Boy Dog Names That Start With W

This weapon name, linked to arms manufacturer Smith and Wesson, entered the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2016.

A fairly common nickname in England that has never caught on in America. The rise of acronyms like MILF and DILF probably won't help its prospects going forward.

Proper Bostonian.

A Leave It to Beaver/old comic-strip name, vacationing for years with the Griswolds in WallyWorld, but now back as WALL-E?

The Wolfe spelling shifts this name from animal name to surname-name, aggressive to aristocratic. One source suggests that bearers of the Wolfe family name were all fierce and cunning and/or hunters of wolves. An intriguing choice.

Unfortunate identification with an army of rats in the movie of the same name.

There have been many great Willies (Mays, Nelson, Wonka), but a boy with this name could never ever go to England. Most people will also assume it is short for the more traditional William, which might be the best avenue for achieving this nickname.

William was such a popular name, thanks to the Conquerer, in early England that it gave rise to a range of nicknames, including the distinctly Scottish Wilkie. Heard mostly as a surname these days, it's the middle name of Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick's son James and the first name of writer Collins. While Wilkie could make an adorable short form for a little boy, we'd recommend a more substantial full name such as, well, William.

See WYNTON.

Wellington is a tony-sounding English surname turned baby name by pregnancy guru Rosie Pope, who calls her son Wells for short. It's also the middle name of one of the Sweet Home sextuplets, Blu Wellington.

Its jaunty o-ending makes this name more appealing than most of its Germanic brothers, and we hope we're beyond the constant response to his name being "Where's Waldo?" The weighty reputation of writer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson adds a measure of backbone to the name.

A domesticated take on Wolf, if the animal name is too ferocious for your liking. Wolfie has never charted as a given name in the US, but that may soon change now that Wolf names are of interest following Kylie Jenner's baby name change.

Windsor may have male references, such as Britain's royal House of Windsor and a tie's windsor knot, but this name also has a definite feminine feel, as in Windsor Rose. That seems appropriate, as Windsor is used equally these days for boys and girls.

One of the few rainbow names that is masculine, Walken is a Noongar Aboriginal word.

Asking for trouble.

In the old days, this might have been a short form for Dewitt, but today it's more likely to appear as a witty word name. We approve.

Wisdom is a rare modern virtue name that might increase in use as this whole category becomes more mainstream. Wisdom is one of the gender-neutral names now on the table for both boys and girls.

A name that's long been popular for dogs on Chicago's North Side is now gaining traction among human babies. Wrigley Field is the Chicago Cubs' historic ballpark, originally named after the Wrigley Company, which made and sold chewing gum.

In literature identified with The Sorrows of Young Werther -- not much to wish on a child.

Slightly more modern than Walter, but only just.