It's All in a Name - Pedro

Names are very important. They define who we are. Our name becomes our label, our headline, our identity. How many times have you heard, "I could never name my child so-and-so because I knew someone with that name and I didn't like him/her"? In my dawg house, my mom is the official name giver. She prefers human names but doesn't necessarily always stick to that rule. When it came time to name me, my mom wanted an authentic name that would pay tribute to the Mexican origin of my breed, Chihuahua. She once met a chihuahua named Peelow, but she didn't think that was dignified enough for me. She tossed around Paco and Pablo but finally settled on Pedro. A strong plus for the name Pedro was, of course, the character from Napolean Dynamite. That movie cracks my mom up every time she watches it. The clincher for the name, however, were all the fond memories my mom had of going camping for Spring vacation each year with her parents in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Along the way, for what seemed like hundreds of miles, they would pass signs for South of the Border. Any of you who live on the East Coast of the U.S. and have driven on I-95 South through North Carolina or North through Georgia and South Carolina are very familiar with these signs. By the time they'd pass the 20th sign, my mom would be begging her parents to stop at the tourist attraction (or tourist trap as her father would call it). The funny thing is, the signs were always more fun than the actual place. It seemed that every time they'd stop there half the stores would be closed and never once was the amusement park open. To this day, whenever my mom drives South she stops there and to this day she has never seen that amusement park open! None-the-less, South of the Border and Pedro's signs hold special memories for my mom and so the name Pedro became mine. I do have a BUNCH of nicknames (which are not at all dignified) including PeeDee, PeePee and Little Boy. What was the point of giving me a dignified name attached to such fond memories if they were only going to call me by such demonstrative and highly unflattering nicknames? I don't get humans... but I do love mine :P

UPDATE: My cousin, Coco the Princess, has suggested that I start a Tag for my friends to tell how they got their names. I think this is a great idea and so I officially tag Coco to tell her "It's All in a Name" story!