Names

So, Ohio-mom was talking to us and checking us over today while we ate our piles of hay. And it hit me. She calls me Sadie most of the time. As it's my name. But Gypsy, she doesn't get called Gypsy very often. Usually it's Mare or Pony. Sometimes Gyps. A few times Boo or Bug...but rarely Gypsy.

It makes me wonder though. Does Gypsy mind? I don't think she does. Her and Ohio-mom have a great bond and Gypsy seems to be over-protective of her at times when I want some attention too. But why would she be named Gypsy, and then never be called that?

Ohio-mom once told me how I got my name. She said the night before she went up to see a little blonde haflinger, that *gasp* was NOT me, she had a dream she went to see a short red plump haffy with a blaze named Sadie. She already knew she was going up there to look at a younger, taller, lighter mare named C-Connie.
Once she was up at the farm, she decided to pass on C-Connie and the gentleman pulled me out and said he was looking to find me a home too. There I was. Short. Red. Plump. Blaze...but my name was Precious. However, she knew I was the pony that was in her dream, and the name Sadie suited me. So, she said she'd take me!
Going home, she had to stop by the Dairy Queen she worked at to return a cell phone she'd borrowed for the trip from her friend that she boarded with at the time. Her friend also said she had a dream that she got a little red mare named Sadie.
So, the name stuck. I was meant to be Sadie! Kinda weird, yes. But the name suits me much better than Precious (which, by the way, is just part of my registered name--Precious Silk MJE)

But it makes me wonder--how do people know they have the right name for their horse or pony? Do they just pick one and make it try to stick, which seems to be the case with Gypsy. Or do they wait and let the name that best suits come to the animal and go with that?