Popular Dog Names

Popular Dog Names used in Literature and History

Here are 40 popular dog names from our favorite classic books and from history and mythology.

This is just a small snippet from a huge assortment used over time.

1. Argos: From Homer’s Odyssey.

2. Boots: from “Thy Servant a Dog” by Rudyard Kipling.

3. Buck: from “Call of the Wild” by Jack London.

4. Bulls-Eye: from “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens.

5. Cafall: reported to be the name of King Arthur’s dog.

6. Cereberus: a three-headed dog guarding Hades in Greek Mythology.

7. Cujo: from the novel of the same name by Stephen King.

8. Duchess: from “The Pie and the Patty Pan” by Beatrix Potter.

9. Einstein: from “Watchers” by Dean Koontz.

10. Fang: Farmer Maggot’s guard dog from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” also Hagrid’s dog from JK Rowlings’ Harry Potter books.

11. Fluke: from the book of the same name by James Herbert.

12. Fly: from “The Sheep-Pig” by Dick King-Smith (made into the movie “Babe”).

13. Garm: from “Farmer Giles of Ham” by J.R.R. Tolkien.

14. Gaspode: from the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett.

15. GreyFriars Bobby: The faithful Skye Terrier who spent every night for something like 14 years guarding his master’s grave.

16. Grip: another of Farmer Maggot’s guard dogs from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”, also Wolf.

17. Hank: from the “Hank the Cowdog” books by John R. Erickson.

18. Huan: from “The Simarillion” by J.R.R.Tolkien.

19. Jack: from the “Little House on the Prairie” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

20. John Joiner: from “The Roly-Poly Pudding” by Beatrix Potter.

21. Kashtanka: from a story of the same name by Anton Chekhov.

22. Kep: from “The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck” by Beatrix Potter.

23. Lassie: from the book “Lassie Come Home” by Eric Knight.

24. Loony: from the “Barney Mystery” series written by Enid Blyton.

25. Nana: from “Peter Pan” by J.M.Barrie.

26. O'Connor: from “Watt” by Samuel Beckett.

27. Pickles: from “Ginger and Pickles” by Beatrix Potter. Ginger is a cat.

28. Pilot: the dog belonging to Mr. Rochester in “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte.

29. Pugnax: from “Against the Day” by Thomas Pynchon.

30. Ribsy: from the books by Beverly Cleary.

31. Scamper: the the “Secret Seven” series of books by Enid Blyton.

32. Sharik: from “Heart of a Dog” by Mikhail Bulgakov.

33. “The Tale of Little Pig Robinson” by Beatrix Potter contained the following dogs: Bob the Retriever; Gypsy; Pirate and Postboy the Greyhounds; Stumpy; Timothy Gyp the Sheepdog; and Tipkins.

34. Timmy: from “The Famous Five” series of books by Enid Blyton.

35. Top: from “The Mysterious Island” by Jules Verne.

36. Toto: from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L.Frank Baum and later ,of course, the movie “The Wizard of Oz”.

37. Tricki Woo: “All Creatures Great and Small” by James Herriot.

38. White Fang:from the book of the same name by Jack London.

39. Winn-Dixie: from “Because of Winn-Dixie” by Kate DiCamillo.

40. Yellow Dog Dingo: from the “Just So Stories” by Rudyard Kipling.

Got a bunch of favorite names from literature that would make popular dog names? Send them in and we’ll add them to the list.

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