Little Booty Ham Sandwich and more wacky pet names of 2017

From dignitary namesakes to oxymoronic monikers, the results of Nationwide's annual wackiest dog name contest are sure to impress. After the company selected its top 10 funniest names, they were put to public vote. This year, according to a recent release, Dunkin Butterbeans nosed out Farrah Pawcett for the title of wackiest dog name, while Little Booty Ham Sandwich purred past Obi Wan Catnobi in the cat category. Click through the pages below to see the winners and runners-up. If you want to skip straight to the cat category, click here.

All photos courtesy of Nationwide

Dunkin Butterbeans

There are three features to Dunkin's name that each represent something important to owner Nicole DePalma of Boston, Massachusetts. “I think pet names should not only reflect the personality of the pet, but also represent the owner as well,” DePalma says, according to Nationwide's website. “I put together elements from my own life and with the help of his veterinary office, I think we created the perfect name.”

From this, the website states, “Dunkin” represents the name of DePalma's favorite Boston-based doughnut shop. The second aspect comes from Dunkin's first trip to his veterinary office, where the staff remarked that he looked like a slab of butter sitting on the table. The final part comes from Boston's well-known nickname, Bean Town.

Farah Pawcett

Katherine Warren and her family from Houston, Texas, who won the wackiest pet name competition two years' prior with their dog Baron Von Furrypants, knew they needed an equally impressive moniker for their new female Labrador retriever puppy, the website states.

“We wanted her name to stand on its own next to Baron's famous name,” Warren says, according to the website. “Her beauty and yellow coat reminded us of another Texas blonde-Farrah Fawcett, so we put the two together and the name Farrah Pawcett was created.”

Fiona Penny Pickles

Jennifer Mickelson of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and her family were torn between three names before deciding to stitch them all together, bringing forth the moniker that won Fiona Penny Pickles third place. “All the names were good options,” Mickelson says. “We just thought outside the box and it stuck. We think it's a perfect name for her. People always give a chuckle when they hear it for the first time, but they always love it.”

The Other Dude

When Sara Kalista of Fairfield, Montana, lost her 3-year-old Boxer, The Dudeness, to an aggressive type of cancer, she was devastated. And when she brought a new Boxer puppy into the family, she wanted to honor The Dudeness by dedicating the puppy's name to his memory. Thus, The Other Dude abides.

“Losing The Dudeness was really hard on us,” Kalista says. “We considered the new puppy his brother and it felt like his name should reflect that. People always get a little chuckle out of his name, but when we explain the reason behind it, they really enjoy it.”

Yeti Spaghetti

Peter Scherer of Southbury, Connecticut, realized that the Great Pyrenees/Labrador retriever mix didn't respond to his given name after adopting him from a foster family. He was given the name Axel after he was found a few weeks before, alone and abandoned in a barn, but wouldn't acknowledge it when called.

“We came up with his first name after seeing him run around in the snow at our house,” says Scherer. “He looked like this big white furry animal running through the snow, almost like a big yeti. We started calling him that and he responded.”

When a plate of spaghetti was spilled on the floor and Yeti ate it in seconds, he earned the second tier of his name.

Monsieur Le Colonel Mustache

Generations of Cavalier King Charles spaniels have been raised by Alasdair and Harriet Seth of Dallas, Texas, over the years. To honor the breed's heritage and reflect their nobility, the Seths have always given their dogs European-themed monikers.

The two looked closely for clues when the puppy was born to help with the name. “We saw that he had a mustache right away and knew that it should be the basis of his name," Alasdair Seth says. “We built off that and the name Colonel Mustard from a well-known British board game. Monsieur Le Colonel Moustache just kind of evolved from there.”

Empress Tzu Tzu

According to Nationwide's website, after their beloved Shih Tzu passed, Taj LeRoy of Discovery Bay, California, and her family decided to bring a new puppy into the pack. Because they so loved the size and temperament of their last dog, they decided to look for another female Shih Tzu. Then all they needed was a name.

To match her heritage, LeRoy says she began researching historic Chinese empresses. “I came across the history of the feminist Dowager Empress of China, Tzu Hsi, and I thought it was a great fit,” LeRoy says, “but I wanted to change it just a bit, and that's when we came up with Empress Tzu Tzu.”

Cheesebro

Green Bay football plays a large role in the naming of Aurora, Colorado, resident Monte Wheeler's pet. And when he adopted a 1-year-old American bulldog from a local shelter, the name Cheesebro was already in his head, taking inspiration from the last name Chestbrow seen during the end-credits of a movie.

“I knew I had found my dog as soon as I saw her,” Wheeler says. “She's just a huge, goofy-looking dog with a big scar above her ear. She looked really happy and was super energetic. Even though she is a female, I knew she was a perfect Cheesebro.”  

Tango Mango

When Faith Michaels of Brookline, Massachusetts, watched her Jack Russel, Tally-Ho, give birth to a litter of puppies, one entrance became the inspiration for a unique moniker.

“Tally-Ho couldn't quite decide where to give birth so she started walking around,” Michaels says. “She took a few steps and one of the little puppies came out tiptoeing as his mother walked, almost as if he was doing the Tango dance. I decided to keep him and the name Tango Mango just came to me.”

Choo Choo Boo Boo

After seeing a mini schnauzer puppy in need of a home, Jerry Rodriguez of Rancho Cucamonga, California, decided to fulfill his lifelong dream of owning a schnauzer. When he brought the puppy home, his 3-year-old daughter seemed to already have a name picked out.

According to the website, the name stemmed from his brother-in-law's schnauzer, Chewy. “My daughter called Chewy by the nickname ‘Choo Choo,'” Rodriguez says. “When she first saw her new puppy, she must have realized that it was also a schnauzer and started calling her ‘Choo Choo Boo Boo.' We decided to go with it and made it her official name.”

Continue on to the see the winning cats!

All photos courtesy of Nationwide

Little Booty Ham Sandwich

Fate in the form of a stray kitten literally jumped into the laps of Yessenia and Sean Savage of San Lorenzo, California. After agreeing to keep the kitten who fell into their arms outside of their house, they brainstormed for a name, according to Nationwide's website.

“We were discussing names when the kitten walked away from us and I mentioned to Sean that she had a cute little booty,” Yessenia Savage says. “My husband was not in agreement with that as a name, so I suggested ‘Ham Sandwich.' My thought was you can never go wrong with a ham sandwich when you're hungry, so why not for a pet name?”

Once both names were on the table, the two names came together.

Obi Wan Catnobi

Ellen Stein of Chicago, Illinois, was living in Spain with her future husband when she found and adopted a stray kitty. As huge fans of the Star Wars films, Ellen and her husband tossed around movie-related names until one moniker stuck perfectly: Obi Wan Catnobi.

“I feel like your pet's name should represent something that you enjoy,” Stein says. “You're around your pets all the time and they're part of the family, so I feel like it's important that their name should make you smile.”

Winston Purrchill

After adopting a 6-month-old kitten from a rescue organization, Laura Denenholz of Pasadena, California, began a mission to find a punny moniker that would perfectly suit her new pet.

After finding a list of names with twists on historical figures, she decided to play with the name Winston Churchill. “I thought Winston suited him well,” says Denenholz, “but I wanted his name to be unique. The name just kind of came to me, and it fit perfectly. People love it and it's received quite a few laughs.”

The Great Catsby

A scrawny, hungry kitten followed Gerard Smith and Amber White of Raleigh, North Carolina, home as they walked their daughter home from school. After realizing they had no cat food, they fed the homeless cat a can of crab meat. This was the start of The Great Catsby's integration into the family.

“He was fun and loving inside the house, but wild and loved to hunt birds outside,” Smith says. “We also joked that he was fed the finest food, since his first meal was crab. He reminded us of the character Jay Gatsby, and from that we formulated The Great Catsby.”

Jabba the Butt

David and Heather August of Point Rocks, Maryland, attended multiple adoption events in search of the perfect cat, according to Nationwide's website. They both pictured having a heavier-set cat that could lounge around the house with them. And eventually they stumbled upon Jabba.

“We're both big Star Wars fans so we knew it was a sign,” David August says. “She was just kind of lying there, flicking her tail just like the scene from the movie. We decided to take her home and added ‘the Butt' to make her name fun.”

Isaac Mewton

When Margaret Maczulski of Libertyville, Illinois, adopted an 8-week-old kitten, she wanted something to reflect the cat's personality while still remaining unique. “He was a really smart kitten, so I wanted to give him a name that represented intelligence,” says Maczulski. “I started researching historical figures and I came across Isaac Newton. The name Isaac Mewton just kind of came to me and I went with it.”

Whiskerus Maximus

After a scarred but fearless stray followed Ali Blacker and Peter Gerena of Brooklyn, New York, home, the two decided to adopt him. The next step was to give him an applicable name. “We thought he looked like a gladiator with all his scars," Blacker says. “Then we remembered a scene from the movie Anchorman that had a cat dressed as a gladiator named Whiskerus Maximus and it just stuck.”

Ninja Killer Nine Thousand

Shawna Sherman of Hayward, California, knew that with her new cat had to come a unique name. “I always like to give my pets super cool names,” Sherman says. “People names can be kind of boring so I try to give my pets awesome names that a person would never be able to have.”

Fifty Shades of Graham

Arturo Davila of Glendale, California, began his search for the perfect name after rescuing a small kitten that was abandoned in a friend's yard. For inspiration, he looked at the Russian Blue's appearance, which had numerous tiers of gray fur.

“I was looking at all the different shades of gray in his coat and the name just kind of came to me,” Davila says. “He's also really rambunctious and bites a little too much when he's excited, so he has a similar personality to the main character from the series Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Dog the Cat

After 25 years of primarily owning dogs, Susan Walen of Atlanta, Georgia, decided to add a sphynx kitten to the family. And with owning a cat after nothing but dogs, there was some trouble adjusting to the differences in species.

“The first week that she lived with me I kept saying, ‘Here, puppy,'” Walen says. “After a while, I decided to base her name off of it and I came up with Dog the Cat. It really fits her, too, because she acts more like a dog than a cat.”