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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colors, but fun names, like aubergine, chartruse, etc.
What about the states? Virginia, Dakota, Carolina . . .
Or lakes? Erie, superior, Nasser, Geneva . . .
Classical composers and popular musicians? There could be names that range from Chopin, Mozart and Vivaldi (maybe for the goats) to Dylan, Joplin, and Hendrix (maybe for the sheep).
Tree species, like ash, willow, oak, apple…
World cities, such as Washington, Geneva, Paris…
Gems and minerals? Not sure there would be enough boy names, but you could have pearl, onyx, ruby…
characters from shakespeare plays – some suggestions: osric, horatio, ophelia, gertrude (from hamlet); portia, nerissa, salarino, lorenzo (from merchant of venice).
there’s a list of all the characters by play at http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/characters.htm
How about artists/painters? Michelangelo, Lichtenstein, Monet, Manet, Picasso, etc…
fun!
Or flowers (sheep) and fruit (goats)….
Cleome, Quince, Iris, Pansy, Hosta, Elderberry, Blueberry, Thimbleberry (maybe leave out -berry and keep the prefixes),Mango, Persimmon, Rose, Daylily (shorten to Lily), Cherry, Clematis, Peony. How about ice-cream flavors! Now that would be fun……
NAMES FROM ANNIE!
Daddy Warbucks
Miss Hannigan
Mr. Bundles
Grace
Rooster
Lily St Regis (named after the hotel)
Annie
Punjab
Asp
Molly
Pepper
Tessie
Kate
Duffy
July
FDR
Eleanor Roosevelt
Bert Healy
Boylan Sisters (if you have twins or triplets
Drake
Mrs. Pugh
Mrs. Greer
Saunders
Frick
Frack
That’s all from IMDB though. If you have more, you could add in famous orphans.
How about celestial bodies, planets, stars, asteroids, etc.
How about wines? Or teas? (Apparently these are the beverages on my mind at 8:30am!)
i was going to suggest Crayola Crayons but someone already said colors. i will throw out my idea of “Red Sox” players from last year again. They could even be past players i.e Ted Williams, Jerry Rice, Yaz in addition to current favorites, commercial cereals? ie Cheerio, Fruit Loop, Kix, Chex, Frosted Flake, Mini Wheat?
Last names of famous old movie actors for goats, and current movie actors for sheep? Hepburn, Grant, Crawford, Colbert, Fontaine, Stewart, Hayworth, Davis, Bergman, Bogart, Bacall, DeHavilland, Flynn, Heston, etc?
Pitt, Jolie, Aniston, Diaz, Sandler, Bale, Blanchett, Carrey, Streep, Duvall, Hoffman, DeNiro, Witherspoon, Wilson, etc?
Wines for the sheep (Beaujolais, Shiraz, Cabernet…) and liqueurs for the goats (Cointreau, Chartreuse, Amaretto, Cassis…)
Hey Susan, I think you ought to name them after counties in Texas–Parker, Dallas, Collin, Harris . . . there are a gazillion of them. You’re from Texas–I can’t think of anything more appropriate. Whatever you decide on will be perfect, I’m sure–I just think Texas counties would be a super easy place to start.
Astronomical star names:
http://www.obliquity.com/skyeye/misc/name.html
mythological names:
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/myth.php
names from Tolkein (the back of the Silmarillion has a fantastic dictionary so you can make up your own)
I like all the ideas. I’d like to add types of cookies..snickerdoodle, sandie, oreo, etc.
gemstones
since, of course, they all are precious gems
I think it’s funny that rippedandfrogged suggests the goats should be Classical composers and the sheep should be rock stars. Our goats are WAYYYY more likely to wear denim and leather and go morally astray than the sheep are!
I’m saving all my naming convention ideas for when I have my own farm (someday…) and I have to tell you all, that this shareholders-name-the-sheep thing is actually amazing to me. Maybe I’m just a control freak or something, but I would have a hard time giving up picking the animal’s names!
Superheroes.
“Butterfly” in various languages for the goats. (ie.Mariposa, Papillon, Farfalla, Schmetterling)
“Cloud” in various languages for the sheep. (ie. Oblak, Pilvi, Moln).
Fictional Detectives for the goats (because if it is there to be found, a goat will find it) and Mystery Writers for the sheep (because theya re so learned and literary). I think there should be enough of each genger in each catagory for a very fruitful year! Has there been any news yet on the other name games (Boook and Chapel)?
What about fruits and vegetables? We once had a dog named Rhubarb,and it was a great name (and a great dog).
… elements from the Periodic Table … Stephen King characters … saints … royalty around the world or perhaps just in the British Isles … Oscar winners …
How about Scottish clans, such as Stewart, Shaw, Cameron, Fletcher, Fleming, Campbell, Trotter, MacDuff, Wallace…. It is a long list!
Good luck
Hmmm… the other suggestions have been so great so far (although I must admit I have not read every one.)
How about Rock band members,
Ringo, Paul, John, George, Mick, Eddie, Joan, you get the idea.
Also comedian names: Dangerfield, Seinfeld, Wilson, Foxx, etc..
K, haven’t read the other suggestions yet but:
Nuts
peanut philburt hazelnut pignoliacashew) etc
or knitting stiches:(bad one, lol)
or colors:
or trees: willow, oak, elm, maple, gardenia,
I definitely endorse elements, I’ve got a co worker with two cats named Thorium and Molybdenum.
I agree, how about the names of teas such as jasmine, darjeerling, etc.
Or after comedians: Jerry, Paula, etc.
Or after mountain ranges.
Wow! I love all these ideas… Maybe you can do something that plays off the idea that these animals are going to be raised in NY (I believe these are the first to be named since the move, right?) So you could do a NY theme like Broadway, Ellis (for Ellis Island), Liberty (Keeping with the Statue of Liberty), Albany, Apple (Big Apple), etc. And/or you could do counties/towns in New York.
Muppets/ Characters from Dr. Seuss/ Nursery rhyme characters
I like the Shakespeare characters idea. Plenty of names for both girls and boys. Split comedies and tragedies between the sheep and goats? I don’t know, just an idea!
characters from hindu mythology.
Ganesh for the headbutters
Lakshmi for the silkiest coat
Hanuman for the fightiest
and so on…
Also in the New York theme:
Seinfeld characters!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098904/fullcredits#cast
I think you should name them using shareholder names. Put every shareholder’s name in a hat (or two hats, one with girl names and one with boy names) and every time you have a birth, pick a name out of the hat. I can’t think of a better way to honor your shareholders.
Christie
All of these ideas are GREAT. I have one to add to the mix… in your blog you mentioned creating a victory garden and how much you enjoyed pouring over the names of the vegetable varieties… so, there’s the answer!!! e.g., Lemon Boy. Early Girl. Moneymaker. Black Krim. Costouto Fiorentino. German Queen. Martin’s Giant. I think it would be FUN. Good luck choosing among all of the aforementioned awesome options.
All these ideas are great. The nerdy part of me loves the names of elements. Before I read that suggestion, I was thinking of sub-atomic particles: charmed quark, lepton, Higgs Boson, muon and so forth.
Or old car models: Edsel, Corvair, Galaxy, Fairlane, Imperial, Impala – especially good for the goats who, as we’ve learned, have a tendency to travel when the option is available.
No new/better ideas but really like the idea of naming the babies after your shareholders, and also states (for lambs) and state capitals (for kids).
You could name them after delicious Tex-Mex dishes: Enchilada, Taco, Chalupa, Chimichanga, Migas, Quesadilla…. Oh, but wait, we wouldn’t want them to think they’re food… Maybe go for the vegetarian dishes?
Being a Scott I have to chime in for the Scottish Clan names!
Also suggest characters from Jane Austen’s books.
How about Joss Whedon characters – Buffy, Angel, Serenity, Dr. Horrible etc. The thought of a lamb named Spike makes me laugh!
I love the idea of fruits and vegetables, someone alredy beat me to it. Another thought is countries and cities.
I love the states, the NY theme and the Scottish clans. Also what about women writers?
I like the shareholder suggestion too. If I recall, it was suggested last year.
As a huge Joss Whedon fun, I’d have to second that. Go Buffy!
Other ideas:
How about names/types of bugs? Don’t know why but I think that would be really funny…
Knitting/Crochet/fiber related terms as names.
Names of rivers and lakes
Music instruments
Shoe names, ie: birks, dansko, doc marten etc.
I’d like to second trees.
Or succulents, if you want some really exotic stuff.
Kalanchoe
Aloe
Crassula
etc.
Gods and goddesses or maybe famous characters in mysteries such as Zeus, Aphrodite, etc.
Like Miss Marple, Lord Wimsey, Sam Spade. Sherlock, etc.
How about towns in Massachusetts, in honor of your Martha’s Vineyard beginning? And a lot of them are actually pretty good names:
Florence
Beverly
Ashby
Auburn
Avon
Becket
Chelsea
Chester
Concord and Lexington
Dover
Everett
Edgar(town)
Franklin
Lowell
Lynn
Lee
Leverett
Marion
Milton
Newton
Quincy
Revere
Shirley
Weston
(I guess Adams and Lincoln don’t work, because of the presidential overlap!)
or you could stick with towns on Cape Cod and the Islands.
I was thinking Shakespeare characters but like Writer Bug’s idea of NY places.
What about playwrights and musicals? Playwrights for the sheep (APHRA behn, WILLiam Shakespeare) and musical scorers?
Names of mushroom varieties? Here my little hedgehog, come to mama.
The sheep could have single-syllable bowling league names (bev, sam, al, dar) and the goats could have three-syllable names (julian, sebastian, catherine)
even thought I’m not a big fan(of the music), classical composers, sounds like so much fun. And being a biochemist, I wanted to throw micro-organisms, but realized; Anthrax, Coli, Bacillus, Coccus, are crappy names
How about names of cereals? Trix, Cheerio, Count Chocula!
Or pastries? Napoleon, Kringle, Croissant, etc.
Fairy Tale characters….There’s lots to choose from there. Or a Disney movie character names.
JF
Or try:
Hansel
Gretel
Little Bo
Peep
Wolf
The 7 Dwarfs
Santa’s Reindeer
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