6000+ Dog Names

Doesn't everything sound better with a French accent? Sylvain, the French variation of the Roman wood god's name, sounds somehow cooler and more sophisticated than Sylvan.

Subtle but clear unisex way to signal peace, especially in middle place.

If you feel, as many parents do, that Gabby or Gabi is too harsh a short form for the mellifluous name Gabriella, try Brie, Brielle, or Briella.

Reese Witherspoon's Deacon has opened this churchy direction for occupational names. It reentered the US Top 1000 in 2015.

A pretty, rarely used Greek name, Thalassa is the ancient personification of the sea, particularly the Mediterranean, who is sometimes considered the mother of Aphrodite. In 1991, a newly discovered moon of Neptune was dubbed Thalassa.

Though it may not be as sweet and gentle as, say, Violet, the purple-hued Hyacinth still might hold some appeal for the parent seeking a truly unconventional flower name.

Rani, alternatively spelled Ranee, is the female equivalent of Raja in Hindi. In many Indo-Aryan languages it can mean "queen" or "lady". The Hebrew version is used for both genders in modern Israel. Actress Kate Hudson and director Danny Fujikawa named their daughter Rani after Fujikawa's late father, whose name was Ron.

Classic Mary has many international variations and the strong, pretty Maryam is the Arabic, Persian, and Urdu form. Popular in many countries across the world, from Azerbaijan to France, The Netherlands to Iran and from England to Russia, Maryam is the form of Mary that appears in the Quran.

Well used in the Latino and Italian-American communities.

Fable, like Story, is a word name with real potential, combining enchanted tale-telling with a moral edge. And soundwise, it would fit right in with the likes of Abel and Mabel.

Sidra is an uncommon name shared by a gulf off the coast of Libya. Popular in the Jewish community of North Africa, its Hebrew meaning refers to a weekly reading portion of the Torah. In Arabic, it's the name of a tree, which is an Islamic symbol of the upper limit of heaven.

Dune is a name of several layers. It's a modern nature name, like Ocean, Bay and Reef, although rarer, conjuring up images of breezy sand dunes on summer beach days.

Related to blackberry plants and colloquially to any thorny shrub, Bramble also has history as an English surname.

Lili has been blooming in many forms for a couple of decades now. The Lili version will surely get more attention now that the Duke and Duchess of Susses, aka Harry and Meghan, are using is as a short form for their daughter Lilibet Diana's name. Lili makes the slight and light though that is not necessarily a bad thing; it also mutes the name's floral identity and gives it a cute and quirky repetitive spelling, ala Coco and Lulu. A famous German song is titled Lili Marlene.

Zuma was entered in the American name lexicon when musicians Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale chose it for their son. Californians will recognize Zuma as the name of a beautiful beach in Malibu, and it's also the surname of a South African president. With the lovely meaning of peace and its place-name associations, Zuma is one of those American names that literally sprang from the earth.

Anais, the name forever attached to the daring French-born American novelist and diarist Anais Nin, is unusual and French enough without appending an e, though some may think it clarifies pronunciation.

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.

Wisecracking waitress name stuck in the luncheonette. Started as nickname for girls named Regina -- queen in Latin -- now mostly a canine choice.

Halo is a glowing word name that's both cosmic and spiritual, and with its shiny imagery and bright sounds, it was one of the fasted rising names in 2023.

A brisk and beachy word name. For those of us saddened that Cove now has negative connotations, Coast could be an appealing alternative.