Dog Names That Start With P

This sweet, fruity French name debuted in the American charts in 2020 (but dipped out again the following year). Although it's offbeat, the spunky nicknames Prue and Nell(ie) definitely work in its favor.

A handful of baby girls were named Poem in the US in the most recent year, along with Poet and Poetry. But of course, these word names can work for boys too.

Panda, welcome to the baby name menagerie! Panda is an adorable animal name (after an adorable animal) that is sure to be both very rare and very cute. In Skins there was a character called Panda, which was short for Pandora. The name Panda comes from the Nepali word ponya meaning "bamboo eater".

A bit pharmaceutical, not to mention hatlike.

Though unrelated, this would probably be taken as a fanciful spelling of Patsy.

A peachy-keen take on the fruit names Peach and Peaches. Peachy has the additional colloquial meaning of "satisfactory."

Coined in the 1960s to define the smallest photographic element of a televised image. It's a portmanteau of "picture" + "cell" or "element".

Many parents these days are responding to names meaning peace, and this is one of the more unusual ones (more often heard as a surname). Pronounced PACH-ee-a, it relates to such other peaceful names as PAZ, PAX, and PAXICO

Paterson is a surname-name to continue a line of Peters and also the name of a city in New Jersey, hometown of poets William Carlos Williams and Allen Ginsberg.

Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon may be a worthy namesake, but "poncey" is British slang for effeminate. An alternative might be Quintus, this name's Latin equivalent, or one of its variations.

This operatic Italian name -- it appears in Mozart's "The Magic Flute" -- is a more unusual route to the nickname Pam/Pammy.

Friendly Slavic rarity.

In the Zulu and Xhosa languages of Southern Africa, Phila is a unisex name pronounced "PEE-la" and means "to live of life" It's also the feminine version of the ancient Greek name Philo, pronounced "FEE-la", meaning friend or lover and present in several contemporary names and words used throughout the Western World. The name Philip, for instance, means lover of horses, while the city name Philadelphia means "brotherly love" and philosophy means "love of wisdom".

Associated with the "Star Trek" commander of the USS Enterprise.

As Polydoros, this rare Greek name belonged to several figures in Greek mythology, including a son of King Priam of Troy.

Pirate is best known as one of the middle names of pop sensation Billie Eilish, who was born Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell. In a 2017 BBC interview, she revealed, "Pirate was going to be my [only] middle name but then my uncle had a problem with it because pirates are bad." Now Pirate attracting more interest, along with the rest of Billie Eilish's names.

This spelling does not dispel the "perv" connection.

Spanish speakers use this name for Jesus Christ only. Probably a good policy.

Pasqual is the ultimate Eastertime name, though we prefer the French variation Pascal.