Pet Names · Dog Names
By Brynn McKeon · Updated October 2026
Across 6 pages
of 6
Jewel name, for the French
"pomegranate"
One of the jewel names in use a hundred years ago, for both boys and girls, due for revival along with sisters Ruby and Pearl. But interestingly, Garnet means pomegranate, the fruit who shares a deep…
English word, Old English
"an inlet of the sea where the land curves inward; berry"
One of the most usable of the pleasant, newly adopted nature/water names (like Lake and Ocean), especially in middle position. It's gentle, slightly whimsical, but grounded by its similarity to May…
Color name
"deep reddish-brown"
A strong, warm name and a strong warm color. Would make an excellent alternative to August or Aubrey.
Tree name
Birch is a rarely used nature name that calls to mind the lovely image of the tall, strong but graceful white-barked tree. The best known bearer of the name is former high-ranking Democratic Senator…
Hawaiian or Norse
"leeward or woman, wife"
Kona is strongly associated with the Kona coffee of Hawaii. The Hawaiian word kona means "leeward" or "dry side of the island," and Kona districts are where Kona coffee is grown. It's a unisex name…
English word name or variation of Almund or Aleman, German
"almond; noble strength; German"
Almond may seem like a hippy modern name, but its use for American boys goes right back to the mid-nineteenth century. In these cases, it was either a variation of Almund, meaning "noble strength,"…
Irish
"brown chieftain"
Barely-used Irish surname that's more streamlined than popular Donovan.
Spelling variation of word name Dune or Scottish surname
"brown or dark"
Photographer Diane Arbus named her daughter Doon, inspired by the sand dunes she walked among when pregnant. Used this way, Doon might be considered a nature name, a refashioning of the word dune.…
"king; brown"
Ancient Irish king of the underworld, so much more powerful than Don.
Scottish
"brown hill homestead"
Attractive placename/surname with a somewhat aristocratic feel.
English, German, Norse, Danish tree name
"red, brown"
Strong, straight, and leafy, one of the new tree names used mostly as middles.
Fruit name
Fig was the unlikely name of a beautiful character in Curtis Sittenfeld's Man of My Dreams . It could make a playful middle name or a sparky nickname for the likes of Philippa, Fiona, Felicity, and…
English
"cookie"
Cookie is most often used as a dog name, and it should stay that way.
Color and food name
Do everyone a favor and spell it Coco, an up-and-coming choice.
Word name, English from Greek
"cinnamon"
A sweet and rare spice name, which made its first and only appearance on the US baby name charts in 1969 — the year Neil Young's song "Cinnamon Girl" was released.
Plant name from Algonquian
"hickory"
Anglicization of Indonesian Jawa; place name
A name with something for everyone: for romantics, it's a beautiful Indonesian island; for teckies, it's a computer programming language.
French
"brown-haired one"
The best-known bearer of this name by far is basketball superstar LeBron James. While LeBron James is a great athlete and American hero, only 19 baby boys were named LeBron or Lebron in 2021.
English from French
"brown"
We don't see this one making it unless you have a compelling family reason.
Marron is an uncommon feminine name with multiple potential origins. It may derive from French, where 'marron' refers to the chestnut color or the nut itself, giving the name nature-inspired…
