What's Your Dog's Name? JFF :-)

Updated on March 16, 2013
M.P. asks from De Pere, WI
47 answers

What's your dog's name? How did you come up with that name?

When hubby and I were thinking of getting our first dog, we thought it would be fun to name her something Hawaiian. We spend 2 weeks in Hawaii on our honeymoon and LOVED it. So, our first dog was named Kona. We always joked about how much we LOVED her name and how awesome we thought it was. We joked about naming our first born "Kona Jr".

We didn't expect to have to get another dog so soon, but sadly Kona got sick before she was 3. About 9 months after she died, we ventured the thought of another dog and once again, we revisited "Kona Jr" LOL...but we decided to go with "Hilo" instead. Still the tie to Hawaii! Although I think it is funny that both names are from the Big Island and that was one we did NOT make it to while we were there! We will on our next trip, whenever that is! :-)

At first, I wasn't sure about Hilo, but it has DEFINITELY grown on me and the name definitely suits him! :-)
Happy Thursday everyone! :-)

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So What Happened?

HOLY CATS!! (LOL)

I am totally awesomely shocked at how many responses this question got! Mark it on the wall! :-)

Fun reading everyone's responses! :-) Thanks guys! Have a great weekend!! :-D

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M.P.

answers from St. Louis on

We have two Saint Bernards. The first we got when she was a puppy, her name is Isabella Saint Claire-we call her Bella. The second was a rescue and we changed her name when we brought her home. It was Katrina and we changed it to Missy (my daughter picked it).

We also have a 3 legged cat that was a rescue. We named him Tres. Hehehehe

2 moms found this helpful
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A.R.

answers from Dallas on

We have Boston Terriers and wanted to go with a Boston theme, so the oldest is named Bruin. The youngest we couldn't agree on a Boston themed name so he's named Wilson after the character on House.

2 moms found this helpful
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C.O.

answers from Minneapolis on

I have a cat that we've had for 10 years and her name is Ares (she's gray). Then we got a dog 2 years ago (yellow labradoodle) and named him Apollo. See a theme there? We're really into Greek Mythology.

1 mom found this helpful

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J.G.

answers from Chicago on

Our old dog was named Loki. It fit him perfectly. He was pure trouble.

2 moms found this helpful
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N.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

Our dog's name is Miele (mee-la), named after the German made vacuum cleaner. I had a day care when she came to live with us and I figured she was going to be our "four legged" vacuum so why not name her after one.

I tease my dh that we are going to get another dog...male this time and name him Dyson, Hoover or Kirby. I know warped but I think it's funny.... :-)

2 moms found this helpful
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S.T.

answers from Houston on

160 lb great pyrenees named Jethro Boudreaux lol

2 moms found this helpful

C.B.

answers from Reno on

Our first dog was a lab/rot mix that we adopted when he was 7 years old. His name was bodie and he was given up by his owner because he had epilepsy. Three years ago this april he went into his last seizure and never came out. He was amazing and he leads us to our current dog...a fiesty pitbul named Roxy. She found us (well i believe bodie sent her us for saving him) She hopped in my car almost a week after bodie died when i was checking the mail. She was skinny but so full of life. Tried to find her owner but to no avail, so took her to vet where he determined she was about a year old, had her fixed and she became our princess and the kids playmate(she is convinced she is a lap dog, 54 pounds of solid muscle on your lap. lol) so he just started calling her Roxy and it stuck. Miss our Bodie everyday but there is so much of him in her, its kind of wierd. She is amazing and we are grateful.
sorry that was a bit of a long answer.
thanks for the question

2 moms found this helpful

C.V.

answers from Columbia on

Our border collie/Brittany spaniel mix: Sneakers. We didn't name her, the rescue did.

Longhaired tabby cat girl: Nietzsche. "Neech" for short.

Shorthaired black Siamese cat boy: Magic. Also "Magickitty." Or "MK." Or "Meowykitty."

Pets who have passed:

Abby Lab (black lab girl)

Boomer (big black kitty male)

Chloe (shorthaired tabbly girl)

Peaches (medium haired tortie cat girl)

1 mom found this helpful
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M.L.

answers from Colorado Springs on

Our current dog - a yellow Lab - is named Jamika. I didn't name her that. She is an 18-month-old Canine Companions for Independence pup, and we hope she'll get through all her training and become a service dog helping someone with a mobility problem. CCI has their own breeding program, and our dog's mama was named Tamika; one of the tracking methods for the brand new pups is that the pups in a litter have names beginning with the same letter, and this was a "J" litter. Hence Jamika, I believe. She answers to Jamika, Jamaica, Jami, and Meeka - but mostly she answers to food....

1 mom found this helpful

X.O.

answers from Chicago on

I don't have a dog in my house, but when I was growing up we had 2.

Dog 1 - Mac - Named after the town, MacGregor, where my dad and brother found him as a puppy, abandoned in a freezing cold Northern Minnesota wayside restroom in the dead of winter

Dog 2 - Baron Kirby von Schwartzhund - His mother's name was Lady, and he was a black daschaund, so we gave him a nobility title and a German last name ;-) We called him "Baron." He was so beautiful and regal looking that it really fit him.

My brother just got a new black daschaund puppy last week, and he changed his name from "Colt" to Lord Eddard von Schwartzhund. "Lord Eddard" is a favorite character on a book/tv series that we love, "Game of Thrones." He'll call him "Ned" for short.

1 mom found this helpful

A.R.

answers from Houston on

Lucy Bug, our female rescue pug. She gets called Buggy Pug too. Those darn bug eyes...hehehe...

1 mom found this helpful

T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Our first Lab was Rio, he was named after the town he came from: Rio Vista.
Our second is Maddy. I don't know why but Maddy just sounded like a great name for a sweet little female black Lab :-)
If you care about cats (lol!) we named our kitty "Kitty" because we couldn't agree on a name! When I first took her to the vet I put "Miss Kitty" on her forms because I was so embarrassed by her lack of an actual name.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.F.

answers from Milwaukee on

How fun!

~Dirk~ my Australian Cattle Dog, came from the main character, Dirk Pitt, in the Clive Cussler books. Adventurer, problem solver, etc.

~Mozzie~ My mini-pinscher, came from the TV show White Collar. An extrememly smart con-artist.

~MoJo~ My Quarter Horse. Just goes with the flow...good mojo. lol.

Both suit the names very nicely! I think my next dog is going to be named Ratchet or Diesel...and hopfully be a Siberian Husky. :-)

1 mom found this helpful
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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

Django Stefan - after two of my favorite musicians, Django Reinhardt and Stefan Grapelli

1 mom found this helpful
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A.K.

answers from Chicago on

Fun question. We have a Boston Terrier. We got HIM from a rescue, and even managed to get his papers which verified his name as Joy XVI. Since Joy has never been a male name in my view, we dropped the last two letters. So now he is just J, or J-Dog. Or The J-Dog Formerly Known as Joy.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.D.

answers from Dallas on

A basset hound named Godiva because of the long ears. And an American bulldog named Monster so my daughter has a monster of her own to keep the other ones away. :)

1 mom found this helpful
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T.V.

answers from San Francisco on

For our first dog as newly weds we each picked three names and folded them up (same size paper) put them on the far side of our front room, took puppy to the other side and let her pick her name out.

Her name was:

SUGARBEAR!

She was a beloved doggie as all our pets after her have been. My current little guy is named:

FEATHER RAY ---- Because the fur around his neck is like feather and his given name at the shelter was Ray. He's a great little boy.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.M.

answers from Washington DC on

Paschyn. No it's not a play on the word passion! People always think that. even though the ending sound is in, like paschin. My fav English teacher in high school was named Mrs. Paschyn. She was Ukraian, but I have no idea what it means, if anything.

1 mom found this helpful

C.W.

answers from Lynchburg on

My dog is named 'tybalt'...(from romeo and juliet...lord of the cats) because when we adopted him, our stray female kitten was 'preggers'.

We figured that there were kittens in our future...and he would 'lord' over them...

and so he did!

(stray cat, Fiona, was spayed shortly after the kittens arrived...and the dog and cat manage to 'tolerate' each other still)

Best!
michele/cat

1 mom found this helpful
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S.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

Mini is a purebred German Shepherd. She was the "runt of the litter" but is now about 75 lbs.

1 mom found this helpful

J.O.

answers from Boise on

Ace Ventura (big white A on his black back)- Pit/Border Collie

Layla Marie (Ace's sister)- Pit/Border Collie

Jockamo- Wiener/German Short Hair mix (funniest looking dog around)

Spy Gonzalo (Layla's son)- Father's breed unknown. He looks like a coyote to us...

And our cat's name is Lestat...she's a nibbler to and likes to give love bites, but she was named that before we knew she was gonna be a love bitter.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.K.

answers from Kansas City on

That's a fun question! We have a Shiba Inu, and his name is Tanner Bubbles. He is tan in color, so I came up with Tanner. My kids wanted another cat, so they could name it Bubbles. I said no way on the cat, so now our dog has 2 names, and it fits him to a T. My husband picked him out.

1 mom found this helpful

V.K.

answers from Minneapolis on

Current Dogs:

Nikki - Nickname 'Snicker's - Can't remember the reasoning behind this one
Berlin - There was a German foreign exchange student living with us when he was born and when we told him that he could name a puppy, this is the name he chose
Spike - He was the runt of the littler and I thought that he needed a tough name to strengthen him up a bit

Some of my past favorites (I grew up on a farm... There was always a minimum of 3 dogs with a one point maximum of 12 (This was after one of our dogs had puppies of course)):

Sandy & Max - The names aren't special but the dogs sure were!

Caesar
Mae or Mae Bell
Charlie (A female dog with an attitude)

Eh, I guess we aren't the most creative in our family :P

If I could choose the perfect dog name for a female dog, it would be 'Zinc'.
If I could choose the perfect dog name for a male dog, it would be 'Fritz'.

1 mom found this helpful

J.B.

answers from Houston on

16 yr old chihuahua, yes 16 yrs old. Her name is Pearl, nothing like a good old lady name.
And a Shih tzu, 5 yrs old. His name is Buddy. Both dogs are rescues.

1 mom found this helpful

R.A.

answers from Boston on

We just got a German Shepherd puppy. My son named him Sniff. I had originally wanted to name him Pilot or "Murdock, but was outvoted..haha.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.A.

answers from Columbia on

I feel that finding a name for an animal depends on their attitude.

Boxer --- Her name is LA LA. This is cause that what I see from her, she looks like she running around like a deer or skipping. I just thought to my self LALALALALALALALA..
Pug --- His name is SPARKY... It was the spark in his eyes.
Chihuahua --- COCO BELL,,, Between her color and when she barks it REALLY sounds like a bell.
Mixed between Pug and Chih --- Her name Short Sh*t, (Really, when we are out with her or kids around we call her SHORTY. She a devil who became shorter than mom and dad and wide like a pug.
Mixed between Mini Dashound/Basset Hound --- Little Lady,,, so prissy!!!

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A.C.

answers from Madison on

When we got our dog, I wanted it to be a girl. I liked the name Abby but wasn't sure if I wanted it for a first name (something about yelling Abby out the front door and having someone in the neighborhood with the same name...).

So we had to really, really think about what to name her. I try to shy away from using "human" names, just to avoid having an embarassing or laughable moment when calling the dog. We finally decided on Dakota Abby. It has a nice ring, and her nickname if Kota.

With the barn cat/house cat, he is a beautiful British Blue and white with one of his eyes in a blue mask. We couldn't think of any cute names to go with the mask (I zeroed Zoro), so we decided to just call him Blue. Then my daughter asked what his middle name should be. He has rings on his tail. So we called him Blue Ringo. Never, ever gave it a thought that people would think we named him after a Beatle (Slap to forehead). Seriously, the Beatles were the furthest from my mind when we came up with his name!

If we ever get another dog, I want another girl. I even have her name already picked out: Shiloh Amber. At least, I hope the name fits the dog. :) Or maybe it'll be Amber Shiloh. Otherwise, I'll be back to the drawing board, trying to pick out a name.

M.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

current dog is Azura.
Her nick name is Zur.

She has blue eyes, and her color is blue merle. My kids love Dora and wanted to call her Azule but we went with a more female version.

☼.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

Love the Big Island and therefore love your dog names!

Our dog's name is Floyd. My husband's a Pink Floyd fan ;)

⊱.✿.

answers from Spokane on

My dog's name was Daisy. I had to put her down in December.

She was my first birthday present from my husband once we were married. He knew I wanted a yellow lab so I could name her Daisy :)

Best.Dog.Ever.

I miss her every day.

My favorite dog growing up was a yellow lab mix and we called her Kizzy.
We also had Kilo (my dad named that one, she was a golden!)
Moose (she was a huge chesapeake)
Teddy (another yellow lab mix that my boyfriend gave me and his middle name was Theodore)
Poppy (black lab and not sure why/how we came up with her name)

I know we had more dogs but can't remember them right now...

I.G.

answers from Austin on

Ohhhh I love the name Kona. :)
My male schnauzer's name is 'Shawri', and my female's name is 'Abby'. They are both rescues that I adopted. My beloved schnauzer of 15 years passed away back in 2011 and his name was 'Chino'.
With the 2 that I have now...I kept their names when I got them. 'Shawri' , I'm told is Japanese, not sure what it means really. Its very unique. I love it.
Great post, btw!. L

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L.P.

answers from Dallas on

Hershey is our brown Chesapeake lab that adopted us. This year my kiddos got a black lad puppy and my daughter immediately called her Jingles. It fit with the occasion.

D.K.

answers from Sioux City on

Our dog is George. It comes from a cartoon. I didn't want the kids to argue about what to call him and as I looked on this matted friendly mess at the pound he just seemed like a George. He has turned into the best dog we have ever had. I think it is because I have strict rules about him. My husband's family treats dogs like they are humans and it is annoying to have a dog begging at the table, jumping on the furniture, and pushing you out of bed. I won't allow my kids to do the things they let their dogs do.

L.C.

answers from Janesville-Beloit on

Our first dog was a collie. His Moms name was Juliette and Dad was Romeo, so we named him Shakespeare. I miss him so!

Our next dog came with a name as he was almost 5 when we got him. He is a Samoyed named Tapper....show name is KWays Stitch Me a Tapestry...

Our Puppy, also a Samoyed, is named Missi. We had to cross the Mississippi River to get her. Her show name is White Fire Picasso's Little Miss.

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C.L.

answers from Minneapolis on

I love the Hawaiian theme and the idea in general of having a theme!

I have a mini poodle named Remy. It came from a baby naming book and is a French man's name. (Although contrary to popular belief, poodles are German in origin.)

I am "raising" my parents' Shih Tzu, Charlie, because my mom died in October. I think it's a boring name, but it seems to fit him. It was the breeder's name for him and my parents kept it because 1) my dad had a favorite uncle named Charlie, and 2) the puppy Charlie ironically came from my dad's very small hometown.

I previously had Jack Russells named Loki (Norse trickster, God of mishchief) and Freya (Norse goddess of fertility). Loki's name fit him perfectly, but Freya was spayed and never reproduced. (-:

My mom had a Japanese them for her Maltese dogs when I was a kid and in college: Kyoto and Emiko.

My dad had English Springer Spaniels as hunting dogs when I was a kid and I wanted to stick with English themes for them. He was o.k. with "Cricket" (sadly she disappeared as a pup and was likely stolen), but he rejected "Canterbury Tails" ("Bear" for short) and chose "Brambles."

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G.S.

answers from New York on

Our 7 yr old Shih Tzu is named Toby Nathaniel, Toby was the only name that went w/Nathaniel (my dd's bff's middle name)! Well, the only name that wasn't something that had to do w/Bratz dolls, Dora or food!

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K.R.

answers from Dallas on

Like @QueenoftheCastle I also don't have a dog in the house now but I do have two sweet kitties, Smokey and (the) Bandit .

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E.M.

answers from Phoenix on

Love this question!
My first dog as a married person was Athena, a Neapolitan mastiff. She came with the name Serena but she needed some more confidence so we changed it to something stronger.
Athena had severe separation anxiety, so we agreed to foster two puppies and keep one to keep her company. Needless to say, we kept both! My husband named "his" puppy Fury, after the comic book character Nick Fury. My grandfather had just passed away, so I named mine "Sparta" for the town in Michigan where my Grandpa grew up.
A few months after we got the pups, my husband was volunteering at the Humane Society when a Neo puppy, 6 months old came in. He promptly fell in love and we adopted him. He came with the name "Goliath," but we changed it to Thor to fit the superhero/mythology theme we had going on! Thor and Athena have both passed away (the tragedy of the lovely giant breeds), but we still have Fury and Sparta.

I have a friend whose cats have the best names ever- Froggilina and Senor Lumpykins.

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H.M.

answers from Dallas on

The first dog we had when I was little was Ben. Not sure where that came from or if it was his name before we got him. The second was Domonique. Not sure again. The last one was Hinds. WEll you might beable to guess why he was named that. We can't have dogs now. We don't have a yard for one and our house is too small and our landlords wouldn't let us have one anyways. They barly let us have our sugargildders and they live in a cage.

A.M.

answers from Kansas City on

we have a pound puppy named Eva. we got her when my son was just starting to get over his obsession with Wall-E - now we haven't watched it in months, but Eva is still with us. i like the name, i think it's cute. and short and easy.

speaking of cats, growing up my bff had an old farm cat what was always having kittens (eck, i know) but we called her HappyCat (yes, all one word like that) and i always LOVED that name. the cat wasn't that remarkable, not that nice or pretty or anything, but that name always stuck with me.

my growing-up dogs were Chief and Scout. i still remember sitting around the table on the patio putting names into a hat. good times :)

✿.3.

answers from Reading on

Great Friday questions!!! We have had so many animals!! Below is our list and what kind of animal it was.

Ava - Dog
Lilleth (Lily for short) - Dog
Alexis - Dog
Ivana (Ivy for short) - Dog
Solomon (Solly for short) - Dog
Callie - Cat
Daisy - Cat
Mickey - Cat
Nibbles - Hamster
Brownie - Hamster
Cookie - Hamster

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Current dogs... all named by our daughter...

Male American Cocker almost 14... Fluff de la Fluff. We call him Fluff, Fluff Puff or Fluffer.. He has a lot of fluffy hair. He is mostly blind and deaf now so he responds when he smells us around with treats, etc.

Female English Cocker 8 yrs old. Coco. She has perfect coloring to be called Coco. She is a great dog and lives to chase tennis balls.

Male Toy Poodle 7 yrs old. Giovanni Rose and we call him G. He thinks he runs the house and he LOVES chasing squirrels. He is the cuddle buddy.

Our RIP dogs...
We named our first female English Cocker Margeret Beaulieu after wine... We called her Maggie.

Our Second baby, Male American Cocker was Franklin Bordeaux.. again after wine (we like wine) and we called him Frankie.

I like your choices!!!

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C.V.

answers from Los Angeles on

Ginger is my little half mini-pinscher, half poodle. Her name is because of the color of her fur.

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L.M.

answers from Orlando on

Male Golden Retriever Mix named Charlie :-)
Female German Shep Mix named Ella (Cinderella is her full name)

Y.G.

answers from Miami on

-Reese- when we rescued her, her name was Emily. I didn't like that, so we changed it. (she's a red golden retriever/mix)

-Leo- that's the name he came with when we rescued him. Plus, I'm a Leo :)
(He's a total mix. 50 lbs brindle)

My cat:
-Winston- I just like the name
(21 lbs. He definitely has bengal in him because he's BIG)

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M.P.

answers from Chicago on

Ooo awesome that your pups have Hawaiian names! My German Shepherd/Border Collie mix's name is Kalani, which I'm told means heaven/sky in Hawaiian. I have always wanted to visit Hawaii but have never been. When we adopted my girl I was part of a dog forum and one of the girls' name on there was Launi. I was drawn to it but didn't want to copy it so I added letters to it- started with A and all the way past K but it kept going back to Kalani.

J.E.

answers from Minneapolis on

Berkley. My kids and I wanted a name that was a connection with us and after much discussion we came up with Berkley - it's a line of fishing lures.

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