Dog Names That Start With S

Peppy cheerleader with African roots.

Western African variation of Sa'id

Short for Samantha or long for Sam, Sammy is a sweet midcentury nickname name that we can see coming back.

Relaxed, with an appealing touch of swagger.

It has a variety of associations from Smokey Robinson to Smokey the bear, but Smokey still feels a bit comical for a baby.

Somehow, the S versions are even more passe than the C's.

Part of a group of similar midcentury names rarely given to babies today.

Feisty floral name that would work better as a middle name than as a first, so called because of the flower's resemblance to a dragon's open mouth.

Snowy has only ever appeared on the charts twice: in 2013, when it was given to 6 baby girls, and in 2016, when it was used for five. With recent celeb choices such as Stormi and Thunder, could Snowy be next on parents' lists?

Sister is an old-timey nickname-name for girls, ranking in the Top 1000 as a proper name for girls until the beginning of the 20th century. But more often, Sister was used as a nickname in the truest sense of the word, not a short form ala Kathy but a nickname in the way that Chip and Bud are. Or maybe Junior is a more appropriate name analogy: Sister was sometimes the nickname given to the only girl in a family of boys, so literally a descriptive word name like Junior.

River is rising as a new favorite name, and names of rivers are also increasingly used for our child.

Selphie Tilmitt is a character in the popular video game Final Fantasy VIII. An orphan like the other main characters, she's described as upbeat, friendly, and energetic....though she wields a mean nunchuk. Given the name's resemblance to the photo term "selfie," this one is off the table, even for enthusiastic gamers.

We call Savvy a Modern Virtue Name, a contemporary version of the Puritan's Hope and Charity, extolling the virtue of shrewdness. And who doesn't want their daughter to grow up to be Savvy in the ways of the world? So far, this name has been used only for girls, perhaps because some parents remember the women's magazine called Savvy.

Variant of Solara

Familiar as the most common form of greeting in Hebrew, but also associated with top female model Shalom Harlow.

Stormy and variations have always been more common among girls, but there's no reason you shouldn't use it for a son. Storm was historically more masculine, until the arrival of Stormi Webster.

Selby, a rarely heard British surname, feels sleeker and more distinctive than Shelby. Todd Selby, known primarily by his last name, is a hip photographer of interiors.

Serafin and Seraphim are much less known and used in the US than the feminine forms Serafina and Seraphina, but just as appealing. An out-of-the-box Spanish option with a deep history and an animated meaning.

African-American and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth was born as Isabelle into enslavement. She adopted her new name when she began traveling and preaching abolition in 1843. Sojourner is a heroine name that may, with the rise of spiritual word names such as Journey and Genesis, finally be ready for prime time.

Slash is here because model Amber Rose and Def Jam Records exec Alexander AE Edwards named their baby boy Slash Electric Alexander. Is it cool? Or is it violent and terrifying? Or is it both? We're going to go with Door Number 2 and place it in the same category as names like Dagger and Pistol, but we are not models or record execs.