(Originally written for and posted at the Tortoise Forum.Org.)
Sometimes we need a little help finding the RIGHT name for a baby or pet. There are even books of baby, cat and dog names- but that does not always help when it comes to more unusual animals.
So, here is a list of possible names from several sources to get you started- enjoy!
Names from culture and fiction
- Kurma or Kurmaraja, the second incarnation of Vishnu, the Hindu god (thanks to Art de Lamerens)
- Ao, Kurma or Kurmaraja, Akupara, Chukwa are all names of various cultures ‘world turtles‘, the turtles that hold the world on its or their backs. (thanks to Art de Lamerens)
- Maturin (Stephen King, Dark Tower series and It)
(thanks to Art de Lamerens)
- Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
- Oogway (Kung-Fu Panda)
- A’Tuin, the ‘world turtle’ that holds Discworld on its back (Discworld series, Terry Pratchett)
- Om (Tortoise hero of the Discworld book ‘Small Gods‘, Terry Pratchett)
- Moby and Dick (Rocky)
- Aford (webcomic of the same name)
- Cecil (the turtle who always raced Bugs Bunny)
- Touche’ Turtle (70′s cartoon series)
- Tooter Turtle (another old cartoon series)
- Yertle and Mack (Dr. Seuss)
- Churchy LaFemme (Pogo comic strip)
- Verne (Over The Hedge comic strip)
- Franklin (from his own children’s books)
- Koopa and Bowser (Mario Brothers games)
- Crush and Squirt (Finding Nemo)
- Gamara or Gamera (Godzilla)
- Squirtle and Blastoise (Pokemon)
- Tortura (Pokemon, the World Turtle in that universe) (thanks to Art de Lamerens)
- Mr. Turtle (from old Tootsie Pop commercials (oldsters here just chuckled))
- Flo and Eddie (from the band The Turtles)
- Mr. Sydney Turtle (My Name is Earl)
- Morla, the Aged One, aka The Tortoise Shell Mountain (The Neverending Story)
- Esio Trot, the title character of the same-named book by Roald Dahl (‘tortoise’ backwards if you missed it.)
- Skipperdee (Eloise, by Kay Thompson)
Names from real and historic tortoises
- Achilles, the tortoise kept by Gerald Durrell, in the book My Family and Other Animals
- Lonesome George, the Galapagos tortoise, last of his kind, that sadly passed away 6/24/2012
- Tom, Dick, and Harry, the first Galapagos tortoises Charles Darwin collected
- Tu’i Malila, Adwaitya, Jonathon, or Harriet – very old tortoises from around the world
- Timothy (“Timothy, or Notes of an Abject Reptile” by Verlyn Klinkenborg)
Typical, funny and ironic names
- Tank, Dozer, Bulldozer, Tonka, Truck, Mack…
- Shelly, Sheldon, Shelby… (ie Dr. Sheldon Cooper, or his ‘gamer name’- Sheldor, from Big Bang Theory, Mary Shelly the author of Frankenstein, etc.)
- Zippy, Turbo, Speedy, Indy, Nitro, Scooter, Speedo…
- Spot, Rover, Fido… and other common dog and cat names
- Tortellini, the type of pasta
Sources for more names
- Movies or books, like…
- Lord of the Rings (Frodo, Elrond, Shadowfax…),
- Star Wars (Solo, Leia, Darth…),
- Land Before Time (Littlefoot, Cera…),
- Any Disney or Pixar movie (Wall-E, Buzz, Woody…),
- Watership Down (Blackberry, Fiver, Hazel, Bigwig…),
- Sesame Street (Scooter, Bert, Oscar, Elmo…)
- Gremlins, Star Trek, Bugs Bunny…
- Based on their common or scientific names…
- ‘Cherry-headed’ red-footeds might be named for cherry varieties- Chelan, Atticus, Balthon, or Black Tartarian.
- Homes hingeback might go with ‘Sherlock‘ (Holmes) or ‘Watson‘, maybe even ‘House MD‘;
- A Hermanns might go with ‘Fred Gwynne‘ (who played Herman Munster)
- Keanu Reeves for a Reeves turtle
- Woodrow Wilson or Woody for a wood turtle.
- Stretch or Mr. Fantastic (Stretchy guy from Fantastic Four comics) for an elongated tortoise.
- Other ideas…
- Based on geographic location or place names, i.e. Red-footed from Venezuela area might go with something like Coro, Orinoco, Tovar, or Maturin.
- Gods or beings from many traditions (Thor, Coyote, Behemoth, Zuni…)
- Someone famous from the region, or in science, or reptile studies, like Linnaeus, Darwin, Steve Irwin…
- Shell patterns or colors – Spot, Stripe, Pinky. You can often see vague shapes or letters in the shell as well that can inspire a name. One of my red-footed tortoises had a clear ‘M’ on his last central scute, so we called him Milo, a Lord of the Rings minor character.