We’ve been asked quite often why we picked the name “Fairly Beloved� It’s an understandable question: we’ve not opted for a name obviously associated with our location or rabbits, as so many other rabbit welfare organisations have done.
The origin actually stems from an idea we had for another venture, which has since been placed on hold. We have so many ideas of things we’d like to start up, but we felt the name was equally valid for most of these so it may well be that this is just one of the “Fairly Beloved†brand.
“We†that you often see referred to on our site and blog consist of David & Feona, with the occasional support of other family and friends. And it is here that we find the origin of the organisation’s name: Feona means “Fair†and David means “Belovedâ€. There are various other factors involved, such as our goals, aims, ethos all being tied into the name in various different guises.
The selection of an appropriate name is equally as important for your pet rabbit. We’ve come across a fair few examples of rabbit names where it seems obvious that they didn’t spend a lot of time picking a name: the most troubling one for me was trying to help to rehome a rabbit called “Satanâ€. This is why you’ll find our rehoming policy gives us the right to rename a rabbit if we feel it is necessary to do so to aid a successful rehoming!
Your rabbit is going to be with you for some time, potentially over 10 years, and it’s important you pick a name you’re going to be comfortable with in the long-term. If you are truly going to get the most out of your rabbit, you’re going to want a name that “fits†within your family. A name you’ll not cringe at when the vet nurse calls you at your next appointment. It needs some careful thought.
Don’t be scared to invest in a good baby names book and give it some careful thought.
For our own pets, we’ve also picked a theme. We’re big musical theatre fans, and our rabbit’s names reflect this. Again, we’ve not felt it necessary to opt for obvious names here, but one’s we’re comfortable with: Starlight, from Starlight Express; Phantom, from Phantom of the Opera; Marius, from Les Miserables.
A few years ago all the rabbits I had were named after drinks. I thought the names were great, but it wasn’t quite such a fun idea when my daughter came along and I realised she’d need to learn the names of the rabbits. I had visions of her a few years later telling her school teacher about her weekend “And daddy was out in the garden all weekend playing with Bailey, Asti, Moet, Corona, JD, Midori, Soda, and Smirnoffâ€.