Changing an adopted animal’s name seemed weird to me. Somehow it felt wrong. I figured, maybe some higher power had named the animal, and I shouldn’t mess with fate. I certainly didn’t have the right to mess with fate, did I?

My name led to this belief

My own name, Maribeth, greatly influenced my beliefs about not changing animals’ names.

Mom (my higher power for many years, hah!) named me Maribeth by merging her name (Mary Margaret) with her mother’s name (Elizabeth). She was adamant about this. Even though my name is listed as Mary Beth on the birth certificate, she changed the spelling to Maribeth on every other legal document, so people would stop calling me Mary.

In my heart, I considered that naming a gift, an anointing. I like it. It’s me.

But I chuckle when people assume I’m from the Southern U.S.  I’m from Buffalo, New York (just below Canada). Believe me, a girl from Buffalo doesn’t have a Southern accent. Can you say, “Nasal A’s”?

When it comes to choosing names, Tibor changed my mind

My dog Tibor came to us as a rescue from West Virginia with the name Thunder. He was a powerful guy, muscular, and wide-chested. You might find have found him intimidating because of his muscular build and dark brown/black coloring. But at heart, he was loving and generally pretty quiet.

A mild-mannered dog

How mild was he? When my daughter Andy’s cats (Mac and Bunnie) came to live with us, we caught Tibor following his doggie sister Stella as she raced up the stairs to chase and herd the cats. It was all in fun; the cats thought it was a race and they were winning.

But when everyone got to the top of the stairs and looked at each other, we’d hear Tibor whimpering— the cats made him nervous! Like, “Oh, crap, there are those cats again, what do I do?” We had to comfort him and remind him we were one family and he was safe. He’s good now.

Maybe Thunder didn’t fit him

Sadly, we discovered Tibor was afraid of thunder. He’d be shivering, shaking, running to the basement laundry room, where it’s small and dark and there are no windows. Or he’d jump on the bed, trying to bury himself in our armpits, which is not a good tactic for a 50-pound dog. (Got that problem? Try the Bladder Sweep Grounding Technique.)

Why name the guy after something that terrifies him?

Communicating with Thunder

When we communicated intuitively, Thunder shared that he detested his name.

Being a military family, my husband Charlie and I searched for a military hero we admired for a new name. We found Tibor Rubin a Medal of Honor awardee. Both Tibors had both survived terrible conditions and thrived in spite of them. And were really good-hearted souls. Thunder became Tibor! He likes his name.

What’s in a name?

Quantum physics teaches us everything is made up of energy. Those of us who are sensitive to vibrations notice that even names have energy.

You can feel the vibrations. Say Brick out loud. Now say Bunnie out loud. Do you feel or sense the different vibration or energy? Have fun with it, it’s not logical, but rather intuition or feeling.

I now understand why people change their names. They want a name that supports and enhances their soul’s essence and purpose.

And now I know sometimes we need to rename our animals. Tibor is proud of his namesake and Bunnie likes the idea of being softer and more loving.

Does your animal’s name support who they are – or who they want to be, their best self?

Learn to intuitively communicate with them through my course, The Journey Begins.

Check out my online course, The Journey Begins