Struggling to come up with creative and uncommon name ideas for your puppy? Lacking imagination, but your dog deserves to be unique?
I hear you, and fear not.
Today we’re talking pet names here on VeryRealVet.
No, not for your spouse, or that guy you’d been slowly-slowly reeling in with the help of a Kylie lip kit and a pinch of voodoo mind control.
This, friends, is an article about dog names. There is no place for significant others (or cats) on this page.
So, how to choose a unique and creative name for your canine companion?
Step 1: Spit on the floor. The shape of the puddle spells the first letter.
Step 2: Peel an orange all in one go, and throw the skin over your left shoulder. The shape in which it lands, equals letter number two.
Step 3: Drink a steaming mug of fresh brew. The tea leaves will reveal letter number three.
Step 4: Consult a start chart for the day of your dog’s birth to determine letter four,
Step 5: Seek the services of a palm reader, to establish letter five, and finally
Step 6: Spin counterclockwise in a circle six times with your eyes closed, and then promptly google “what name can you name your dog?”

Don’t worry – I’m only joking.
The above would take far too long.
As a vet I have had the dubious honour of welcoming many unexpected names into my consult room, such as “Indiana Bones”, “Mr Chips”, “Virgil Van Dog” (footy fans will understand), “Flip-Flop” (the kids named him) and – interesting choice – “Stalin”.
Today, I’ve gone a step further.
I’ve broken a collection of unique and memorable names down, by subcategory (because I really am that anal).
You can thank me later.
Lists will not be alphabetical – because it’s sunny out, so who has time for that?
Here we go!
Rare, Posh Dog Names
I love me a posh dog name! But it must be uncommon, to have impact.
Here are some absolute gems.
FEMALE
- Araminta (“Atty”, for short)
- Pandora
- Prudence (“Pru’)
- Saskia
- Hermione
- Clementine (“Clem”)
- Iris
- Cressida (“Cressy”)
- Astrid
- Fenella (“Nelly”)
- Daphne
- Aurelia (Or Aurelie, if you fancy something a little more continental)
MALE
- Basil
- Cosmo
- Otis
- Digby (Dogby may be pushing it)
- Othello
- Barnaby
- Sylas
- Ptolemy (“Tolly”)
- Rupert
- Crispin

Distinctive English (And Other UK) Dog Names
Shout-out to Wales and Scotland as contributors, too.
FEMALE
- Hatty (short for Harriet)
- Gladys
- Violet
- Ottilie (“Tilly”)
- Pansy
- Penny (think Penelope, then make it do-able)
- Twiggy (a real golden oldie)
- Gail
- Phyllis
- Bronwyn
- Posy
- Esme
- Beatrix
- Daisy (shameless plug)
- Sybil
- Kitty (just to confuse people)
MALE
- Osian
- Newton
- Drake
- Bryn
- Dai
- Kipling (as in, Mr Kipling’s Cakes)
- Darwin
- Stig (for the Top Gear fans)
- Melvyn
- Fergus (actually, I am not sure if perhaps this is Irish…)
- Macbeth
Truly Unique Dog Names (That Are Still Unique)
Claim it before anyone else does!
FEMALE
- Ariel
- Athena
- Wren
- Suki
- Winter
- Ulrika
- Clover
- Uma
- Gigi (short for Genevieve, if you like)
- Heidi
- Flora
- Fleur
- Siren
- Daffodil (“Daffy”)
- Iona
- Lemony
- Elfie
- Zora
MALE
- Ivo
- Apollo
- Kite
- Nero
- Zeus
- Raffy
- Red
- Dazzle (“Daz”)
- Jingle
- Vesper
- Gnarles (BARKley!)
- Candle
- Kestrel (“Kes”)
- Jupiter
- Zippy
- Frosty
- Iglu (or Iggy)
UNISEX
- Cloud
- Twist
- Copper
- Tiny (I especially like this name when ironically applied to large breeds)
- Boots
- Sketch
- Lots of other ‘doing’ words also work! Try: Skip/Skipper ; Skater ; Hopper ; Nipper (hopefully he isn’t); Tipper; Piper; Spy; Dreamer; Flip/Flipper (although of course, people may mistake him or her for a sea lion)
- Dancer, Dasher (especially appropriate for Christmas puppies)
- Whilst we’re in the business of stealing reindeer names, why not consider Comet, Cupid or Vixen?

Uncommon Food-Related Dog Names
These are pretty much all unisex.
- Bacci
- Quaver (1990’s kids will understand)
- Estrella
- Minty
- Peach
- Parfait (could always shorted it to “Fay”)
- Oliver
- Ginger
- Mr Chips! This is my favourite dog name of all time…I don’t even know why
- Cherry-Pie
- Tofu
- Sprite
- Fanta
- Cannoli
- Gumbo
- Heinz (baked beans)
- Frazzle (Brits will get it)
- Cinnamon
- Kiwi
- Bagel
- Costa (coffee!)
- Waffles
- Plum
- Maple
- Miso
- Sushi
- Skittles
- Sherbert (easily shorted to Bert)
- Tuna

Uncommon Dog Names From Movies
…And from TV shows, too.
Screen-inspired dog name ideas that aren’t yet excessively mainstream.
- Casper (the friendly ghost)
- Ygritte, Gilly, Shay, Yara (as in GoT)
- Rue (Hunger Games)
- Nala and Samba are overused, but consider Mufasa, Zaza or even Scar
- Baloo, Mowgli, Bagheera (Jungle Book)
- Forrest (Gump)
- Zorro (foe of the Musketeers)
- Xena (self explanatory)
- Indiana/Indie (likewise)
- Nemo (as in, finding)…also consider Dory (rarer)
- Stitch (I meet so many dogs called Lilo, but rarely a Stitch)
- Merry (LoTR)
- Romeo, Macbeth, Puck (thanks, Shakespeare)
- Sherlock, Watson (Elementary, my dear)

To Finish – A Word On Overdone Dog Names
Aka, how not to be unique.
In case anybody is still here, I want to take a moment to counsel you against selecting one of the following incredibly over-used (in the UK at least) names.
These names will bore your vet into a veritable coma. Some days, it seems like 90% + of my consult list is made up exclusively from the following names!
Like everybody else, I appreciate originality. Variety is the spice of life, after all.
And, as a vet, I am highly, highly qualified in judging you as an owner entirely by your choice of pet name.
The Done-To-Death Names – FEMALE
- Luna
- Lola
- Bella
- Roxy
- Ruby
- Honey
- Bailey (kind of a unisex name, really)
- Mable; used to be quite rare, but then people caught on to how cute this name is, and now maybe one-in-ten puppies I vaccinate are called Mable
The Done-To-Death Names – MALE
- Buddy
- Teddy
- Variations of Buddy or Teddy (“Bud”, “Ted”)
- Milo
- Barney
- Blue (like Mable, Blue used to be cool, but now there’s too many of ’em)

Please let me know if you shortlisted (or went with) any of my suggested names for your pet (I really do want to know) and if so which one!
Let me know too if there are any you really love (or hate)…
See you soon,
Daisy xx
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