bella_rose's list "sweet names for pet rats" of 20 great name ideas: Cecil - Eulalia!

sweet names for pet rats

if you are looking for name inspiration for your new pet rats, look no further! this list includes many different styles of names, and at least 3 names per letter. while most of them are not well suited for a human, they are all amazing choices for your rats.

with most names, some nicknames or alternate versions are included.

Once a powerful Roman clan name, Cecil has lost much of its potency over the years, though it retains a strong presence in the sports and jazz worlds. Past bearers include film giant Cecil B. DeMille, poet Cecil Day Lewis, father of Daniel, and photographer Cecil Beaton. Fictional Cecils appear in Oscar Wilde's play, Lady Windemere's Fan, E. M. Foster's A Room With a View and the film Lee Daniel's The Butler.

Cecil

Perhaps the ultimate nicknamey name, Ziggy manages to sound cool, cutesy, spiky, and energetic all at once. It brings to mind the glam-rock of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the cool vibes of reggae musician Ziggy Marley, along with the contemporary-but-vintage appeal of Teddy, Mack, and Albie.
 
Currently in the UK Top 400, Ziggy has also been moving up the US charts. Given to around 30 babies a decade ago, in 2022, it was given to nearly 170 baby boys and 40 baby girls. Deriving as a nickname for Siegfried, Sigmund, or similar, as a stand alone, it could mean "victory" from the Old Saxon element sigi. 
 
While Ziggy works as a contemporary and zippy choice, if you love it but find it just a little too informal, it could work as a nickname for Zachary, Ezekiel, Zelig, Santiago, David (Ziggy Marley's official name) - or perhaps for any name containing a Z.

Ziggy

Just like Flora is for botanicals, Jewel is the generic gemstone name, not used much since the early twentieth century, when it was seen as a symbol of how precious a daughter could be. The French version, Bijou, feels more modern, as do Pearl and Ruby. 

Jewel

Cecily is as dainty as a lace handkerchief. Cecily has a wide assortment of namesakes. One Cecily was the mother of King Richard III, whose beauty gained her the title "the Rose of Raby," Cecily Parsley is a Beatrix Potter bunny, Cecily Cardew is a character in The Importance of Being Earnest, and the author of the Gossip Girl books is Cecily von Ziegesar.
 Sisters of Cecily that may also interest you: Cecilia, Cicely, and Celestia. Variant Cicely has a distinguished bearer in actress Cicely Tyson and was used by Sandra Bernhard for her now grown daughter..

Cecily

Nell, once a nickname for Helen, Ellen, or Eleanor, is a sweet old-fashioned charmer that is fashionably used today in its own right. While Nell is perfectly in tune with contemporary vintage name style, it hasn't taken off the way some of its sisters have and so maintains an air of distinction. Use Nell or Nellie as a short for any name from Eleanor to Penelope or just name her Nell.
 Nell was the pet name Franklin D. Roosevelt called his wife Eleanor (along with Babs), the famous Little Nell in Dickens' Old Curiosity Shop was Elinor, and the infamous mistress of Charles II, Nell Gwynne, was born Eleanor as well.
 Nell was the belle of the ball in the US back in the late 19th century but has been off the charts since 1956. Meanwhile across the pond in England and Wales, it a much more on-trend choice, currently in the Top 400, though it has seen a decline in use in recent years. 
 Sister name Nellie has been rising faster however, and entered the Top 100 in the UK for the first time in 2023; Nelly also ranks in the UK, just behind Nell. In the US, Nellie saw a big jump in a recent year and reached the Top 600, which might make Nell feel more popular than it is. 
 Jodie Foster played the title character of the 1994 movie Nell, and Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton named their daughter Nell, keeping the family tradition of names related to Helen.

Nell

Aside from President Wilson (born Thomas), most Woodrows, including Herman, Guthrie, and Harrelson, have chosen to be known as Woody, which says it all. 

Woodrow

Cosette is best known as the heroine of Les Miserables. In the Victor Hugo novel, Cosette was the nickname given to the girl named Euphrasie by her mother. Although Hugo invented the name, some etymologists believe it's a spin on Colette, originally a female short form of Nicolas.


 Despite the popularity of Les Mis the musical, the name was given to only 138 girls in 2015 -- though it's worth noting that this is almost double the number from just a few years ago. Cosette would make for a sweet and quirky French choice.

Cosette

Dorothea is a romantic Victorian-sounding name that blends elegance, gravitas and a hint of clunkiness too. Popular in the early decades of the twentieth century, it has been off the charts since 1970, however it's definitely on the brink of a revival! In fact, it has already been making its way back into the UK Top 1000, and a recent year saw it given to 90 girls in the US — three times the number it was given to a decade prior. 
 
A relative of Dorothy, Theodore, and Theodora, Dorothea is comprised of the same Greek elements, doron and theos, meaning "gift" and "god". It has has a long literary history, including as a clever and beautiful character in Don Quixote and the intelligent and generous heroine of George Eliot's Middlemarch.
 Worthy namesakes include Dorothea Dix, nineteenth century activist for the mentally ill and Civil War nurse, and the influential documentary photographer Dorothea Lange, known for her moving portraits taken during the Great Depression. It is also a saint name, borne by Dorothea of Alexandria, Dorothea of Caesarea (the patron saint of florists), and Dorothea of Montau (saint and visionary). 
 Appealing nickname possibilities include Dorrie, Dolly, Doro, Dodie, Dot, Dottie and Thea, while international variants include the Spanish Dorotea, the Czech and Polish Dorota, and the Hungarian Dorina.
 
In English, the name would likely be pronounced as dawr-uh-THEE-uh, while in German, it is said as do-ro-TEH-a

Dorothea

Milly and her more popular sister Millie are adorable Old Lady nickname-names springing back to life. Nearly 100 baby girls were named Milly, just Milly, last year, and Millie is in the US Top 500. Milly is the Molly of the new generation.

Milly

Cosy and warm but with plenty of substance and strength, Tess is a literary diminutive that works perfectly well as a stand-alone name. Stylish in the Netherlands, it currently sits outside the Top 1000 in the US, where Tessa and Teresa are currently preferred. 
 Perhaps the most iconic and memorable Tess is the heroine of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles, the moral center of the tragic novel. Typically derived from Theresa, the name is associated with harvest time, though it may also be used as a nickname sunny Welsh Tesni, aristocratic Contessa, and rare Otessa. 
 
The name ranked in the US and UK charts back in the 2000s and 2010s, but has since been displaced by longer form Tessa, but we could easily see it returning to the charts in coming years. Chosen by fashion writer Plum Sykes in 2010 and by actor Luke Macfarlane in 2023, other notable bearers include writer Tess Gerritsen and presenter Tess Daly. 
 
International alternatives include Swedish Tessan and Dutch Tessel.

Tess

Pippa, a peppy condensation of Philippa that turns it from serious to sprightly, has come into the public eye in a big way via the former Kate Middleton's sister. 
 
Pippa can and is given as a name in its own right, and may also be short for names other than Philippa: Penelope, for instance, or Patricia, or the more out-of-the-box Philippine.
 
Heard far more in the UK (where it's currently in the Top 200) than the US, Pippa has been used on its own since the nineteenth century, popularized by Robert Browning's dramatic poem, Pippa Passes. A recent book and film was titled The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.
 
Expectant parents should be warned, however, that the word pippa or pipa has an unsavory slang meaning in several European languages, including Italian, Swedish, Polish, and Greek.

Pippa

With its bubbly sounds and stylish feel, Pepper joins a small but distinctive group of names inspired by the spice rack: Saffron, Juniper, Cassia, Sage, Ginger, and Rosemary. Enough like Pippa, Piper and Penelope that it feels usable, Pepper has appeared every year in the US stats since the 60s.

As a word, pepper can refer to the seasoning made from the dried seeds of a black pepper plant or to the many varieties of the vegetable-that-is-technically-a-fruit. Though unrelated, they bear the same name, deriving from the Indian name for the black peppercorn plant piper nigrum. When peppers (of the fruity kind) were first brought into Europe by Christopher Columbus, they were grouped together under the term 'pepper' because that's what all spices with a hot and strong taste were called. 
 
Pepper Potts is a character from the Marvel Universe, while Pepper Ann Pearson is the title character of a 90s Disney series. Also used in novel Good Omens, in the title of The Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and for the soda drink, Dr. Pepper, Pepper has only ever featured once in the US Top 1000. 
 
Possibly inspired by the 1975 film The Great Waldo Pepper, more than 130 girls were given the name that same year — five times as many as the year before. It's popularity was short lived however, and it wasn't until the 2008 release of the first Iron Man movie that the name began to gain traction. Given to 128 girls in a recent year, it is familiar while not overly popular.
 
There is a chance that Pepper may rise up the charts, thanks to Juniper's popularity, though some parents may be held back by the sound alike name of Peppa Pig. If you do enjoy the name but are put off by the cartoon character, you could consider Pepper as a nickname for Penelope, Persephone, or Phillipa.


Parents are beginning to scan the whole spice shelf for inspiration, picking up on Saffron, Sage, and Cinnamon -- and opening up a chance for this spiciest possibility of all; used for peppy TV characters.

Pepper

Oslo, the capital city of Norway, makes for an intriguing new place name, especially with its bookended O's, as in Otto and leads to cool nickname Ozzie. One Berry has already used it and we predict others will follow; in fact, stats suggest it is used eight times more often than it was a decade ago.

Oslo

Abilene is a rarely used place name, mentioned as such in the New Testament, that combines the cowboy spunk of the Texas city with the midwestern morality of the Kansas town where Dwight D. Eisenhower spent his boyhood. Abilene is a much more untrodden path to the nickname Abbie/Abbie than the Top 10 Abigail.
 In 1857, Eliza Hersey named the frontier village of Abilene, Kansas after a vast plain described in Luke's gospel.
 Abilene is the title of a Sheryl Crow song, and the book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo features a sweet character named Abilene.

Abilene

An alternative to the no-longer-fresh Molly, the initial 'P' gives Polly a peppier sound, combining the cozy virtues of an old-timey name with the bounce of a barmaid. 
 Associated with Tom Sawyer's aunt, 'Polly, put the kettle on,' parrots, Polly Peachum, Nirvana and Kinks songs, and the movie Along Came Polly, as well as characters in Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes, C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia and now on the Netflix show Orange is the New Black, Polly never achieved the comeback that her cousin did, perhaps because she sounds too Pollyanna-ish. 
 
Although she has been off the Social Security list for decades, Polly sits in the middle of the Nameberry's own Top 1000. We'd love to see some new baby Pollys!

Polly

Lovely entry into the tree name genre, joining Juniper, Maple, and Willow. Nearly 200 babies were named Cypress in the US last year, about 40 percent of them female.

Cypress

If you love both <a href="https://nameberry.com/unique-names">unique baby names</a> and flower names for girls, Amaryllis might be a perfect choice for you. 

A showier flower name than Lily, but in the same botanical family, Amaryllis is not as outre as it might at first sound. It was used in Greek poetry as the appellation of pure pastoral beauties; Amaryllis is the heroine of Virgil's epic poem Ecologues, after whom the flower was named. 

Other references are characters in the George Bernard Shaw play Back to Methuselah and The Music Man. James Bond-creator Ian Fleming had a half sister named Amaryllis Marie-Louise Fleming, who was a noted British cellist.

Amaryllis

A quaint and quirky flower name, until recently considered a bit too prim for most American classrooms but brought back to life in recent years by the attractive character of Primrose "Prim" Everdeen in the Hunger Games series. In the Top 300 girl names in England and Wales and on Nameberry, Primrose remains rare in the US, but is made more accessible by a raft of sweet nickname options, including Rosie and Posy.

 The flower name Primrose derives from Latin prima rosa, meaning "first rose", since primrose flowers are among the first to appear in early spring, heralding the coming of better weather. Primrose also has an alternative history as a Scottish surname deriving from the place name Penrhos, from the Welsh words pren "tree" and rhos "moor." The spelling was later altered due to association with the flower.

 In the H. E. Bates book and 90's British TV series, The Darling Buds of May, there is a character named Primrose Violet Anemone Iris Magnolia Narcissa Larkin, who has twin sisters named Zinnia and Petunia.

Primrose

The name of a Christian saint and a city in Ohio, Xenia is one of the more accessible and intriguing x names. It is the name of one of the Bond Girls--played by Famke Janssen in the film "GoldenEye." 
 
Sometimes spelled Ksenia to reflect the traditional Greek pronunciation (kseh-NEE-uh), Xenia is also pronounced ZEEN-ee-ah or SHEN-yah.

Xenia

Eulalia is a melodious name with a southern drawl, thanks to those lilting double Ls and similarity to similar Eudora and Eula. Familiar in the US in the early 20th century, it was also a popular choice in Brazil and Spain until the 60s when it fell out of style.
 
Derived from Greek, the name was borne by a 4th century teenage martyr, who is now the patron saint of Barcelona where there is a cathedral in her name. One legend associated with Eulalia is that a dove flew out of her neck when she was killed, thus the association with both sweet speech and peace.
 Eulalia is a character in William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom while the French form Eulalie appears in the title of a poem by Edgar Alan Poe. 
 
Pronounced as yoo-LAY-lee-uh or yoo-LAH-lee-uh in English, nicknames include Eula and Lalia, though Layla, Lia, Lallie and Lala might work too. In Spanish and Italian, it is said as ehw-la-lee-a (or eh-(wuh)-la-lee-uh, the 'wuh' sound being subtle), while international forms include the aforementioned French Eulalie (UU-LA-EE) and the Spanish Olalla and Olalya (o-LA-ya).
 
A recent year saw Eulalia given to around 60 babies in the US, revealing a slight increase in interest in the name, which may well appeal to those who also enjoy stylish choices like Delilah, Tallulah, Luella, and Dahlia, or those who like ancient names like Cressida, Dorothea, and Cassandra.