When I started my Tribe group adventure in 2009 with Welsh rescue boar Llewelyn as the patriarch after his older lady Dizzy (formerly Daisy) became rather frail, I decided on a Welsh name theme. I never imagined I would have so many piggies pass through my life since then, but there we are...
I have kept the names of the 3 piggies that I adopted with a Welsh name but most of the others have been renamed unless they were born here. Incidentally, I never adopted a sow with a Welsh name. (Llewelyn, Dylan and Alan)
If they were properly pre-loved, were no longer young and used to their name, I would try my best to find a similar sounding Welsh name.
(Flower became Fflur 'Flowers'; Mrs Taggy became Tegyd; Freya became Ffraid; Mrs Tiggywinkle/Tiggy became Tegwen Draenog (beautiful and blessed Hedgehog)/Teggy in daily life); Sisu is now Sulwen (pronounced Silwen); Betty 1 was Bethan, Betty 2 is Beti, and Boots became Betsan; Mallow became Maelog). There are more...
For other adoptees coming from an unloved/neglect background or with a rescue name, I would usually give the rescue the choice from my short list of Welsh names. Some piggies I adopted nameless.
A very few piggies ended up with a nickname or different name because the original Welsh name choice didn't stick.
(Tegan 'Little Beauty') 1 became Telyn 'Harp' because of her very loud voice, literally ear-splitting wheek and because she just could not shut up. But when Tegan 2 came along as a huge surprise only three months after I lost Telyn to congenital heart failure at a young age, I named her in memory of Telyn.
Briallen 1 ('Primrose') turned into Ffowlyn 'fowl, chicken' when her bum hair grew out into a nice curved chicken tail as much as her somewhat quirky personality. I reused the original name some years later for Briallen 2, and this time it stuck; Bria was a lovely natured, gentle lady.
A few piggies have kept their non-Welsh names when they spent some time at my house before coming here for good, so I was used to calling them by their original name.
(7 years old Calli - anagram of lilac, her coat colour - and
@Claire W 's Esme. Merlin (baby name Boncath) kept his name when he returned because he was used to it by then.)
And then there is Bryn Oscar the Name Deaf who didn't care what he was called because he was too busy having the time of his life at age 5 to listen to any humans, usually telling him off...
ps: You can find the pictures and short life stories of all Tribe piggies in order of adoption in my Wiebke's Tribe Photo Gallery link in my signature:
Wiebke's Tribe Photo Gallery
pps: Had I kept the original names, I would have had a Daisy and a Peggy three times, a Betty twice plus a number of Roses/Rosa/Rosies and a boar called Randy (he who ended up with 13 Tribe wives at once; but under the name of Hywel, after the greatest of the Welsh kings)...
ppps: Macsen's original name was indeed Poo (or Pooh?). Being renamed after a Roman emperor is a step up in my opinion!
pppps: I stopped featuring my Rainbow Bridge piggies in my signature when the list much longer than that of my living piggies and too long for a signature.
later in life so I’d avoid the name Sneezy!)
but Erin is now living with her new mummy Wiebke who has kept her name x
