Do You Name Your Pens?

[Pens Woods]

No, I do not name my pens. However, I do number each inked pen (22 pens presently), and chart them so I know what kind of ink each pen is filled with.

Pete

[OcalaFlGuy]

I name my dogs because when they're wandering off I can can them back. Applying that strategy with a pen would be an exercise in futility.

 

James

 

Exactly!

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[Arkanabar]

I had the idea that I would, but I haven't. As a result, they have "names" like "Dad's '51'", M200, M400, lapis Ahab, jade Ahab, Konrad, 3.8mm Parallel, Hero 616-Red-1, Sheaffer 1mm Viewpoint, and PSSOS (Pseudo Sizzle Stix Oblique Stub, for an unnamed but extremely brightly colored German school pen).

[inkstainedruth]

I'll admit that I do name my pens (well, most of them, anyway). It started kind of as a joke -- I had two identical Preppy eyedroppers with black trim, and both were set up with rollerball heads and filled with black ink -- and giving them monikers helped me (to some extent) to keep track of which ink was in which pen. So those pens became "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" (eventually followed by "Thing 3") -- but I still can't keep track of which of those is which, because stickers don't work too well, and Sharpie marker wears off.

But that got me into the habit of naming pens where it seems appropriate. So the Plum 51 Demi is "Velma"; the Cedar Blue 51 Vac somehow got named "Douglas"; my blue Vector (the one I keep losing and re-finding) ended up as "Perdita"; the stainless steel Vector is "Ace"; and the bright blue one is "Skye". Sometimes the names get sort of boring: the grey Snorkel is a Valiant, so it became"Val" (after the Prince Valiant comic strip); the Noodler's Hudson Bay Fathom Konrad is "Hudson"; and the Craig BHR ringtop is "Craig".

They don't have "stories", though (other than how/when I acquired them). And while some pens get names that are obviously gender specific, they still get referred to as "it". And they only get named when an obvious/appropriate name comes to me.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Princeps Anglorum]

Nope. And concur with others that naming an inanimate object seems a little pointless. Whilst I am sure it's not a cause for concern here, I am also a little disquieted by that sort of thing in general. Always makes you wonder if folk think that items they have invested with a name also speak to them or what other things they might have chosen to give names as well......

[The Blue Knight]

No. I obviously use call what the manufactures named them just to distinguish between one object to another in the same way I might with a book or pair of shoes e.g. Balance, Aero, Frontier Sonnet etc. But that's not naming them.

[Ceelo]

Nope, as others have mentioned I just refer to them by the brand.

[Oldane]

I remember an interview with the Beatles when I was a teenager.

 

Interviewer:"What do you call your hair?"

George Harrison:"Arthur!"

[Bo Bo Olson]

Buy more pens ...now!

I don't even waste time trying to find a pen the same color as an ink I own.

[FountainPages]

My Lamy 2000 is named Amy...

[sombrueil]

I don't, but if my daughter wrote with fountain pens she would. She names things. It is a sign of affection and surely people feel affectionate toward some inanimate things? She has named her laptop, her hat, her bicycle, and more. I named my first good bicycle Heloise, she was a trusted servant for years.

 

Inanimate objects I feel affection for besides some of my pens include my Honda Fit, my battery lantern, and my english garden spade (forty years of use on that guy).

 

If I haven't named them it is more due my diminished supply of whimsy than any disinclination.

 

I don't think people name boats because they believe the boat will come when it hears its name called.

Edited February 9, 2015 by sombrueil

[fountainpenlady]

I only have one fountain pen right now, and I'm calling it Lamy. The next one will be called TWSBI.

[sheeptotherescue]

I'm glad it's not just me! It all started with my Pilot Metropolitan. I got the one with dots, so of course I named it Dot. I had one other pen at the time, a Pilot Penmanship, so I felt like I had to name it Penny. It's gone downhill from there..

[Jackson]

I don't, but if my daughter wrote with fountain pens she would. She names things. It is a sign of affection and surely people feel affectionate toward some inanimate things? She has named her laptop, her hat, her bicycle, and more. I named my first good bicycle Heloise, she was a trusted servant for years.

 

Inanimate objects I feel affection for besides some of my pens include my Honda Fit, my battery lantern, and my english garden spade (forty years of use on that guy).

 

If I haven't named them it is more due my diminished supply of whimsy than any disinclination.

 

I don't think people name boats because they believe the boat will come when it hears its name called.

--

I detect no whimsy-deficit here. Thanks for this exceptionally cool post.

[ethernautrix]

Too many pens. I think about naming the ones I use more often, as it might be faster or more interesting whenever I write the Pens-and-Inks list. Instead of "Nakaya Long Piccolo, Nakaya red Piccolo, Nakaya heki Piccolo," maybe I could refer to them as "Stan, Red Dog, Tree" (obviously haven't put much thought into actual names). But I always end up writing the brand and model and nib size.

 

I did name my cars: the '92 Chevy Terror, then (new car) Gypsy (took many road trips with Gypsy).

 

I named two of my bikes: Benny the foldy bike and Bike Destefano (in honor of the late comic Mike Destefano). I have a bike here in Poland, but I haven't named it.

[nigelg]

I call my pens names. All sorts of names. Especially when they blot........or leak........or run out of ink..........or fall down behind the sofa..

Oh yes, quite a lot of name calling. Enough to turn the air a delightful shade of BSBlue.

[inkstainedruth]

I call my pens names. All sorts of names. Especially when they blot........or leak........or run out of ink..........or fall down behind the sofa..

Oh yes, quite a lot of name calling. Enough to turn the air a delightful shade of BSBlue.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Manalto]

 

 

I don't think people name boats because they believe the boat will come when it hears its name called.

 

No, they name them so they can reference them at the marina. Boats can't hear, silly; they have water in their ears.

 

People name pens to be adorable. I'm too much of a curmudgeon to find that appealing in anyone over the age of ten.

 

James

Edited February 10, 2015 by Manalto

[sombrueil]

 

No, they name them so they can reference them at the marina. Boats can't hear, silly; they have water in their ears.

 

People name pens to be adorable. I'm too much of a curmudgeon to find that appealing in anyone over the age of ten.

 

James

 

If you don't name your pens, how do you know why other people do?

 

Speaking personally, I don't think I've ever done anything to be adorable in my life, and I can provide signed affidavits to that effect if you want to see them. I believe I could match you in curmudgenosity mudge for mudge. And yet, I have been known to name inanimate objects.

 

In fact, I think I'm going to march out and name a pen, right now. My Vacumatic Deb will henceforth be known as . . . PInky.

[SockAddict]

Don't be silly. Sewing machines get names. Pens don't.