Malabrigo, Smooshy, Rowan, Zara, etc. (And the funniest: Brown Sheep!!!!!!!) You could use the names of the yarn companies for the males and the names of the different kinds of yarns for the females!!!
Love the tomato variety and the Mass. towns idea too. We do have a lot of great names here.
My suggestion is stuff from a desk drawer/junk drawer: tape, scissors, stapler, glue stick, elmers, white-out, paperclip, ballpoint, etc. Then you could do stuff in your bathroom cabinet for the other species (toothpaste, q-tip, mouthwash…) for the cabinets and drawers theme, or font names for the office theme.
Or, to run with the Muppets theme, you could do Muppets and Fraggles. My sister in law would have a little fit of joy if there were Fraggle names.
I think you should name the kids after flowers – reminds me of Bambi.
Daffodil, Zinnia, Rose, etc…
Instead of naming them after shareholders, how about using some of their Ravelry ID’s instead?
I really need to stop thinking about this. Actually I’m not consciously thinking about it. these ideas are coming to me as I’m surfing the web and I post them before I can forget them.
How about naming them after knitwear designers? Zimmermann, Gaugh, Modesitt, Fasset etc?
I think colors too–maybe red for kids and blue for lambs? I can think of reds: carmine, crimson, alizarin, vermilion, scarlet, ruby, cerise, cardinal . . . and blues: cobalt, azure, aqua, navy, cerulean, indigo, royal, sky, etc., etc.
What about picking a band and using the titles of songs for names:
example: U2 (our favorite in the McRell household)
Sweetest Thing
One
Mysterious Ways
Wild Honey
Streets (for Where the Streets have no name)
Elevation
I think I would sing to the kids and lambs as I tended to them. What fun!?!?!
Hi all! Bewts from Ravelry, here. I like 1980′s kid’s cartoon show characters (Smurfs: Smurfette, Brainy, Papa, etc.; Jem and the Holograms, GI Joe, etc.) and Kids’ cereals (Trix, Golden Grahams, Lucky Charms, etc.)
Of course, my preferred would be Muppet characters! Fozzie, kermit, Miss Piggy!
Ha! This is way too fun!
How about rock star names (eddie van halen, joan jett, etc…) for the sheep and country star names (loretta lynn, george jones) for the sheep? I would love to hang out with a lamb named Mick Jagger.
I thought I’d have something to contribute but i as I scrolled through the previous posts I realized a lot of my ideas were taken. Including: fancy color names, ice cream, NY cities, trees, etc.
Wait, how about types of sushi? ebi, unagi, toro, etc.
can’t wait to see what we come up with.
Love the fonts and musical instruments!
Also, how about national parks?
Acadia
Biscayne
Denali
Everglades
Haleakala
Katmai
Mesa Verde
Mount Rainier
Saguaro
Sequoia
Shenandoah
Yosemite
Zion
I like the idea of Harry Potter characters. Adult names for the sheep: Hagrid, Dumbledore, Snape, etc.; and kid names for the goats (pun intended): Harry, Ron, Dudley, Hermione, etc.
I got these ideas from a book, those that have read it will recognize it. The names of song birds, like sparrow or finch. Or the names of gemstones, like opal or pearl.
You do know there’s only 26 counties in Ireland, right (well, 32 if you count the ones in the North)? sez the Irish shareholder
I like the Joss Whedon suggestion and the tea suggestion. As for names of towns on Cape Cod…I wouldn’t want to be WoodsHole kid (even tho I was a Woods Hole kid, geddit? I was born there…geddit? never mind. /slinks off)
Oh, I *love* the font idea and the national parks idea! And I admit that I too would like to hang out with a lamb named Mick Jagger!
The more I read recommendations of gemstones and minerals, the more I like it. I took geology last year and there are gobs of names . . . and some are really pretty! I still like Texas counties, but this would be right up there on my favorites list. Good idea.
Biblical names for the wise sheep:
Saul, Samuel, Jacob, Esau, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, etc. And Rebekka, Esther, Mary, Mirium, Ruth, Anna, etc. Then the goats could be named for mythological persons: Loki, Freya, Thor, etc.
Also hot chili peppers: King, Kelly , Gypsy Goldie, Goat (yes there really is a pepper named Goat’s Head)
Safi, Queen, Slim Jim, Tobago, Zinka, Thai, Mango, the list goes on. These for the goats, and the sheep could have flower names.
What about types of grasses?
Zoysia Grass
Bermuda Grass
Velvet Bentgrass
Blue Grass
Cheek Grass
Bamboo
Timothy
Rye Grass
Buffalo Grass
etc., etc., etc…
What about pasta names…fusilli, trotellini, trottole, zitoni, papparadele, castellane…to just name a few!
I love this idea, Diane! LOVE LOVE LOVE!
I really like the pasta idea too! It reminds me of the fuzzy, wuzzy wool and all the shapes it makes!
Ooh, how about constellations!
Sorry if you have already got a naming convention down, I am finding my way around your website and blog… Oh! Another is Gods and Goddesses! Zeus.. Aphrodite… ! That would be fun 
Lots of great ideas so far! I don’t think this has been mentioned, but something else suggested made me think of it – famous ships, and the explorers who sailed them. I can’t even think of the name of the guy who first sailed to the Vineyard or his ship, but I know you could find it.
Mountains ( Denali, Everest, Rainier, Ruby, Old Glory…)
Bike manufactures (Brodie, Echo, Hoffman, Gazelle, Cove…)
Names of fruit.
I haven’t read through all of the suggestions, but what about birds for the boys (Bluejay, Finch, Cardinal, etc) and flowers for the girls (Lily, Daisy, etc)
Either trees, or words of inspiration
Fragrance/perfume names–would be plenty of names for both males and females.
“Aramis”
“Brut”
“Chanel”
“Miss Dior”
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