"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
I just love those long fancy names on pedigree certificates. Here are some from Ari's: Spring Valley's Great Gatsby, Rachmaninoff, Time Loves a Hero, O My Darlin .....
The name debate went on for a while. We went to look at the puppies twice before bringing Ari home. There were 4 girls and 3 boys in the litter, all o so cute, but we liked the boy with the red collar (the "Red Boy") the most. When we came to pick him up, the puppies did not have their collars on - they grew out of them. The breeder asked me if I could still find him in a pile of very similar looking collar-less puppies. But of course...
We sifted through a long list of complicated African names which weren't exactly rolling off the tongue and sounded too foreign. His tall wrinkly forehead, smart eyes and "deep in thought" look made us think that there was respectable amount of brain power inside that head, so we thought that the name Ari (for Aristotle) would fit him just right.
Here are some meanings behind his name:
The Hottentot Dog or Ari Dog (as called by the tribe), is a known African ridgeback ancestor of the Rhodesian Ridgeback..(what do you know).....
Ari or Aris is a common shortened version of the Greek names Aristotle, which is a compound of the adjectival superlative áristos, "best".
In other words in Greek name Ari means The Best.
In Armenian Ari means "fearless" or "brave".
In Icelandic/Old Norse Ari means "Eagle" or "fast flying one".
And in Hebrew Ari means "lion".
So Ari simply means the best fearless fast flying lion / rhodesian ridgeback. :)
