I love Nacho's name. It comes from the category of names I consider cute. People in general have loved it and laughed when they heard it, but one or two folks have backed off from it, preferring more traditional names I suppose. But I, as a lover of names, find his name delightful and feel happy to have a dog with that name as I speak to dozens of audiences in the coming year, many of whom will include children who appreciate "cute."
How was he named? At Guiding Eyes, the litters are named by alphabet letter. The first litter of a calendar year is an A litter, the second a B litter, etc. The alphabet can recycle three or four times a year, depending on the breeding patterns. Nacho's N littermates include two who already graduated, two still in training, and three who found other careers. They all have unique names, though Nacho is my favorite. I like the litter letter idea as it is fun to look at graduating classes and guess about who is related to whom.
Other guide dog schools approach naming differently, including some that let their puppy raisers choose names. Many schools, including Guiding Eyes, also allow donors to choose a puppy name, a fun and clever fund-raising venture.
I am thinking of dog names a lot -- the dignified ones (Elias), the youthful ones (Pogo), the human ones (Steve), the familiar ones (Lacey), the place ones (Orlando) -- in an effort to STOP thinking about other names. Those I am avoiding right now are the human names on the class lists for this coming year, the students I would have in my classroom if I were not serving the state and this profession by traveling, speaking, writing and working to elevate the profile of education. I came within one mouse click of reading those class lists this morning. I was ready to see who my "almost students" are. I stopped myself, because as I mourn for what is not my reality this sabbatical year, I also need to delight in the many hundreds or even thousands of students and teachers whose names I will learn in the coming months. Not one of these will sit in my classroom. I will be more likely to be in theirs. Still, they are important and will be in my life for a reason, so I don't want to diminish them by longing for the names on my rosters at school this year.
My tagline on school e-mail one year was this: "The teacher reads the names on her class lists and wonders who will change her life and whose life she will change." I never contemplated ethnic background, economic status, or physical appearance when I devoured my class lists at the start of each semester. It was all intrigue. I will miss that this year. Still, Nacho will help me remember that names are gateways to who is behind the name; the name is not the individual. After all, if Nacho were what his name implied, he would be a fireball with a spicy and spunky spirit. Nacho just yawned when I typed that, literally just then! He is most definitely more than his delightful, cute, delicious name -- but I still adore it!
Click here to see the names in my graduating class.