Saturday, September 25, 2004

Pre-packing procrastination: What Would Phoebe Name a Dachshund, Should the Opportunity One Day Arise?

For a while now I've been dead set on getting a dachshund. I've narrowed it down to miniature longhaired, with either a speckled ("dapple") or chocolate-colored coat. One question remains: What to name him/her? The best I've come up with so far is "Gertrude Himmelfarb," after the godmother of neoconservatism, wife of Irving Kristol and mother of William. For some reason, her name seems like it would be appropriate for a dachshund, assuming, of course, the dachshund is female. I would call her "Gertie." The problem with this, though, is it's a bit, well, weird to name one's dachshund Gertrude Himmelfarb, and, should I ever meet Ms. Himmelfarb while walking Gertie, and should she ask for the name of my charming pet (no doubt, my dachshund will be charming), that would be just the kind of awkward situation I strive to avoid. Since it'll probably be at few years before the aforementioned dachshund is mine, there's still plenty of time to come up with a better, less politically charged, and less already-taken, name.

3 comments:

E.H. said...

I believe that Gertrude Himmelfarb was named for her grandmother's dachshund.

Phoebe Maltz Bovy said...

Just like William was named after the star of "When Harry Met Sally."

Phoebe Maltz Bovy said...

Gilda Radner's a wonderful name for a dachshund.