122 names

122 famous dog names from history and classic books

A famous name gives your dog a built-in story. Every dog on this list is either a real animal with a documented place in history or a character from a book old enough to be in the public domain, so you can borrow the name freely.

You will find sled dogs, space dogs, war heroes, White House pets and some of literature's best-loved hounds. A few entries, such as Gelert and Peritas, sit between history and legend, and the notes say so.

Start with the sound. A good call-out name is one or two syllables and ends in a clear vowel or hard consonant, like Balto, Togo, Fala or Buck. Longer titles such as Just Nuisance are fun on paper but tend to get shortened in daily life. Browse for a story you enjoy telling, then say the name aloud a few times.

Sled dogs, explorers and space pioneers

Balto♂Siberian Husky who led the last leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome, Alaska; statue in Central Park
Togo♂Lead dog of Leonhard Seppala who ran the longest, hardest stretch of the 1925 serum run
Chinook♂Lead sled dog on a Byrd Antarctic expedition in the 1920s
Taro and Jiro♂Two Sakhalin Huskies who survived alone in Antarctica after being left at a Japanese research base in 1958
Leoncico♂Dog that crossed Panama with Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513
Seaman♂Newfoundland who traveled with Lewis and Clark on their 1804-06 expedition
Laika♀Moscow street dog and the first Earth-born animal to orbit, aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957; her name means barker in Russian
Belka♀Soviet space dog who orbited and returned alive in 1960; the name means squirrel in Russian
Strelka♀Belka's flight partner in 1960; the name means little arrow in Russian
Dezik♂One of the first dogs to fly to space, on a suborbital flight in July 1951
Tsygan♂Dezik's partner on that 1951 flight, recovered unharmed
VeterokFlew on the 22-day Kosmos 110 mission in 1966, still the longest orbital flight by dogs
UgolyokVeterok's partner on the 1966 flight
Chernushka♀Made one orbit in March 1961 as a test before the first human spaceflight
Zvezdochka♀Orbited once in March 1961 and was named by Yuri Gagarin; the name means little star
Pushinka♀Puppy of Strelka who became a White House pet under President Kennedy
Marjorie♀Research dog in the 1921 Toronto experiments that led to insulin treatment
Snuppy♂Afghan Hound, the first cloned dog

Faithful companions and local legends

Hachiko♂Akita who met his owner's train in Shibuya, Tokyo, for nearly ten years after the owner died in 1925
Bobby♂Small terrier said to have kept watch at his owner's grave in an Edinburgh kirkyard for 14 years; the story is debated
Bobbie♂Collie-Shepherd mix who walked about 2,551 miles (4,105 km) from Indiana back to Silverton, Oregon in 1923-24
Owney♂Mascot dog who rode US mail trains in the 1800s; now preserved at the National Postal Museum
Shep♂Border Collie who met trains in Fort Benton, Montana, from 1936 to 1942 after his owner died
Dżok♂Dog in Kraków, Poland, who waited at a roundabout for a year after his owner died there
Ruswarp♂Border Collie who stayed beside his owner's body for 11 weeks in the Welsh hills
Capitán♂German Shepherd in Argentina who guarded his owner's grave until his death in 2018
Patsy Ann♀Bull Terrier who greeted ships in Juneau, Alaska
Nig♂Hoover Dam mascot from 1932 to 1941
Red Dog♂Kelpie who wandered across Western Australia and became a local legend
Bob the Railway Dog♂Companion of South Australian Railways workers in the late 1800s
Sallie♀Civil War regimental mascot honored with a statue at Gettysburg
Old Drum♂Hunting dog at the center of an 1870 Missouri trial and the famous Eulogy of the Dog
Pickles♂Mixed-breed collie who found the stolen World Cup trophy in London in 1966
Fido♂Abraham Lincoln's yellow mixed-breed dog, left with a friend in Springfield, Illinois
Stickeen♂John Muir's Alaska companion, the subject of his 1897 essay
Jock♂Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross who inspired Percy FitzPatrick's 1907 classic Jock of the Bushveld
Beautiful Joe♂Rescued dog who inspired Marshall Saunders's 1890s novel of the same name
Charley♂Poodle who traveled across America with John Steinbeck in Travels with Charley

War heroes and service dogs

Stubby♂Mascot of the 102nd Infantry in World War I; promoted to sergeant and now displayed at the Smithsonian
Smoky♀Yorkshire Terrier of World War II credited with 12 missions and eight battle stars
Chips♂Husky cross honored for bravery in the 1943 invasion of Sicily
Rags♂Mascot of a World War I Signal Corps unit
Gander♂Newfoundland killed in 1941 protecting Canadian soldiers in Hong Kong; Dickin Medal in 2000
Judy♀Pointer on a Royal Navy ship who survived a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp and won the Dickin Medal
Just Nuisance♂Great Dane enlisted in the Royal Navy; died in 1944
Bamse♂St. Bernard who became the symbol of the Free Norwegian Forces in World War II
Antis♂Czech airman Václav Bozděch's German Shepherd, who served in the RAF; Dickin Medal 1949
Bing♂Alsatian who parachuted into Normandy with the 6th Airborne Division
Rip♂Mongrel who found people buried in London air-raid rubble; Dickin Medal 1945
Beauty♀Wirehaired Terrier who located buried air-raid victims
Irma♀Alsatian rescue dog who worked with a British civil rescue service in World War II
Rifleman Khan♂Alsatian who rescued a soldier from drowning under fire in 1944
Sheila♀Collie who helped save four American airmen lost in a blizzard in the Cheviot Hills
Thorn♂Alsatian who found casualties in a burning building during the war
Tich♂Mongrel honored for devotion with the King's Royal Rifle Corps from 1941 to 1945
Bob♂Mongrel who patrolled in North Africa with the Royal West Kent Regiment; Dickin Medal 1944
Sinbad♂Mascot enlisted by the crew of a US Coast Guard ship
Kurt♂Doberman credited with saving at least 250 Marines in the 1944 Battle of Guam
Nemo♂German Shepherd in Vietnam who saved his handler despite losing an eye
Moustache♂Barbet that reportedly served in Napoleonic-era battles
Treo♂Labrador cross who found roadside bombs in Helmand in 2008; Dickin Medal 2010
Theo♂Springer Spaniel with a record 14 explosive finds in Afghanistan
Sasha♀Labrador who found 15 explosive devices in Afghanistan; Dickin Medal 2014
Buster♂Springer Spaniel who found a weapons cache in Iraq in 2003
Lucca♀German Shepherd who served six years with the US Marines and lost a leg to a bomb
Cairo♂Belgian Malinois on the 2011 raid against Osama bin Laden
Mali♂Belgian Malinois who marked enemy positions in Afghanistan despite three injuries
Kuno♂Belgian Malinois who held down a gunman on a special forces raid, despite two gunshot wounds

Rescue, police and guide dogs

Barry♂St. Bernard at the Great St Bernard Hospice, reportedly saved about 40 people
Buddy♂German Shepherd who partnered with Morris Frank as one of the first formally trained guide dogs in the US
Salty♂Labrador guide dog who led his owner down the World Trade Center stairs on 9/11
Roselle♀Labrador guide dog who did the same for her owner on 9/11
Bretagne♀Golden Retriever, the last surviving 9/11 search dog, died in 2016
Trakr♂German Shepherd credited with finding the last survivor at Ground Zero
Sirius♂Port Authority police dog lost in the World Trade Center on 9/11
Swansea Jack♂Welsh dog credited with rescuing swimmers in Swansea Bay
Zanjeer♂Labrador with Mumbai Police, given a state funeral after the 1993 bombings
Sombra♀Colombian police detection dog credited with 200-plus arrests
Kabang♀Philippine dog credited with saving two children from a crash

White House, royal and writers' dogs

Fala♂Franklin D. Roosevelt's Scottish Terrier
Checkers♂Richard Nixon's black-and-white Cocker Spaniel
Laddie Boy♂Warren G. Harding's dog
Rex♂Ronald Reagan's Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Millie♀George H. W. Bush's Springer Spaniel
Barney♂George W. Bush's Scottish Terrier
Bo♂Barack Obama's Portuguese Water Dog
Major♂Joe Biden's German Shepherd
Champ♂Another German Shepherd of the Biden household
Maida♂Sir Walter Scott's deerhound cross, named for the 1806 Battle of Maida
Boatswain♂Lord Byron's Newfoundland, buried at Newstead Abbey under a famous epitaph
Flush♂Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Cocker Spaniel, later the subject of a Virginia Woolf book
Pompey♂Pug credited with warning William the Silent of an assassination attempt

Racing, sport and screen stars

Mick the Miller♂Greyhound who won the English Greyhound Derby two years running
Master McGrath♂Irish Greyhound whose racing fame earned him an audience with the Royal Family
King Buck♂Labrador field-trial champion, first dog pictured on a US duck stamp
Ashley Whippet♂First famous disc dog and three-time Frisbee world champion in the 1970s
Strongheart♂German Shepherd silent-film star of the 1920s

Dogs of classic books

Toto♂Dorothy's dog in L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Buck♂St. Bernard and Scotch Shepherd mix in Jack London's The Call of the Wild (1903)
Spitz♂Buck's white husky rival in The Call of the Wild
Dave♂Morose husky wheel dog on the sled team in The Call of the Wild
CurlyGood-natured sled dog in The Call of the Wild
White Fang♂Part-wolf hero of Jack London's 1906 novel
Bull's-eye♂Bill Sikes's dog in Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist
Jip♂Dora Spenlow's spaniel in Dickens's David Copperfield
Diogenes♂Large dog adopted by Florence Dombey in Dickens's Dombey and Son
Montmorency♂The narrator's dog in Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat (1889)
Toby♂Tracking hound Sherlock Holmes borrows in The Sign of the Four
Patrasche♂Nello's loyal dog in Ouida's A Dog of Flanders (1872)
Kashtanka♀Lost mongrel in Anton Chekhov's 1887 story of the same name
Mumu♀Dog rescued by a deaf serf in Ivan Turgenev's 1854 story
Quincas Borba♂Dog who shares his owner's name in Machado de Assis's novel
Owd Bob♂Sheepdog hero of Alfred Ollivant's 1898 Bob, Son of Battle
Red Wull♂Owd Bob's fierce rival in the same novel
Crab♂Launce's scene-stealing dog in Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Lad♂Rough Collie hero of Albert Payson Terhune's 1919 book Lad: A Dog

Dogs of legend

Argos♂Odysseus's dog in the Odyssey, who recognized his master after 20 years and then died
Gelert♂Legendary Welsh hound at the heart of the Beddgelert story
Bran♂One of the hounds of the Irish hero Fionn mac Cumhaill
Sceólang♂Bran's companion hound in the Fenian Cycle
Luath♂Cuthullin's dog in the Ossian poems
Peritas♂Alexander the Great's favorite dog, largely legendary

Tips for choosing

Pick a name whose story fits your dog. A sprinter might suit Mick the Miller or Ashley Whippet, a velcro dog suits Hachiko, and a clever little escape artist might suit Strelka.

Many of these have nicknames that are easier to call. Sergeant Stubby becomes Stubby, and Master McGrath becomes Mac. Check that the short form does not sound like a cue you already use, such as "sit" or "no".

Want a family-friendly option? Fala, Fido, Flush, Toto, Jip and Jock are all easy to say and easy to remember. If you would rather browse by theme, try Greek mythology dog names or the dog name generator.

Frequently asked questions

Which famous dog names are best for a short call-out?

Balto, Togo, Fala, Buck, Jip, Rex and Rip are all one or two syllables and sound clearly different from common cue words. Say the name out loud in a normal voice and in a happy voice before you commit.

Why are both Balto and Togo on a list of famous sled dogs?

In the 1925 serum run to Nome, Alaska, Balto led the final leg and got most of the fame, including a statue in New York's Central Park. Togo, the lead dog of musher Leonhard Seppala, covered the longest and hardest stretch, about 261 miles (420 km), and many historians now argue he deserves equal credit.

Are the dogs in this list real?

Most are real animals, including space dogs, war dogs, search-and-rescue dogs and presidential pets. The rest are characters from public-domain books or ancient myth, such as Toto, Buck and Argos. We left out dogs from modern films, TV shows and books that are still protected by trademark or copyright.

Can I name my dog after a hero dog if my dog is not a working dog?

Yes. A name is just a name, and plenty of family pets carry names like Chips or Stubby. If you want ideas that are less tied to a single story, try old-fashioned dog names.