Blake’s Blog

Well, this should be fun.

The Memphis Zoo is asking citizens to vote on a name for its new baby giraffe.

Three choices are available at the MemphisZoo.org Web site: Sesi, a Swahili word for sister; Zuri, Swahili for beautiful; and Shani, Swahili for marvelous.

Voting will continue through Nov. 6, with an announcement about the new name scheduled for two days later. (Barring a court-ordered recounting of the ballots, I suppose.)

Anyway, those all sound like fine names, but I was wondering why zoo officials didn’t toss in a couple of names that have a little more of a Memphis flavor.

Since giraffes are so tall, I thought maybe a name like Rudi, after Grizzlies player Rudy Gay, or Williametta, after Mayor Willie Herenton, might be appropriate. (It is a female giraffe we’re talking about here.)

As always, your suggestions here are always welcomed.