Pug Names

This affectionate nickname was historically used for children with strong pink undertones, and was given as a first name several times throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. We prefer it as a pet name these days, or perhaps as a nickname for the stronger and more striking name Pink.

A Leave It to Beaver/old comic-strip name, vacationing for years with the Griswolds in WallyWorld, but now back as WALL-E?

Part of the trend for formerly canine royal names; this is one a little girl might love—up till the age of eight.

Best left at the Jersey Shore.

Bean is a unisex word name with a cute and quirky feel. Early reader series Ivy and Bean features a young girl named Bean, short for Bernice Blue. It has appeal as a casual nickname or middle name, but it's harder to imagine as a given name.

You can call your baby "babe," but don't name her that.

The original southern Good Ol' Boy.

Cookie is most often used as a dog name, and it should stay that way.

Prince rose to its highest ranking in a century in 2015, and the tragic death of its most famous bearer in April 2016 propelled it even higher. The Purple Rain legend isn't its only tie to pop royalty: Michael Jackson chose it for not one but two of his sons. Royal names such as King and Prince, once thought of as canine, have begun to be used by human non-royals for their sons.

Gussie is fussy — try Gus.

The "To Be or Not to Be" jokes, via Shakespeare's tortured prince, will get old by Month Two.

Darth Vader, as in the Star Wars villain, is said to mean "dark father"

Prime pert-teenager name in midcentury TV shows, replaced by Maggie.

Friendly but flimsy.

Dodo is one of the few names of the cute repeating-sounds genre that is not alas so cute, being a slang word for someone brainless as well as the name of the infamous extinct bird. Dot, Dottie, Dory, or Thea are all preferable.

Cutesy pet form of Clementine.

This unusual spelling was used by Johnny Knoxville for his son.