How Basil Got His Name

When naming our new pug we wanted to choose a name that was appropriately dignified, but that also had a playful quality to it, like the breed.

"My name is Basil, and I'm here to inform you
how to pronounce it correctly!" 

As MD insisted many years ago when I consulted her as to what to name our previous pug, a dog's name should have dignity to it, and also be a good calling name.  She didn't approve of silly names for one's dogs.  And I respect her for that, as she was the one who came up with the name Pompey, after all.

"It is not pronounced Bay-zil,
like the leafy herb used to make pesto."

We initially thought of naming our new pug Bamboo, but quickly dispensed with such a choice because it wasn't properly respectful.

"My name may be spelled the same way as the herb,
but it isn't pronounced the same way.  Much like
someone from Poland is "Polish," and not "polish."

And, besides, Boy couldn't bear the thought of being a middle-aged, gay New York decorator walking through the showrooms at the D&D building with a pug named Bamboo.  It was simply too much.

"My name isn't pronounced the same way as
Basel, Switzerland is pronounced, either."

So we cast around to see what other names we could come up with for our new little fellow.  After lots of backing and forthing I suggested that we name him Basil.

"Basil is not pronounced the same way as Basel,
which is correctly pronounced Bah-zl."
Image courtesy of Amy Park Design

Basil seemed an appropriately dignified name to me, and I liked it because it was rather Wodehouse-ian, in an Englishy, drawing room comedy-ish sort of way.  Much like our own names, Reggie Darling and Boy Fenwick are.

"It is not pronounced Bah-zeel, either,
as in Giambattista Basile, the Italian poet."
Image courtesy of Bridgman Art Library

Besides, I had rather fond associations for the name Basil, as I have always admired the actor Basil Rathbone, and I adored the character Basil Fawlty played by John Cleese in the hilarious English television comedy Fawlty Towers.

"It is pronounced Bazzle, the same way
that the actor Basil Rathbone
pronounced his first name."
Image courtesy of the Basil Rathbone Gallery

For those of you who may not be sure how to pronounce the name Basil, at least in the way it is/was pronounced for the Messers Rathbone and Fawlty, it is pronounced to rhyme with razzle, or dazzle.

"And the same way that Basil Fawlty, of Fawlty Towers,
pronounced his first name, too."
Image courtesy of Wikimedia

And it most decidedly is not pronounced the way the herb basil is, which rhymes with hazel.

"So, don't even think of calling me Bay-zil, okay?
It's pronounced Bazzle!" 

And, unlike Reggie's and Boy's names, which are silly made-up ones, Basil's name is actually his "real" name.  He really is named Basil.  So please, Dear Reader, do him the favor of pronouncing it correctly!

Photographs of Basil (the pug) and basil (the herb) by Boy Fenwick.  All others as noted.