Dog Names That Start With W

West is the most fashionable of what you might call the direction names, with North and East (or Easton and Easter) coming up behind, and South not yet on the map.

Name made famous by the macabre character Wednesday – middle name: Friday – Addams is taken from the name of the day dedicated to the Anglo-Saxon god Woden, who relates to Mercury. Cartoonist author Charles Addams was said to choose the name because "Wednesday's child is full of woe."

The name Wilder is still used more than 90 percent of the time for boys, but it's being used quietly for girls too. Along with the rest of the Wild and Wiley family, it's one of the hottest baby names starting with W. Certainly giving your child of either gender such a, ahem, wilder name is setting them up for a certain kind of character and future.

This dignified German form of William belonged to two German Emperors and Kings of Prussia, as well as a host of other important historical figures. These include composer (Wilhelm) Richard Wagner, philosophers Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, and physicist Wilhelm Roentgen, who discovered the X-ray. It now sounds rather dated in Germany, however, having dropped out of the Top 20 there in the late 1920s and continuing to decline since.

Winslow's most famous reference may be male painter Winslow Homer, but as a name it's beginning to be on the rise for girls. Adorable nickname Winnie may be the reason. Other unusual painterly possibilities for either sex: O'Keeffe, Hopper, and just plain Painter.

Aside from President Wilson (born Thomas), most Woodrows, including Herman, Guthrie, and Harrelson, have chosen to be known as Woody, which says it all.

In the US, Wilma is appears to be eternally fossilized in Bedrock as Fred Flintstone's wife, but in Sweden it's a Top 10 hottie. It did have its moment in the US--from 1912 to 1940 it was a Top 100 name. One notable namesake: track and field star Wilma Rudolph.

Whit is an uplifting short form of any number of surname-y full names, for Whitman to Whitaker to Whitney. But Whit stands perfectly well on its own and makes for a witty spin on modern virtue names.

This artistic and aristocratic surname is a bold and daring choice, but with nature inspired names like Wren on the rise, and surnames-as-first-names being in vogue, Wyndham was a fast riser in 2023.

Winslet is one of a legion of surnames newly considered fair game as first names. The inspiration may be British star Kate, but she's not the only reason parents are attracted to Winslet, one of those British girl names that sounds at once classy and winning. Yet be warned that if you choose this, people will forever assume you are major fans of the actress. Other Win- beginning names up for new consideration: Winslow, Winston, Wynton, Winifred and Winnie, along with just plain Win or Wyn or Wynn.

This name has hardly been used since Wendell Willkie ran for president in 1940, and doesn't feel anywhere near ready for a revival.

While Woodrow is too forbidding, its nickname Woody is a bit cartoonish, as in Woody Woodpecker and the animated cowboy character in Toy Story. Woody Allen was born Allen.

With the rise of such working names as Gardener, Miller, and Bailey, someone out there might want to dub their child a Wizard — though we're not sure this exactly classifies as an occupation.

The final -e takes this from a daring word name to a literary honor name, for the inimitable Irish author, poet and playwright Oscar Wilde, infamous for his wit and flamboyance.

Whimsy is a new entry to the ever-expanding word name lexicon, sister for Pixie and Bliss. While it has an undeniable offbeat English aristocratic charm (maybe we're thinking of Dorothy Sayers' fictional detective Lord Peter Wimsey, whose middle name was Death?), we see this as more fitting for a middle than a first name.

Warrick has recently come into the spotlight as the character Warrick Brown on the TV show CSI. The more conventional spelling is Warwick, a medieval English noble name.

This variation of Wesley moved into the Top 1000 among boys' names in the US in 2016, perhaps because it makes the name less like Lesley and more Western, with the cowboy nickname West.

What with the resurgence of W names like Weston and Walter, the prominence of high profile actress Emma and golfer Bubba, and even the attention paid to Watson, the IBM computer on "Jeopardy" (named for IBM's founder, Thomas Watson) this name could be in line for a revival of its own.

The name of a character from Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist manga and anime series. She is a strong-willed teenage mechanic, who has consistently been ranked among the best female characters in anime. Winry, along with several other Win names such as Winnie, Winona, and Winslow, are now on the rise. The name Winry was given to 136 baby girls in 2022.

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