Whether you’re picking up your new puppy and wondering what to name her, or adopting an older dog and looking to rename him, choosing a name for your dog is an important decision. From popular names to unique outdoorsy dog names, Orvis shoppers love personalizing the dog products they order from us with those names. So we thought we could get a glimpse of the most popular dog names of the past few years by looking at the data from those personalized dog product orders, and give you some good dog name ideas in the process.
What did our dive into our dog name data reveal? It turns out that more than half of all pet names are either human names or human nicknames, with people routinely calling their beloved pet something they’d name themselves. And about a fifth of the pet names in our data describe some sort of physical trait of the animal: Blackie or Mittens, for example.
Where are the top 10 male and female dog names from the data:
Our Ten Most Popular Girl Dog Names
- Lucy
- Molly
- Bella
- Sadie
- Maggie
- Abby/Abbey/Abbie
- Daisy
- Sophie
- Stella
- Gracie
Our Ten Most Popular Boy Dog Names
- Cooper
- Charlie
- Bailey
- Max
- Tucker
- Buddy
- Scout
- Murphy
- Riley
- Jack
Unique Dog Names
Want to buck the trends? Many people like to give their dog a unique name. Digging into the data, we also discovered a number of those truly unique dog names of which there were only one or a few instances. Here are 26 of our favorites (one for each letter of the alphabet):
- Abney
- Boots
- Chai
- Deke
- Ellis
- Frisbee
- Geyser
- Hubie
- Ida
- Jellie
- Kelvin
- Lobo
- Myra
- Nutmeg
- Oyster
- Pebble
- Quito
- Riff
- Silver
- Tig
- Utah
- Vlad
- Wade
- Xander
- Yuma
- Zowie
While collecting one name for each letter, it became apparent that if you want to give your dog a unique name, choosing a name that begins with a lesser-used letter like Q, X or Z is a good start.
With thousands of names to choose from, how do you choose a good dog name? Here are a few useful dog naming tips to get you started:
- Animals respond best to names with one or two syllables, so a good dog name is one that’s short and sweet.
- Resist names that seem humorous at home but will embarrass you in public.
- Choose a name that does not mimic the sound of a standard dog command, for example, No! or Stay!
- Avoid a long name that does not shorten easily to a nickname.
- Take some time to observe your dog and think about what most fits his personality before you choose a name.
How did you name your dog? Did you give him a human name, or something whimsical? Is his name significant or meaningful to you? Or do you simply call him something that fits his personality? We’d love to hear your dog naming story in the comments below.
We are now parents of awesome dog #6 – Carli. Named after my husband’s favorite player in the 2015 Soccer
Women’s World Cup, Carli Lloyd. We’ve named our previous girls after dinner (Taco), size-small pup with he paws (Moose), flowers (Daisy), scent/flower (Jasmine) and our son named one (Katie). We love & loved them all, and are looking to add one more.
sorry for the error…it should say “huge paws” not “he paws.”
I liked “he paws”. Just thought they were big paws. LOL
Thank you. I am picking up my new 2 year old Westie Thursday. Her name is Charlotte & I want to rename her. Carli is perfect because it is close to Charlotte & hopefully the transition will be smooth.
We welcomed a dashound pup into our family and we couldn’t decide on a name. The way I would get her attention was by whistling for her one day it struck me that would be her name “Whistle”. ! Best name
Jedi, our chocolate lab, came alone following the very hard lose of our 12 year old lab mix. We needed a “universal savior” to help us get through our time of mourning and Jedi certainly has fit that description. Then along came our rescue, lab-catahoula mix puppy, whose markings looked like she had been through a tornado…..subsequently her name is Storm!
We have two Labrador Retreivers and a cat, they are named beautiful in another language. Bella – Italian, Yeppeoyo – Korean and Quoruxley – Somali. All meaning beautiful girl or female.
I always wanted a female PW Corgi named Corky….then I got a big male PWC named him scooter bear…he was a love but not bright…then an tri colored male named Elwood after the blues brothers.
6 labs – Pearl, Gracie, Boone, Gus, Stella and Weezy. All yellows except Taylor’s Black Pearl.
I think I love Black Pearl! We have all black labs and one foster fail (mix) named Grace. Our labs: Buster, Tank, Drake, Steve, Annie, Coalie Coal, and Gunnar. A new adoption today and trying to decide on Kimber, Mazie, Penelope (aka baby girl) or now Black Pearl!!!
Our German Shepherd is named Krieger which loosely translates to Warrior from German. Great watchdog, but better lap dog!
I recently got my new best friend little fir buddy and found his name quite quickly:)
Mack. My new Mini Schauzer
He’s only 14 weeks and terrorizing my life with snuggles and love
I have a 17 month old Croation Sheepdog. I named her Lucy after reading an article in National Geographic about a Border Collie named Lucy that was considered the world’s smartest dog. Lucy knew 200 commands and could tell the colour of balls by their smell. Kind of funny Lucy is the #1 name for a female. My first female dog (can’t call her a bitch).
My last dog was a Border and he was very smart. He died suddenly last August 11th. and it hurt me real bad. At first I didn’t want another dog but I met Lucy when she was 4 months old and residing in the Humane Society in Oakville, Ontario. It was love at first site. I had to have her. It took a month of meetings (and a 4 page essay on why I should the one to rescue her) before I took her home on Sept. 22nd. She is a real cracker and has helped to move on from Charlee (my Border). + my rescue dog rescued me!!!
My lil furkid is named Rocky, he’s a brown toy poodle. A lovely addition to my family
My dogs names are Dakota, Montana and Arizona. Its funny when I tell people that the other 47 are at home and they believe me.
My golden retrievers were named Jake and Jessie.
My labs were named Doobie and Beau.
My present dog, a German Shepherd, is named Luna. I adopted her, and that was her name at the time of adoption.
We usually call her Loonie, because she is just a little bit silly, especially for a GS.
We have (had) Boogie a Doberman , Banjo a Bassett Hound, Gibson a rescued tabby cat, and Sophie a yellow lab! Loved them all!
Our black labs have been ty , shadow , and now OR (short for orvis ) what great dogs
I had a solid black teacup Chihuahua named Elvis. He lived to be almost 11 years old. I currently have a white Maltipoo named Riley. Elvis also answered to his nickname Elvy and Riley answers to Rie Rie as his nickname.
Our Lab’s have Max, Walker, Ben, & now our new Yellow Lab puppies name is “Hank”.
I’m just getting my new baby girl on Sunday. Well, she about 5 yrs old. I’m so excited. My first female anything I’ve always had boys. So I’m out getting all girly things. A purple and pink poka dot collar with a pink soft flower on it. A pink bed etc. the name she is coming with is sugar. Brings not the best memories of a childhood pet. But, I’m going to call her Tori. I hope this doesn’t stress her out or cause any anxiety. I’ve been reading about how to do it.
Frankie, poncho, Jersey, all 3 males. Our bunch came at different times. Frank the pug, loves Sinatra of course. Poncho the Chihuahua, and jersey, pit bull,black and white just looks like a little cow.
Wilson, an all white Jack Russell, like a white volleyball.
We thought it would be funny to call to him “Willllssssonnnn” like Tom Hanks in the movie castaway.