Years before Nathan Pajor had a dog, he already had a name picked out. So when the 32-year-old Lincoln Park resident and his wife Holly brought home a puppy last summer, the Vizsla was christened Pippen immediately.
“He’s a good No. 2 guy, a good go-to,” Pajor, a longtime Bulls fan, said of the now nearly 1-year-old dog named for Scottie Pippin. “I think we chose it because it shows loyalty and pride regardless of where we live, we’ll always have the Chicago [connection.] It’s a good sign of support.”
Why not name him after one of the team’s bigger stars?
“We’re saving Jordan Rose for a daughter,” Pajor said.
Pajor might be waiting to use His Airness as a namesake but according to the city clerk’s office, throughout Chicago many aren’t. There are currently 31 registered dogs named Jordan and at least eight M.J.s. One hundred and forty-four are named Wrigley. One hundred and seventy-one are named Bear. In a sports-centric city like ours, it’s no wonder so many look to their favorite teams and players for pet-naming inspiration.
It happens all the time at PAWS Chicago. With new dogs and cats arriving at the Lincoln Park shelter all the time, adoption center director Diane Wilkerson says staff often picks Cubs-, Sox-, Hawks- or Bulls-related names for the animals to help them stand out. The facility gave its newest arrivals football-themed names in honor of the NFL Draft being in town this weekend, and on Wednesday, Paws teamed up with Animal Planet and the NFL Players Association for a draft-like adoption event where current and former players including Anthony “Spice” Adams and Alex Brown helped potential adopters decide between first round picks like husky mix Walter Playton or part-Boxer puppy Lick Butkus.
More Top Picks Best Diecast Model Cars
Brandie Gonzales of dog-sitting site Rover.com says while generic names like Fido were once the norm, these types of hometown tributes are becoming more and more common.
“It’s really no surprise that we are seeing a trend of people choosing a name that’s a little bit more meaningful, that represents something that they’re really passionate about, something that is a part of them and, as we all know, people are very passionate about sports,” Gonzalez said. According to surveys conducted by her site, sports-inspired names are the seventh most popular category for dogs in the Chicago area.
“We see that in Chicago but also when people leave. One of my best friends here in Seattle [moved from Chicago], and their dog’s name is Cubby and their son was just born and his middle name is Wrigley,” she said. “So just like with kids where parents spend a lot of time and give a lot of thought to doing something that’s meaningful, that represents them, we’re seeing that start to shift over to dogs.”
The approach, not surprisingly, seems to spike when a particular team or player is making headlines. Jeter, for example, was one of the most popular sports-related pet names nationwide last year, Gonzalez said, following the New York Yankee’s retirement. In recent years here, Paws adoption director Wilkerson says Blackhawks and Bulls names have been especially big. During the Hawks’ last few playoff runs, the Trio Animal Foundation, formerly Project Rescue, named their incoming animals after every member of the roster.
Hawks fan and Oak Lawn resident Mikal Elyse Farrell says her one-year-old cat Kaner, named for her favorite player Patrick Kane, fits her moniker.
“She’s a little bit smaller than most normal cats and Kane’s a little smaller than your typical hockey player,” Farrell, 27, said. “And she’s a little wild.”
At PAWS, Wilkerson says sharing a name with a beloved Chicago athlete can even help an animal get a home.
“Adopters come in and they kind of connect with that,” Wilkerson said. “They come in and see Toews there and they go ‘That’s my favorite player! I want that kitten!’ ”
By the numbers
So, which Chicago team really has the most four-legged friends? RedEye scoured the city clerk’s office records of all dogs currently licensed in the city to find out. And this doesn’t even include all the cats. Or parakeets, for that matter. —GP
Baseball
Wrigley 144
Comiskey 2
Sorry, South Siders—”U.S. Cellular the dog” doesn’t exactly say “man’s best friend”
Ernie 35
Banks 7
Cubby/Cubbie/Cuby 46
CubbyBear 3
Sox/WhiteSox/Soxx 18
Buehrle 7
As in White Sox’s 2009 perfect game pitcher Mark
Maddux 9
As in Hall of Famer and former Cub Greg
Ivy 35
As in, the ivy at Wrigley? Duh.
Bulls
Jordan 31
M.J. 8
Pippen 3
Benny 64
Bull/Bully 6
Joakim 1
Rose 12
Jabari 1
The former Duke star’s a Chicago native, after all…
Sky 24
Blackhawks
Kane or Kaner 15
Shaw 2
Taser/Tazer 3
Toews/Toewser 3
Hawk or Blackhawk 2
Bears
Bear 171
Payton 44
Sweetness 5
As in Walter Payton’s nickname
More Top Picks Ecovacs Deebot X9 Pro Omni
Ditka 4
Butkus 11
Da Bear 1
Urlacher 2
Cutler 0
Nobody’s surprised
Source: City clerk’s office