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The 20 Most Popular Puppy Names

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While we’re still on the subject of puppy names I did a little research on some of the most popular puppy names. After looking over several most popular puppy names lists I noticed only one name (for males) beginning with the letter “D” inside the top 20. “Duke” was listed as the number 10 most popular puppy name. Duke was one of the puppy names I sent to GDA for approval for my “D” puppy. “Dakota” was listed as the 11th most popular female name.

I did notice that Max was number 1 on most of the lists I found. When I picked up Linus from the shelter Max was the first name my ex-girlfriend wanted to name him. At the time I thought Max seemed like a very common name and didn’t really want to name my new puppy Max. I guess I was right since Max is number 1 on the list

Top 20 Most Popular Puppy Names

Male Puppy Names Female Puppy Names
  1. Max
  2. Jake
  3. Buddy
  4. Bailey
  5. Sam
  6. Rocky
  7. Buster
  8. Casey
  9. Cody
  10. Duke
  11. Charlie
  12. Jack
  13. Harley
  14. Rusty
  15. Toby
  16. Murphy
  17. Shelby
  18. Sparky
  19. Barney
  20. Winston
  1. Maggie
  2. Molly
  3. Lady
  4. Sadie
  5. Lucy
  6. Daisy
  7. Ginger
  8. Abby
  9. Sasha
  10. Sandy
  11. Dakota
  12. Katie
  13. Annie
  14. Chelsea
  15. Princess
  16. Missy
  17. Sophie
  18. Bo
  19. Coco
  20. Tasha

When I think of the puppies in our guide dog group the majority of the names do not show up on the top 20 most popular puppy names list. It seems that our group goes with more original choices including names like Noelani, Houston, Naomi, Ulie, Journey, Cash, Stetson, Nyah, Dustin, Verrina, Darla, Paisley…etc.

Two names I do remember from our GDA group that I see on the popular puppy name list are Bailey and Buster.

A couple of our newest GDA puppies in training:

Violet

Violet Chewing on Her Bone

Here’s a picture of Violet chewing on her bone. Violet is a female Golden Retriever from our Guide Dog group. Violet’s puppy name was not on the top 20 puppy name list.

Ace

Ace Puppy In Training

Here’s a picture of Ace. A male yellow Labrador Retriever from our Guide Dog group. His puppy name did not make the top 20 puppy name list.

Puppy Names Honorable Mention

These list vary quite a bit from year to year. I just wanted to list a few other names that showed up on some lists, but not others.

Male Puppy Names Female Puppy Names
  • Bear
  • Shadow
  • Cooper
  • Tucker
  • Riley
  • Pepper
  • Zoe
  • Scout
  • Chloe
  • Bella

When I was a kid I always wanted to have a dog named “Jake”. Number 2 on the list. I have another friend who told me they’ve always wanted to get a yellow Labrador Retriever and name him “Bailey”. Number 5 on the list. You don’t always have to choose one of the most popular names. My friends son, who really likes dinosaurs named his puppy Tyrannosaurus Rex. They call him T-Rex or Rex for short.

Here on puppy in training we have a large list of puppy names sorted alphabetically. If the most popular puppy names don’t suit your taste then take a look at our alphabetical list of puppy names. I’m sure you’ll find a name that fits your personality.

Most puppy names seem to have some kind of meaning to there owner. What did you name your puppy and why?

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21 Comments

  1. Misty, Marlie, Sammie, Rex, Bella, and Oreo… Some other’s we have had.. Trouble, Rader, Licorice, Kaylia, Wee Shawn, Tippy, Ranger, .. can’t remember all of them

  2. I had a beautiful Dalmatian named Tasha. She lived to be almost sixteen. Before her, two little mixed breed pups named Sheila and Lisa. 🙂 Bailey and Max are the most common in my personal circle, but I have known dogs with all the names listed.

  3. Hi and thank you for this wonderful and very instructive blog.
    We are thinking of adopting a 6 month old puppy labradoodle .
    His familly is relocating and cannot bring him along. His name is Spencer , is it too late to change his name or can we find one with the a similar sounds or, can” Milou ”work? …

  4. My female boston terrier is named Cricket and we decided to keep oneof her female pups. She had them today and we decided to name it Reece!!!Such a cute name I love it.

  5. @lexie, thank you for letting us know that our site was helpful to you. Zoe is a wonderful name for a dog. Congratulations!

  6. @Jennifer Phoenix is a great name for you new dog. I’m so glad you rescued Phoenix and are now working hard on her training. That would be wonderful if she were to end up as a service or possibly therapy dog. Best of luck!

  7. We named our most recent addition Phoenix. She was out of control and running at large when animal control picked her up from her previous owners. We patiently waited for her time to be up for her owners to reclaim her. When they didn’t we felt she needed a name to symbolize her new beginning. It helps that she is a red brindle and her markings put you in the mind of a phoenix rising anew from its ashes. She began an out of control ball of fire with loads of energy and lots of behavioral issues. She is slowly becoming a far better dog. She works on her obedience training daily. She has learned to be social and gentle with our cats, she has learned socialization with other dogs. Something that was seriously lacking when she came to us. And she is learning to listen to her handler and do what is asked of her. She will kennel up on command no matter what else is going on, she is now training to go potty on command, and only on command. And she is a loving addition to any family. We are still testing her to see if she will make a good service animal but in the meantime she is enjoying a well balanced life with other animals and learning everything she needs to know to become a great family member.

  8. I enjoyed reading some of your articles and loved looking at the puppy names! I have 2 names that weren’t on your list. We named our first Golden Retriever “Woodruff”. We were on vacation in northern Wisconsin, driving through the town of Woodruff and had been talking about a name for the puppy we would pick up at the breeder’s on our way home. I made a joke that we should call him “Woodruff” because he “would ruff”! The name stuck and ironically, he was non-barking Golden! Lived to 15 years and passed away in 2005.

    Our second Golden is “Ole”, pronounced OH-lee – like the Ole and Lena or Sven and Ole jokes. He is a very light Golden so the Scandinavian name works, but once again the name started as a joke. I said he would be a “golden Ole” and my husband decided that was the name. It was not a name I wanted but the puppy picked it for himself. On our ride home from the breeder, with the puppy on my lap, I tried the names that I liked on him to see if we got a reaction. There was no reaction to Tanner or Tucker, but he panted excitedly when I tried Ole. My husband thought this was hysterically funny so I went through the experiment a second time 10 minutes later – same result! That settled it and the puppy became Ole for good. Now that he is just over 1 year old, we can see that the name was right for him – he is definitely an “Ole”!

  9. @Nicole, that is a cool name…I like that it came from the Godfather. I’m glad you left us a comment I hadn’t seen your blog before. I just subscribed to Don Vito’s blog.

  10. Well, I am a puppy raiser at GDA too and came across your blog.
    My puppy’s name is ‘Vito’ who is also Violet’s brother! Well ‘V’ names are kinda hard to come by…Vito was the Godfather’s name and it was too cool to pass up.

  11. My puppy’s name is George and it was picked by YOU 🙂 I think it suits him perfectly so we didn’t change it. He is a total George.

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