CallMeGoldFur

"John Smith is too human sounding. I am a Chakat, therefore I need a new name, based on my appearance." In every Chakat story, the protagonist decides they do not want to retain their human name because they've turned into a Chakat. They look at their silky coat and call themselves "Silky Fur," or they look at their gray tail and call themselves "Gray Tail." This type of naming cliche would never work in reality. Since it's possible that a Chakat could be born with a coat almost identical to another, except for a small dot on its underside (after all - Chakat pelts are supposed to be diverse as snowflakes), it could also be possible that there could be as many "Goldfurs" in Chakona's phone books as Marias in Mexico. Yet they would forgo the rather unique names like Goldstein and Jefferson in favor of a generic moniker that anybody could have. "Call me Goldfur."

In "The Colony" by V. Ducain (www.furry.org.au/chakat/Stories/TheColony-index.html), everyone picked out Chakat names immediately after their transformation.

So maybe a male name isn't so good for a Chakat, but then again, the only reason to take a new name is if they assumed they couldn't get back to normal. Certainly SOMEONE has to be thinking, "Dammit, my name is John! I intend to become a human again and I don't want no crummy Indian name like falling rock or black stripe!" I also think nicknames would endure, regardless of transformation. If a guy's nickname was first step when he was human, he'd be stuck with it. You can't get rid of a bad nickname. People are cruel like that.Then there's the issue of military alliance. If transformed military personnel are certain that they will never turn human again, they could just say "well, since we're no longer human, there's no reason why we need to adhere to the old pecking order. You are all officially dismissed from the army." If this is not the case, if they fear that they'll lose their position once they turn human, then they should keep their old names so officials can identify them.

Later, the author writes this:

''Di Vargin frowned as she said, “You'd prefer a pet's name to your own? I think that's. .. ” I interrupted with, “I don't care what you or any one thinks about the name I choose to be known by....(bla bla bla)" '' Wait a minute. Let's go back to that last thought. "I think that's..."? I'm interested in hearing the rest of that. What is the reason for abandoning their human names again? We never find out.

Another example:

''As they headed for the fire shi introduced hirself. "I'm calling myself 'Pitty-Pat'," shi said, offering hir hand. He shook it automatically before giving hir a double-take as he realized what shi said. Shi made hir odd chuckle again and explained, "Well I'm not quite who I used to be, and I grew up with a calico that looked exactly like this. So I'm taking her name. How about you?"'He opened his mouth to answer automatically like he had all his life but stopped, suddenly realizing this was a chance to start over. Take a new name and just abandon all the problems he'd had with his life to date. Sure, a flight attendant had come around and taken his name but shi'd just been checking on who came from the plane, shi didn't know anything more. And he'd been traveling alone so nobody else knew even that much. This could be a clean break with the past. A completely new life! "Uh, give me a minute," he stammered, and brushed an errant lock of hair from his eyes.'Pitty-Pat gave him a puzzled look. "You don't remember?" shi asked.'"No. I mean yes, I remember," he tried to explain, "I just don't want to use that anymore. It's . . . uh . . ."''

-The Colony: Taurger's Bad Day

This is one possible explanation, but it doesn't explain its widespread use (an entire airplane of people who all want a `clean break from the past'? Yeah right!).

And following this, the Is Anyone Named Maria:

"Oblivious to hir gesture and proximity he considered possible names for himself as they approached the group around the fire. *I'm a tiger centaur. Centaur tiger. Tiger-taur . . "

'And then there's this:

"Goldeneye obviously took hir name from hir brilliant eye color, which Taurger found slightly uncomfortable pointed in his direction,"

And yet, we have stories saying stuff about missing earth and humanity:

''The mood in the cave was deteriorating rapidly as people added to the list of things they'd miss now that they weren't on Earth. *If they start weeping I'll never get some sleep,* Taurger thought, although in the back of his mind he knew that was just an excuse. Pat's hands were slowing and somehow he knew shi was starting to feel it too. And the list grew. ''-Taurger's Tale (www.furry.org.au/chakat/Stories/Taurger.htm)