Now comes the fun part of picking the best name, for your new furry best friend.

Names are important.

When I chat with the people around my neighborhood, one of the first things that they ask, is the name of my dog. My Siberian Husky, Shania, is the main focus of attention and crowd-pleaser, so most people in our daily travels know her name but not mine.

Names are used during introductions, and they color what others think of our dog. A dog named Killer, will invite a very different type of reaction, than a dog named SweetiePie.

Therefore, take your time in naming your dog. Observe his energy level, most loved activities, and wait until his true personality comes through. When it does, you will know what is the right name for him.

Best Dog Names – How to Pick the Best Name for Your Dog

Where Do the Best Dog Names Come From?

Where Do the Best Dog Names Come From?

When looking for dog names, there are several places to get good ideas –

• Fictional characters – We can find some great names from our favorite movies, books, or games. Pick the best fictional hero or villain, depending on the personality and/or look of our dog.
  
• Famous people – Another interesting set of names are from famous and inspirational people, or historical figures. We can pick rulers such as Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, or Napoleon Bonaparte. We can pick innovators such as Edison or daVinci. We can pick poets, writers, musicians, movie stars, or sports heroes.
  
• Country of dog breed – Different dog breeds emerge from different locations. We can select a favorite name or word from our dog’s country of origin.
• Stars and heavenly bodies – Finally, a great source of dog names come from stars and other heavenly bodies. For example, if our dog loves to hunt, we may name him Rigel, which is the brightest star in The Hunter constellation.

Make sure your dog’s name matches his personality, energy level, most loved activities, and his good looks.

Popular Dog Names

To help you on your way, here are the most popular 5 male and female dog names. There are a variety of lists, but these names appear at the top of almost all of them.

Most popular male dog names –

1. Max
2. Buddy
3. Jake
4. Charlie
5. Bailey

Most popular female dog names –

1. Bella
2. Daisy
3. Molly
4. Lucy
5. Maggie

My three silly dogs – Sephy (top), Lara, Shania (bottom)

How to Pick the Best Dog Name

How to Pick the Best Dog Name

Other things to keep in mind while looking for the best dog name –

1. Short and simple.

Pick a short and simple name that is easy to say. Likely, you will spend a lot of time with your furry best friend in the coming years. You will be saying his name a lot, in a variety of situations. Sometimes, you may even need to get his attention quickly, before he runs off after birds and squirrels.

If we look at show dogs, they usually have 2 names – a show name and an every-day name. The show name is long, unique, and indicates pedigree. The every-day name is much shorter, and easy to say.

If we want to pick a longer name for our dog, find one that still sounds cool, and is easy to say when it is shortened.

2. Try to pick a name with 2 syllables.

According to the experts, it is best to pick a dog name with 2 syllables.

Most dog training commands are only one syllable, e.g. Sit, Stand, Down, Shake, Come. In this way, a dog can easily differentiate between his name and a command.

In addition, consider picking a name that starts with a hard/stop consonant. Dogs recognize hard consonants more easily. Therefore, we can grab our dog’s attention faster with a name that starts with a stop consonant.

Siberian Husky puppy Lara. Easy to say and 2 syllables!

Pick a name that is unique.

While communicating with a dog, consistency is key.

3. Pick a name that is unique.

Try to pick a dog name that is unique and not similar to the names of family members, close relatives, or close friends. If our dog has a name that is identical, or similar to somebody else in the family, he may get confused and think that we are calling him, when the common name is used.

If a dog keeps getting ignored when he thinks his name is being called, he will no longer respond to that name.

4. Name choosing should be a fun family affair.

It is best, when the whole family gets involved in choosing the name of our family dog. In this way, everyone feels invested in the dog, and will be more willing to accept him into the pack.

In addition, this ensures that everyone will consistently call the dog by his chosen name. Consistency is very important when communicating with our dog. If we are not consistent with how we use his name, there will be confusion as to what we mean, and what we want. It is the same way with people and language. When I say ‘dog’, you understand what I am referring to, because we all use it consistently to mean the same thing.

5. Use the primary dog name in a positive context.

Only use our dog’s primary name in a positive context. In this way, he will learn to associate his name with rewards and positive outcomes.

Some people use their dog’s name while scolding or punishing him. If a dog consistently gets punished when his name is called, he will start to associate ‘his name’ with something negative. Once this occurs, he may run away or hide when he hears his name, in anticipation of the coming punishment.

If we want to use names in both a positive and negative context, then it is important to establish both a good dog name and a bad dog name.

The good dog name (primary name), should only be associated with rewards and positive experiences.

Use the primary dog name in a positive context only.

Best Dog Names

Do not be in too much of a hurry to name your dog. Spend some time bonding with him, and wait until you start seeing all the different aspects of his personality –

• His good side,
• His goofy side,
• His quirks,
• His fears,
• His motivations,
• His most loved activities, and
• His most hated activities.

Once we observe all this and start to understand our new furry friend, the best dog name will also become clear to us.

My best dogs – Shania (left), puppy Lara, and Sephy (right)

Everybody in the family wants to name the dog after their favorite hero, villain, or whatever else.

According to experts, the best dog names should contain 2 syllables so that the dog can more easily distinguish it from commands which usually only contains 1 syllable, e.g. Sit, Stay, Jump, Shake.

In addition, a dog’s name should contain hard consonants because dogs recognize hard/stop consonants more easily.

Good Dog Name, Bad Dog Name

Therefore, what should you name your dog?

What should you name your dog?

Both my dogs have several names which helps with the hero-villain naming dilemma. In particular they each have a good dog name and a bad dog name.

The good dog name is used during attention exercises and recall, and the bad dog name is used when they perform undesired behaviors.

Why have a good dog name and a bad dog name?

The main reason is to avoid confusion – for your dog.

Experts recommend that you do not use any names at all when disciplining your dog for undesired behaviors. Just say “No” or “Ack-Ack” rather than “Lassie No”. This is because you do not want your dog to associate his name with the undesired behavior or with the correction.

If you use your dog’s name to praise, issue commands, and correct him, it will get very confusing, very quickly.

Does his name mean “come to you”, “don’t do this”, or “do this”?

Consistency is key in communication with your dog.

Being humans, however, it is our tendency to attach names when speaking to our dogs. We really want to say “Lassie No” rather than just “No”.

Good dog Shania and Bad dog Sephy!

You talkin' to me?!

Therefore, it is easier to assign a good dog name and a bad dog name. My Shiba’s good dog name is Sephy (Ok – I didn’t follow the hard consonant rule) and his bad dog name is Butros.

When I want to praise him or do recalls I use his good dog name, and when he is naughty, I use his bad dog name.

Consistency is key in communication with your dog.

Uniqueness of names is also important. For example, you do not want to use the names of other people in the household, or names of friends that frequently come up in conversation.

I often talk about my dogs, so they also have a neutral name.

In this way, my dogs do not think I am giving them commands or correcting them when I am in conversation with other people about them. What you use as a neutral name is less important – it just has to be different from his good and bad dog names.

Uniqueness is also the reason why many people do not use the word “No” with their dogs.

It is not because they are afraid they will hurt their dog’s feelings but rather because “No” occurs regularly in normal conversation. As a result, your dog may get confused, and think you are disagreeing with his current behavior, when actually you are just in conversation with another human.

My Shiba has many names because he is such a Character! Being a Shiba however, his most common name is Butros!

Bad boy Butros.