While there’s plenty of Luna and Baileys running around the dog park, it’s not often you hear a dog’s name that makes you do a double take. But that’s exactly what happened when one 26-year-old walks her golden retriever puppy in public after giving her an unusual moniker for a bit of fun.
Taking to Reddit, she said: “She’s my first dog as an adult, and I put so much thought into naming her, wanted something elegant, unique but not ridiculous, a little literary but still cute.” She explained how she named Ellowyn, saying how it reminds her of “forests, old poetry and a fairy-tale”. She added: “Not made up, not trendy-trendy, just… whimsical.”
However, she has received some unusual feedback after shouting her pooch’s name in the dog park – including people suggesting alternative names for the dog’s sake.
She said: “Here’s some of the feedback I’ve gotten from people I thought would be supportive. My roommate, ‘Oh. That’s… a name. Are you gonna call her Ellie or something normal?’
“A friend from college, ‘Is that, like, Elowen? But spelled wrong? Or… Tolkien?’ My brother sends me a meme about white girls naming their pets like Renaissance babies.
“My mum, ‘Are you sure that’s not going to confuse people at the vet?’ She’s a dog. Not enrolling in kindergarten!
“And for what it’s worth, Ellowyn responds to it already, and it suits her perfectly. She’s calm and a little goofy and loves pinecones.
“Anyway, lesson learned: maybe I won’t announce the name next time until it’s on the dog tag and too late to argue.”
Commenting on her post, one user said: “I think if it were a child it would be, but pets kind of have different rules. They don’t need to know how to spell their name and they won’t know if anyone makes fun of them. The only person who will have to correct people on spelling is you!
“I mean, my cat is called Inspector Clawseau. And the dog is Bruce Springersteen. And many pet rats with silly pun names. If it make you happy then who cares?”
Another user added: “It’s a dog. Name as you please, but from years of experience with dogs it’s not a name that rolls off the tongue when trying to train them or call their name from danger.
“That can be the official name but I suspect that Ellie will get a better response from the dog.”
A third user said: “My dog was named Elphaba three years ago, way before the movie came out and only theater nerds knew who she was.
“I caught so much crap from family and friends who were convinced the dog would never learn her name.
“She got the last laugh though. Elphie answers to Elphaba, and every nickname you could make from it, and the whole family still said it wrong until the movie was popular (insert eye roll here, you’re welcome).”
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