A rose by any other name...

Names are easier for me to remember than numbers. I think it comes from working in the medical field for so many years. Heaven help you if you ever referred to a patient by a room number rather than by their surname. So all the critters must have names.
I don't pick names out of a hat when a new lamb hits the ground. I watch the lamb for a few hours to see what name is most appropriate for the newest arrival. Some times, the name is obvious, like Red Ear for example. She is a white lamb with one red ear. Salt and Pepper were obvious; twin ewes with one being black and tan while the other is white with tan spots. Pirouette took a little longer to name. Her favorite pastime is spinning in circles like she's chasing her tail. Princess Speed Demon liked to race the length of the corral when she became steady on her feet.
Conventional names come to mind sometimes while I am watching the sheep. Ruth is one of our starter ewes who didn't have a name until she arrived at the ranch. Abraham was named for his birthdate, February 12th. Other names, like Rudy pictured, come from a physical characteristic. His nose turned red a few days after he was born.
Still others never reveal their names so we have a No Name and a Nameless.
The barn cats get named, too. Spike wasn't named for her punk rocker markings. She was named because she held her black tail erect whenever she was on the prowl as a kitten. It looked like she had a spike stuck on her hip bone. We had two others named Spitz and Growl because they could spit and growl like cats 4 times their size. And Gabby doesn't shut up.
The hard part about coming up with names for critters on a ranch is trying not to get rhyming names or names that sound similar to a name already being used. We train our critters to respond to their names. If the names sound alike, the critters get confused. We knew a couple who complained that half their team of horses for a six-up hitch wouldn't respond when called unless all three were called at the same time. The names rhymed. It may sound cute to our ears, but it's a confusing jumble of sounds to an animal.
Names determine how we react to individuals whether they are two-legged or four. You wouldn't react kindly to a name associated with a known villian-type like Snydly Whiplash, but you would react with favor to a name like Sweet Nell. Biblical names are especially good for a favorable response. Native American names are good, too, but I don't think Sitting Bull would be appropriate for a ram lamb. Sitting Ram? Nope. Doesn't sound quite right.