Dog Names That Start With A

Depending on the kanji characters used, this attractive and energetic Japanese name can have a variety of meanings relating to nature.

Less substantial than many other Latin choices.

Basque soccer star Aritz Aduriz helped propel this distinctive name -- derived from "haritz," the Basque word for "oak" -- to the Top 100 Spanish baby names.

Another appealing member of the Alexandrian clan.

Handsome young actor Armie Hammer put this name on the map in 2010, when he rose to national attention for playing the Winklevoss twins in David Fincher's "The Social Network." His full name is Armand, after his great grandfather, wealthy Los Angeles businessman Armand Hammer.

A commonly used name in Māori culture, Amiri refers to the wind that blows from east to west. A 2011 New Zealand film titled Amiri & Aroha is a modern Māori interpretation of Romeo & Juliet.

Names that have not historically been names are not intrinsically gendered, so though we originally pinned Arrow as a boys' name, both starbaby Arrows that have been born recently have been girls. And with Arrow given to 60 girls in the US in 2015 and 94 boys, we call that a pretty decidedly gender neutral name. With its forward-moving, true-landing imagery, Arrow is one of the new inspirational names.

A very unique fruit name heard more often on peachy-colored dogs than on baby girls.

Not to be confused with the Aria/Arya name family, Arja is a variation of Irja, which ultimately is derived from Irene.

Depending on the kanji characters used, this attractive and energetic Japanese name can have a variety of meanings relating to nature.

Plausible word name, denoting strength and stability.

Anabel is the sleekest version of this lovely name with so many variations, all of them correct. But Anabel and all her sisters -- Annabel, Annabelle, Anabella etc. -- took a downward turn after the 2014 horror film Annabelle.

Atari the baby name is directly correlated with Atari the company. It joined the baby name charts in 1979 when the popular video game Space Invaders was released. It was given to small numbers of boys and girls for the next few years and reemerged in 2006 following Atari Bigby's NFL draft.

This name from the Igbo language of Africa, which feels like the more-familiar Arabic Ahmad, might be an original and attractive choice.

A zingy nickname-style name that was used occasionally in the early twentieth century, and returned to the charts in 2020. There are no obvious names it could be short for, which is all the more reason to use it on its own. In Kate Manning's historical novel My Notorious Life, the character Annie Muldoon gets the nickname Axie because she "axes" so many questions.

Adelynn is one of the many variations rising on the heels of the lovely, old-fashioned (and yes, sweet) name Adeline.

Short form of Alfred that had fallen out of favor, but could come back alongside Alfie and other clunky old-style nicknames like Gus and Ike.

Americans use Asani for their sons and daughters, but it originated as a Swahili masculine given name. With its bold meaning and popular -i ending, it was one of the fastest rising gender-neutral names in 2023, given to exactly the same number of girls and boys.