I don't name all of them, but I do have names for a few favorites and my biggest ones (they are around 28" or so).

Do tell, do tell (what are their names?)

Sweetpea is my biggest one. she is a pond-grade Budo Goromo with the cutest face you ever saw. She hand feeds too. Awesome is a doitsu sanke and is also very sweet and pretty. Mellow Yellow is a large yamabuki ogon who's name fits her perfectly. She is never in a rush, never gets anxious about feeding time....just cruises over at her leisure to get all the food she can hold. Mystic is a large female kohaku. Some of the others have names, but they aren't the pets that these 4 are.

See? Now you've given me something to do. lol I've got to go look up all of those kinds of fish, because I've never heard of them. :-)

This new pond ownership thing is SUCH an awesome learning experience. I'm so excited!

When I first got involved with koi someone started rattling off all these japanese names for them and my head was spinning!! But I know many of them now. Still a lot of japanese terms and names I don't know. Koi keeping is a never ending experience!!

Here is a link that might be useful: some japanese koi terms

Tisha, my 2 goldfish came pre-named. My boss's daughter had one she named Maggie, then a client thought maggie was lonely and brought us Nemo. Later I adopted them for the new pond. Thing is, I think the names got reversed at some point but they don't seem to mind. I'm planning to add a couple shubunkins and sarassas in the spring. Despite advice to the contrary, I intend to name them. Heck, I've named the one water strider that showed up - Jesus (spanish pronunciation).
Vanessa

Vanessa, sounds like we're a lot alike. I just can't have a pet and not give it a name. Even our beta at home is called "Fishie" even by my SO Keith. lol And my beta on my desk at work (I work in a library) is called Microfiche. lol

And I'm sure Señor Jesus is very happy to have a name too. :-)

oops....I forgot George!! He's little and REALLY pretty. My DH actually named him. We had one we called Chicken Little because he was small and stayed hidden ALL the time...but he has gone to a new home.

I've only named one. It's a little baby koi mutt that I call Nemo. He's a fighter.

One question though. Do you name your fish so that you can put the names on little tombstones after the heron or other predater gets them?

Happy ponding,
Scott

Ouch! Scott, don't spoil the fun!

Only a few of mine are named - Spot, Big Orange, and The Hussy. And the names fit.

I named mine too.. bones, lady, tigger, speedy, tiny, spook..
we had lucky (named because he kept getting in the skimmer and rescued alive) but the racoon ate him.. wasn't a good name for him...

I'm afraid Scott is right. It has been my experience that named fishies are the ones that get preyed upon or otherwise run into disaster.

I haven't named any in years but a friend's child named one and yep, DH found it stuck in the pump intake when the hose fell off.

Yep, I sure do. I have two adults - Ito - male comet and Molly - female black volunteer something that came as an egg on plants. They have now had offspring (one is black with orange "eyebrows" - good name might be Groucho) but I haven't named them.

I know. I've always heard that the fish you name is the fish that dies, but I can't help it. It's just how my mind works. :-)

Just don't say them out loud. ;)

I have named one Little Guy he was my first he/she is a comet. my kids named the rest Hims, Herms, Red, Freckles, and Jumper. thankfully we do not have a problem with anything eating our fish.

Some of mine have names. That way we know who we are talking about. They seem to be our favorites so I hope nothing happens to them but I know sometime or other everyone of us dies. I only have one Koi. Solid yellow and he (she?) is "Goldfinger" and his partner is "Pussy Galore" a very long fancy tailed Commet. Those two catch everyone's eye right off the bat. Others have special markings like a Sarassa colored like a killer whale only red instead of black and she is "Orka". another Sarassa is "Sarah" but she became a he when spawning season hit. We still call him "Sarah". One is like the canadian flag: red, white and red (only doesn't have the Maple Leaf in center) That one is "Canada". A beautiful shubunkin is equally splotched with red white and blue and is called "Patriot" another one is mostly blue and is just "Blu". Several platium Golds but I can't tell them apart so no names there. Same goes for the rest of the Common Golds. Some really pretty Shubunkin babies have special markings but no names yet. Is my all yellow Koi a special kind or do more than one type come yellow? Anyone know? I used to count them all but it's too hard to see them all at once. Now I just make sure the named ones are OK and hope for the best with the rest. I always like family groups so I like the way you've named yours Tisha. Enjoy! Kathy

I resist naming them for all of Scott's reasons but a description soon becomes a name. The very large sarrasa with the perfect red spot who looks like a dinner plate when viewed from the side gets called Moon. The orange butterfly comet is now Monarch and the stunted one I keep thinking must have died is Poor Baby. The biggest Koi whose black spots took over the orange background is Ogre. One of the newer Koi that looks like he has armor plate on and a forehead that looks like a helmet is The Klingon and the grey butterfly with the deep yellow head is Gibson Girl although I think she is a he. The totally white butterfly Sarrasa is The Ghost and one more has red around the lips that looks like lipstick is Glamor Girl. I keep saying I won't name them but... Sandy

Goldie, Joe, Blaze, and Big Girl. Comet, Dot and Angel were eaten by a heron. The rest are not named although I have an all white young one born in my pond I call Goldie's Baby since Goldie (who is 10 years old) is a male fish that was gold when we got him when my son was 7. He turned white at age 2. My son will be 18 in December and we cannot lose Goldie to the heron because he is a beloved pet.

LOL!!!! @ Jesus the water strider! THAT'S a good'un. :D

My (mosquito) fish are with the Mossie Squadron, and they have been assigned numbers rather than names. Number 2 seems to have an attitude problem....

Brenda

Oh thanks, Brenda. I was tickled by it. Almost as good as Microfiche!
Now I'm thinking of naming the minnows! Well, the 12 rosy reds are pretty hard to tell apart but there's one with the wild fathead coloration. I'm open to suggestions!

Oh, Tisha, look what you've gone and done...

Vanessa

I don't like naming them because it's almost like a curse. They grow and develop their personalities and final color and it seems like then when I name them they end up a floater in a week or two.... Names have been the kiss of death with the exception of a koi named by the fetching Mrs. Mikey. She named him Gary, don't ask me why, and that koi has managed to avoid the kiss of death by being named. He's been Gary for at least 4 or 5 years. None of our other fish have names.........and I think they want it that way for obvious reasons....

Yes, although I know we shouldn't, and the tame ones are the ones with names; they'll be the first picked off when a heron shows up. My youngest daughter, Grace, named most of them. Cherry (red and white Sarasa), Bunkie the shubunkin, Frank Schwartz (midnight shubunkin - named after the water plant man who gave him to her), Cloud (white koi), Shadow (black and white koi), Pumpkin (black and orange koi), and Jim (a rescue comet from our homebuilder Jim's filthy pond - Jim the fish has never had it so good). The rest of the fish, koi, are not beloved enough to have received a name. It may save their lives.

Well, I have 6 fish, 2 goldies, Carole (Burnette) and Lucy (Ball), 2 comets, Spot and Creamcicle (Orange on the head and tail, white in the middle) and 2 shubunkins, Shubby Checkers and Bunkin.
If the critters get them, I buy something similar. Saves on the brain cells!
Nancy

The fun part about having our family pond was naming the fish and the other critters in our pond. We have 3 koi, and 2 goldfish. The kids named them, Spike, Blue Regard, Lion (we thought was the ugliest fish that now is the prettiest), Theodore the second, and Sunny. I forgot what the kids named the new shubunkins. I also named two of our bull frog tadpoles, Puffy because he reminded me of baby puffer fish, and Fatty, because he is chubby too but smaller than puffy. I haven't named our two algae eaters as of yet. I find it easier to talk about them, when we can call them by name. They have all have their certain characters and personalities. One of our toads we named Melvin..a fat reddish colored one..lol. I would rather watch the drama of our own critters from our pond than the drama on the reality t.v. shows. At least the drama from the pond is "all" real...lol

Originally our seven goldfish were called "the wolf pack." Once we built a larger pond, a system of reference was deemed necessary and they acquired names.

Seamus looks Irish. The pretty white one with the long tail is Cinderella, and turned out to be a male, of course. Ruprecht, once a sickly pale orange, is now yellow. He was in fishy isolation for a period in his youth when he was ill. Castor and Pollux are both orange. Finally there is Mandingo, our biggest fish. We have only lost one fish to a predator. We posthumously named him "Chicken of the Sea."

When we moved the floating plants into the new, larger pond, we discovered the plant holding tank had been a nursery. Dozens of baby goldfish, the size of commas. Only one has a name: Khan Junior. It was born multicolored with black eyes, unlike all of the other little black commas. We still call the second generation "the commas."

We got a turtle from a friend of my daughter. She (he?) was pre-named Shelly. So we have left that one named.

Our largest Koi is simply The Big Koi. The smaller one is The other Koi.

We refer to the minnows as "turtle bait".

Yep, mine are all named. Some for coloring, some attitude. I must say, tho, that I about died at 'Microfiche' LOL!!!!

I do, some. Special ones. There's Longshot that 2 years ago got a bad fungus and after treating him and the gunk all falling off. It left half his flesh exposed on one side and looked like all his skin had been pulled off. Everything grew back and he is very pretty. Last year I thought he had swim bladder but guess it wasn't but he does swim funny sometimes. This year he got tail and finrot. Got him over that and his name is Longshot. Then there's Tebow the white with red spot Koi Mutt. Gary the dark grey Koi Mutt. Dottie the Oranda, BB for big belly, looks a lot like longshot and a few weeks ago looked like he or she was going to pop. Wahkeen is the first red and black Wakin I got. There's Little LuLu a baby fantail from last years spawn. There's Shuby and Bunkin the 2 Shubunkins. Woody the spotted Wakin with the red head. Ruby the mostly red with a little white Wakin and the other Wakin is Sarah, Looks like a Sarassa. Then there is the Comet with the verry long tail Fanny and Albie the white Comet and the rest are identified by their color or characteristics. Glenda

I'm a sales guy, and when I closed a really big deal, I would go buy a really nice koi. I would name them after the company that I sold/closed. It's like a beautiful swimming trophy in the pond (for me). The pond is full now, so I can't buy anymore. :(
If you're ever in the Bay Area (San Jose area), you've got to check this place out - they have unbelievable koi. My kids love going with me to check them out.
www.tsekoi.com