Red Dog Names

  1. Roan
    • Origin:

      Spelling variation of Rowan, Irish, Frisian, English word name
    • Meaning:

      "little redhead; rowan tree; raven; animal with a coat of two interspersed colors"
    • Description:

      This sleek, warm-hued spelling spin on Rowan was chosen by Sharon Stone for one of her three sons back in the 2000s and it has since risen in popularity in the US. While it remains a long way behind its sometimes sound-alike Rowan, it was still given to more than 140 babies in a recent year.
  2. Rory
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "red king"
    • Description:

      Rory is a buoyant, spirited name for a redhead with Celtic roots. The name Rory is getting more popular overall, but for the past few years has been trending decidedly toward the boys' side -- however, it's been rising to new heights for girls in recent years.
  3. Jasper
    • Origin:

      Persian
    • Meaning:

      "bringer of treasure"
    • Description:

      The ancient boys' name Jasper is popular internationally in a range of forms, including Casper and Gaspard, and now Jasper is beginning to be used for girls in the US.
  4. Clifford
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "lives near the ford by the cliff"
    • Description:

      Clifford is beginning to overcome a slightly stodgy intellectual image and showing signs of possible revival. Kids might or might not like the association with the big red dog. In England, the Clifford family was a powerful family in the Middle Ages. In this country, it was well used for most of the twentieth century, peaking at Number 57 in 1909, but a Top 100 name through 1950. Most prominent American bearers: playwright Clifford Odets and jazz trumpet great Clifford Brown.
  5. Autumn
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "autumn"
    • Description:

      Crisp and colorful, Autumn is the most popular season name in the US — the only one in the Top 100 in recent years — though Summer and Winter don't rank too far behind. Cool and gentle at the same time, it also ranks highly in England and Wales.
  6. Enya
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "fire"
    • Description:

      This phonetic Anglicization of the Irish name Eithne was made familiar by the single-named Irish singer and composer. St. Eithne was the daughter of a king and an early Irish convert to Christianity.
  7. Cerise
    • Origin:

      French
    • Meaning:

      "cherry"
    • Description:

      Infinitely preferable to the tease-inspiring English version of the word.
  8. Fox
    • Origin:

      Animal name
    • Description:

      Fox is one animal name backed by a longish tradition, and then popularized via the lead character Fox Mulder on X Files. Fox is simple, sleek, and a little bit wild, and could make an interesting middle name.
  9. Blaze
    • Origin:

      English word name
    • Meaning:

      "fire"
    • Description:

      Originally a form of the saint's name Blaise, though now more likely to be a hot word name used for both sexes, though heavily weighted toward the boys. It has been in the boys' Top 1000 since the year 2000. On the pop culture side of things, Blaze Bayley is a singer and musician who has been connected to the bands Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden.
  10. Sorrel
    • Origin:

      Botanical name and French
    • Meaning:

      "reddish brown"
    • Description:

      Sorrel is a gentle, amber-hued herbal and autumnal name that's used most often to describe the color of a horse. Sorrell is a variant spelling. Both make excellent names for autumn babies and can be used for either gender.
  11. Ginger
    • Origin:

      English diminutive
    • Description:

      Originally a unisex nickname for a redhead -- red hair is called "ginger" in Britain -- or for the name Virginia, Ginger perennially wears pink gingham and spike heels.
  12. Cherry
    • Origin:

      English word name
    • Meaning:

      "cherry"
    • Description:

      With other fruity names like Clementine, Olive and Plum ripe for the picking, sweet Cherry remains remarkably underused: just 27 baby girls received the name in 2017, down from 343 at its peak in 1948. The unsavory slang meaning no doubt goes a long way towards explaining its fall from grace.
  13. Rowen
    • Origin:

      Spelling variation of Rowan, Scottish and Irish
    • Meaning:

      "rowan tree; little redhead"
    • Description:

      While the Rowan spelling is in the Top 1000 for both boys and girls, this spelling is much more unusual though maintains the same gender split at nearly four boy Rowens for every girl.
  14. Roux
    • Origin:

      French from Latin
    • Meaning:

      "russet"
    • Description:

      Roux is the name of the dashing Johnny Depp character in Chocolat. Roux is French from a Latin word meaning russet or brownish red; it's also a cooking term for a mixture of flour and butter that forms the foundation of many gravies or sauces. Most of today's children with this name, pronounced roo, will actually spell it Rue, for the female character in The Hunger Games.
  15. Clancy
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "red-haired warrior"
    • Description:

      Clancy, one of the original crossover Irish surname names, is as energetic and appealing as ever — full of moxie, more distinctive than Casey, and also one of the less obvious of the red-headed names.
  16. Carmine
    • Origin:

      Latin, English, Italian
    • Meaning:

      "vivid red; garden, song"
    • Description:

      This Italian name could have a whole new life when viewed as a color name, however, it is traditionally a masculine form of Carmen, pronounced with three lilting syllables. Both provide an arty, distinctive feel, though in different ways.
  17. Mars
    • Origin:

      Roman mythology
    • Meaning:

      "god of war; male; red planet"
    • Description:

      Mars is a name with interesting potential, ticking the boxes as a mythological name, a space name, and a single syllable choice ending in -s. For parents wanting something unexpected, Mars could work as an alternative to popular Brooks, Max, Atlas, or Miles - and given to around 124 boys - and 27 girls - in a recent year, it is unusual but recognisable.
  18. Radley
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "red meadow"
    • Description:

      Radical Bradley. Radley is also the surname of one of the heroes of To Kill a Mockingbird. Boo Radley is a reclusive and mentally challenged neighbor who saves the Finch children.
  19. Redmond
    • Origin:

      Irish variation of Raymond
    • Meaning:

      "wise protector"
    • Description:

      We love this partly for purely personal reasons, since it is one of our surnames. We used it as the middle name of a son –and it can make a good first choice too. Redmond – also found as Reamann or Raemonn – is the Irish form of the Germanic name that occurs in modern English as Raymond.
  20. Elmo
    • Origin:

      Italian from German
    • Meaning:

      "protector"
    • Description:

      Elmo, like fellow Sesame Street characters Kermit and Grover, has a hard time being taken seriously. (It isn't easy being red either.)

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