Choosing the Right Kennel Name

So you want a show dawg! You gotta have a good simple kennel name. Reading through all the kennel names listed in the Yorkshire Terrior Club of America handbook leaves one feeling that all the good names are already taken. Why do you need a kennel good kennel name? Because it’s branding, how you leave your marque on the breed. I guess that marque could be good or bad, depending on how well you do your homework, and whether you benefit the breed and make them better and healthier. I plan to leave a good marque.

Brainstorming, the good ole school teacher in me. I have pages of names, some better than others. I live in the town of Rifle, like the gun, not a good name. I live in Garfield County, like the cat . . . not a good name. I live on County Road 265, that doesn’t work. How about the last street I lived on? That would be Arabian, like the horse, that won’t work. My last name is Bartels, I don’t really like that. What about Bartelshire, sounds so similar to Yorkshire!! That’s doable, I’ll keep that one in my hat, unique and tied to our sur name. That’s respectable.

So I’m still looking — what about Magnum, Blue magnum, Bluewater, Bluestar, Bluesteel, Bluewind, BlueNGold, Westerly, Stormking, Storm’s End, JoMax, Wynsome, Wynsum, Wynn, JenCo, Wylde West, Top of the Rockies, the list goes on.

The next step is to run an internet search and see what is out there. Jomax is cleaning supply company, and a name of a street in Arizonia. Wynn is Steve Wynn in Las Vegas. Magnum of course is a gun. “Wynsum”, I really like Wynsum. Cool Beans. Referencing the handbook, to make sure it’s not already being used, oh boo! It’s taken with a legacy member since 1970 and another member has winsome.

Wyn=joy Sum=som  Winsome defined is a charming in child like or naïve way. Sweetly or innocently, charming; winning; engaging. Yes that is a grand definition for a Yorkie attitude. Winsomely means attractive- pleasing to the eye or mind especially through beauty or charm; “a remarkable attractive young man; an attractive personality.” How fitting!!

Historically Winsome, as described by freedictionary.com. The win in winsome comes from the Indo European root “wen”- meaning “to desire, strive for,” and has a number of descendents in the Germanic languages. One was the pre historic Germanic noun “Wini” meaning “friend” (literally, one who desires or loves someone else), which became wine in old English and is preserved in such names as Winifred, “friend of peace,” and Edwin” friend of family possessions.”

A different form of the root with a different suffix became old English wynn, “pleasure, joy” preserved from winsome.  Finally, the verb win itself is from this root; its meaning is an extension of the sense “to strive for” namely “to stribe for with success, be victorious.” Middle English=winsum-Old English Wynsum

Thus my choice of Wynsum could be Wynsumly or Wynsumor. I chose Wynsumly.