The Name

So, we needed a name.  And I wanted to have one before we picked her up.  I looked up names meaning "black" or "dark", and decided I liked "Kalli" because it's a reference to a pre-Hindu goddess that is an asskicker and mother goddess who happens to be black.  She stands with her foot on her husband, Shiva, who is the freakin' Lord of Destruction!  Yeah, my kind of woman!  When I mentioned this one to Heather, she claimed to have had a dream in which this name choice was confirmed.  Odd.  Very odd.

Then, take a closer look at her, especially her cute little face.  Dog?  No...BEAR!!!   Just look at that mug.  Plus, she's fierce like a bear.  Well, that's not exactly true.  But she certainly does look like one.  Then, it turns out, she demonstrated one day that she has a very bear-like characteristic:  she LOVES honey.  We left some on the coffee table once and she dragged it away, licked the container clean, and then played with the container like it was her new, most favorite toy.  Heather says that means her name should be Kalli "Honey Bear".  No way.  Bear, yes.  Cheeseball, sissy name, no.  Off to the internet for some research.  Yes...the internet can solve all your nomenclature problems...

The name Ursidae is simply the the family name for bears.  The taxonomic name for black bear, for example, is Ursus Americanus.  And she looks just like one, especially in the face.  No big surprise, seeing how bears evolved from a "dog-like" ancestor, and they are therefore most closely related to dogs (canidae).  Below is the whole taxonomy for bears, and their tree and a nice explanation can be found here.

Kingdom    —    Animalia
Phylum     —     Chordata

Class         —     Mammalia

Order         —     Carnivora

Family      —      Ursidae

Genus       —     Ursus

"Ursidae"...yes.  "Honey Bear"...NO!!!  "Ursidae" is nutty, quasi-pseudo-scientific, and it sort-of rolls off my tongue like something Mary Poppins would say.  "Kalli-ursidae-expiallidocious"...or something. 

So, her full name is "Kalli Ursidae..." [...surname Stansberry or Peppard, still under debate, don't ask].