Pet Names · Dog Names
By Sophie Kihm · Updated September 2026
Across 370 pages
of 370
Arabic
"safe"
Spelled Najee, this was chosen by rapper LL Cool J for his son several years ago.
Latin
"stern"
The association with the infamous Nero, the fiddling Roman emperor, would be unavoidable. But there was also the detective Nero Wolfe, hero of many mystery stories. Nero was born Lucius Domitius…
Variation of Nathaniel, Hebrew
"gift of God"
Arabic or Hebrew
"light or my fire"
A name used in the Middle East but that could easily work in the US. As a girls' name, Nuri can also be a short form of Nuria. It was chosen by Christy Lefteri for the protagonist of her novel, The…
Hebrew
"incense"
Keturah, the Old Testament name of Abraham's second wife, is a possibility for anyone seeking a truly unusual and interesting biblical name; certainly a lot more distinctive than that of Abraham's…
Word name
Poet is a new entry in both the trendy word and occupational categories as well as a member of the growing group of gender neutral names . A handful of baby boys received the name in the US last…
English
"red ford"
An unusual surname-style choice with a strong meaning and potential for nicknames Ford and Red. Associated with the actor Robert Redford, it was also used for a one of the main characters in the 2019…
Lexa is a feminine name with multiple origin possibilities. Most commonly, it's considered a shortened form of Alexandra, which derives from Greek elements meaning 'defender of mankind.' It also…
German diminutive of Elizabeth
"pledged to God"
Sweet but sleek, and distinctive, Liesel is an old German nickname-name for Elisabeth. It might have once seemed inextricably tied to to its country of origin, but now, like Elsa, Enzo, Saoirse,…
English, combination of Mary and Lou
"drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved + famous battle"
Truncated form of Marylouise. As two separate words, Mary Lou has popped up a number of times, as the title, for example, of two early feature films. There's also a Nickelodeon actress named Mary Lou…
"dweller by the wood"
With the current taste for last names first, this sounds a lot cooler than Shawn; it also has creative connections to the great Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, novelist Irwin Shaw, and Big…
Greek mythology name
The Greek god Triton was the messenger of the sea and the son of sea god Neptune. He is usually represented as a merman, the the head and upper body of a human and the lower body of a sea creature.…
Greek, Dutch, Old Norse
"hitting the mark; chance, luck; thunder"
A name with a number of variations including the Danish Tyge, the Swedish Tyko, and the Dutch Tygo, which are popular throughout modern Europe. Tycho was also the name of both a 5th century Greek…
"righteous"
A rarely heard biblical name, Zadok is borne by no less than nine Old Testament men. The most famous was a priest who lived during the reign of King David, whom he helped and supported, and was…
Spanish
"solitude"
This strong Spanish name that refers to the Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Solitude) has been made accessible by broadcaster Soledad O'Brien -- who shows how well it combines with an Anglo surname. Her…
English word name
"bold"
A new, rising word name for boys that has the advantage of sharing sounds with more common names like Bryson and Braydon. And the disadvantage of getting confused with them.
Dutch and German variation of Casper and Jasper, Persian
"keeper of the treasure"
After half a century, this otherwise feasible name has at last started to lose its link to the friendly ghost; it certainly didn't scare model Claudia Schiffer, who chose it for her son, as did…
"little cross"
Spanish masculine diminutive of Cruz
"fire"
A hot name, though perhaps not in the sense you want for your baby. About 20 times as many boys as girls were named Blaze in one recent year, perhaps because it can be seen as a spelling variation of…
Diminutive of Dexter
"dyer; right-handed"
Dex, the nickname for Dexter that is sometimes used on its own, has lots of energy and dynamism. It was chosen by comedian Dana Carvey for his now grown son. With the growing popularity of Dexter, we…
