The Tale Of Names From The World Of Beatrix Potter

The Tale Of Peter Rabbit was published 124 years ago in October of 1902, so we're celebrating the names of Beatrix Potter's beloved characters to see how popular they are (with our customers at least!). Plus, find out how Stikins® name labels keep your kits' kit safe on all of their adventures!

Celebrating Names From The World Of Beatrix Potter

The Tale of Peter Rabbit began as a short illustrated tale that Beatrix Potter wrote in a letter to the son of her former governess Annie Moore in 1893. Five year old Noel Moore was recovering from scarlet fever so, to cheer him up, Beatrix Potter wrote a short story inspired by her own pet rabbit, Peter Piper. She continue to send letters with stories about other animals and in 1900 Annie suggested that Beatrix should turn her illustrated letters into children's books. 

Beatrix Potter revised The Tale of Peter Rabbit and sought a published for her book. Following several rejections, she had 250 copies printed privately in 1901 - demand was so high that she had a further 200 copies printed shortly after. In October 1902, the first full-colour commercial edition was published by Frederick Warne & Co with 50,000 copies being sold by December 1903.

Since then The Tale of Peter Rabbit has never gone out of print with over 150 million copies sold in 36 languages. Peter Rabbit appeared in a further 5 of the 23 "Tales" written by Beatrix Potter; collectively these six books have sold over 150 million copies. He is also both the first licensed character and the first patented stuffed toy, which went on sale in 1903 swiftly followed by a Peter Rabbit board game. Since then Peter Rabbit has featured on all kinds of merchandise and has appeared in books, tv shows, and films. 

While our customers haven’t used some of Beatrix’ more whimsical character names for their children (meaning, sadly, we haven’t printed any labels for a Flopsy, Mopsy, OR a Cottontail – or indeed anyone named Twinkleberry, Duchess, Simpkin, Hunca Munca, Moppet, Mittens, Kep, Pickles, or Babbity Bumble), we’ve seen plenty of orders for names that feature in the world of Beatrix Potter…

Names From The World Of Beatrix Potter

• Peter (Rabbit); the hero of Beatrix’ first tale, named after her childhood pet rabbit, Peter Piper.
• Benjamin (Bunny); Peter’s cousin was named for another of Beatrix’ pet rabbits.
• Josephine (Rabbit); the mother of Peter, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail who appears in three tales. She originally has her own shop selling mittens, herbs, tea and tobacco and later opens a floristry business with Peter.
• Tom (Thumb and Kitten); the name of one of the Two Bad Mice (named for one of two mice that Beatrix rescued from a trap in her cousin’s kitchen) and the kitten who featured in his own tale.
• Tiggy (-Winkle, Mrs); the hedgehog washerwoman inspired by Kitty Macdonald (a Scottish washerwoman employed by the Potters during their summer holidays at Dalguise House) and named for Beatrix’ pet hedgehog.
• Tabby (Kitten); who is questioned about missing handkerchiefs in The Tale of Miss Tiggy-Winkle.
• Sally (Henny-Penny); the hen who is also questioned about missing handkerchiefs and later takes over Ginger and Pickle's shop. 
• Jeremy (Fisher); the frog fisherman inspired by Beatrix’ childhood pet frogs and her father’s love of sport fishing.
• Isaac (Newton); a newt who is friends with Jeremy Fisher.
• Ptolemy (Tortoise); another friend of Jeremy Fisher. 
• Tabitha (Twitchit); a character who pops up in five of Beatrix’ tales and was inspired by a cat (called Tabitha Twitchit) that lived on Hill Top Farm (bought by Beatrix in 1905).
• Jemima (Puddleduck); based on a duck that lived at Hill Top Farm, this character was (most likely) named for Jemima Blackburn (an ornithological painter and illustrator whom Beatrix greatly admired).
• Drake (Puddleduck); Jemima's brother who appears in The Tale Of Tom Kitten
• Samuel (Whiskers); a rat named after a previous pet owned by Beatrix – a fancy rat called Sammy.
• Anna (Maria); Samuel Whisker’s wife who appears in The Tale Of Samuel Whiskers, which was inspired by an invasion of rats at Hill Top Farm.
• Ginger; a Tomcat who, along with terrier Pickles, attempts to run a shop in The Tale of Ginger and Pickles.
• John (Dormouse); The Tale Of Ginger and Pickles was dedicated to John Taylor (the owner of the shop that inspired the tale) and he was included in the tale as the character John Dormouse.
• Timmy (Tiptoes and Willie); the name of both Timmy Tiptoes (a squirrel who features in his own tale) and Timmy Willie (the country mouse who features in The Tale Of Johnny Town-Mouse).
• Tommy (Brock); the badger who is the arch enemy of the fox Mr Tod.
• Johnny (Town-Mouse); the friend of Timmy Willie (the country mouse) was inspired by Dr Parsons, a friend of Beatrix’ husband.
• Cecily (Parsley); a rabbit who was featured in the illustrations for Beatrix’ second collection of traditional nursery rhymes.
• Diggory (Delvet); a mole who features in a poem in Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes.
• Dorcas (Miss); a pig who is one of Little Pig Robinson's aunts.
• Kitty (-in-Boots); the central character of a tale that was written in 1914 but remained unpublished until the manuscript was discovered in an archive in 2015.

Name Labels For Every Tale & Adventure

Our name labels are perfect for labelling your children’s belongings safely and securely – even if they’re as adventurous as Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny! We use a unique adhesive that is designed to make sure that these name labels simply stick on and stay on – even after repeat trips through the washing machine. It forms super strong bonds with a range of materials and surface types, including soft and flexible wash-care labels, hard and curved water bottles, or flat surfaces such as books, lunch boxes, and digital devices.

It takes second to apply Stikins®. You simply peel each label carefully off the backing sheet and apply firmly onto an item. When labelling clothing or fabric items, we recommend applying your Stikins® onto the wash-care label. In shoes, we recommend applying your labels onto the side wall or beneath the tongue of each shoe. For all other items, simply apply firmly onto the surface of each item.

You can order Stikins® online at any time or by phone during office hours (9am-5pm, Mon-Fri). We offer packs of 30, 60, 90, or 120 labels and you can personalise your name labels with either one or two lines of text (max 18 characters per line).