Namn på sällskapsdjur : nya mönster och strukturer

• Names of companion animals – new patterns and structuresIn this paper, contemporary given names in Sweden to dogs and cats, the two most well-known species of companion animals, are presented and examined. Some of their morphological and semantic features are discussed. The author shows that a majority of the animal names are loans from the anthroponomasticon, mostly first names and pet forms of first names. The correspondence between the popular names for female animals and the popular names given to baby girls is striking. In contrast, popular names for male animals are chosen from a larger and more varied pool, which includes names of well-known personalities, both real and fictitious. The stock of traditional animal names is also larger for male animals. A tendency to give out-dated boy names to dogs is discussed and the author presents, through statistics of new baby names, the tentative explanation that this is a way of making these names acceptable as names for little boys again. The contemporary habit of giving companion animals in Sweden hitherto unknown or rare personal names is also discussed, and it is argued that this usage functions as a trial balloon for these names so that they later can be given to babies.

Nyckelord

animal names; baby names; companion animals; cat names; dog names; new names

Scandinavian Languages

Nordiska språk

Other Names

Övriga namn

Personal Names

Personnamn

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)