Tastemaker

From the article on MSNBC:

A dolphin chooses its own name as an infant and uses it throughout its life.

"It seems like the animals hear what's around them, and then they make up their own whistle," Janik said. "They either develop something original ... or they base it on parts of the whistles around them."

Regardless of the method, the young dolphins want to make their call stand apart from the calls of their closest relatives. Communicating by sight is difficult underwater, so dolphins use these calls to let other dolphins know they're nearby. A dolphin will also call out its name if it's lost and distressed, hoping relatives will come to its aid.

Dolphins are some of the most talkative animals around, even though we don't know what they're saying.

"Their repertoire of calls probably numbers in the hundreds," Janik said. "Some of them are food calls, but for most of them we have no ideas what they're for."

Dolphins are probably conversing about stuff that's way over our heads. I mean, if they're wise enough as infants to name themselves, i can't even imagine the depth of their philosophical musings. I wonder if they're a little frustrated with us... hopefully, some compassionate dolphin will dumb-down their language and give us a clue.