# How did you choose your puppy's name?



## GrammaD (Jan 1, 2012)

The GSD puppy I am waiting anxiously for will be my 4th dog I get to name and I always have fun with picking registered names and call names. I am already playing with name idea for my (hopefully!) new little guy and was wondering how other people pick names?

My shelties of the past were:

(kennel name) Blu Bi You - call name B.B (like BB King, cause he's a blues man and BB was a bi-blue boy )

(kennel name)'s Secret Society- call name Mason (a bi-black and a stunning boy who looked like he was always in a tux!)

Then our Lab, who my son named is-

(kennel name) Abby Labby Bo Babby- call name Abby (because we were playing "the name game," he said, so why not just run with it. Plus he thought it would sound cool at agility trials LOL)

and my rescue Golden Retriever has no registered name and we disliked the name he was tagged with by AC when they saved him from his neglectful owners (Dakota) and since he is deaf due to untreated ear infections we shortened it up to "Cody" without worry about unsettling him. It suits him although sometimes I wish I had gone with Midas because he has the "Golden touch" and everyone who meets him loves him.

My GSD pup-to-be may be tagged with-

(kennel name) Brave New World- call name Huxley (one of my favorite books and getting a GSD is a step into a whole new world for me LOL)

But I am still playing around 

So tell me how you picked your puppy's/dog's name - I am hoping to expand my naming horizons


----------



## *Lisa* (Nov 20, 2011)

Registered Name: Carissima's Callie
Call Name: Jazmyn

My husband and I love all things Disney (we were engaged at Disney World) and are huge huge fans of Mickey Mouse. We didn't want the obvious Mickey/Minnie/Daisy reference so we researched female Disney Names.

We narrowed it down to Alice and Jasmine. In the end, Jasmine won BUT we changed the spelling to JAZMYN. We call her Jaz from time to time (We both are into music, and hubby plays the saxophone)

She was a C Litter for the breeder, so we both liked Callie for her registered name. No particular reason on that one, just a name we both agreed on


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I had a beagle named Pink because the breeder put pink nail polish on her back nails so we knew which one I picked out. 

Our last gsd was named 'Omy' [sounds like Oh-me] which is a German name for Grandma.

Stosh [should be spelled Stache but no one would say it right] is the German/Eastern European 'Stan'. Stosh was a big slow solid chunky puppy and I thought Stan was a good name. And Stosh is easy to say- he took to it right away, and there isn't another one around. I like names that are fun to say and the dog won't hear anywhere else


----------



## mthurston0001 (Jul 12, 2009)

I swear, the next dog I get from a "D" litter will be called _Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem_


----------



## rascott (Jan 25, 2012)

I've named my dogs for places that I've traveled to.

My oldest 10 yr old dog (GSD mix) is named Krabi for a small village/province in southern Thailand, and my 4 month old GSD rescue puppy is named Lukla, for a small village in Nepal that is the jumping off point for trekking to Mt. Everest.


----------



## robinhuerta (Apr 21, 2007)

Our next litter is our D-litter.....the male & female puppies that we keep back (IF we hold back both) will be (possibly) named: *DRAMA & DOOM...*


----------



## BR870 (May 15, 2011)

My son choose it. Out of the E names that we had come up with, that was the one he liked the most.


----------



## iBaman (Oct 25, 2011)

Don't have a registered name for him yet, but before we even knew we were going to get him (we just went and looked at puppies), my SO noted that he looked like a Sheldon...and he totally does. Although, after watching Tangled again, he could be a Maximus...That horse is Sheldon to a T...xD


----------



## GrammaD (Jan 1, 2012)

mthurston0001 said:


> I swear, the next dog I get from a "D" litter will be called _Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem_


:wild: LOVE IT! LOL

Really fits with the "landshark" tendencies of the breed, no?

I'll be giggling about this one all day LOL


----------



## GrammaD (Jan 1, 2012)

iBaman said:


> Don't have a registered name for him yet, but before we even knew we were going to get him (we just went and looked at puppies), my SO noted that he looked like a Sheldon...and he totally does. Although, after watching Tangled again, he could be a Maximus...That horse is Sheldon to a T...xD


You could totally use "Big Bang Theory" for his registered name if you go with Sheldon 

And I have to tell you- both that reg name and the call name are ones I considered!


----------



## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

Whiskey and Wiva were named by their breeders because they were both in the "W" litter. Weird coincidence! 
I picked Puddi's name after this Japanese commercial that fits her personality really well


----------



## iBaman (Oct 25, 2011)

GrammaD said:


> You could totally use "Big Bang Theory" for his registered name if you go with Sheldon
> 
> And I have to tell you- both that reg name and the call name are ones I considered!



Lol, We've already got him. He's 8 months old =3 We went with Sheldon, and I considered Big Bang Theory for him...or just Big Bang xD


----------



## jprice103 (Feb 16, 2011)

Our next puppy will be from the "F" litter (hopefully) so we picked Faegen. It means "Joy". What can possibly be more joyful than a puppy!! Not sure what the call name will be yet though. We are tossing around a couple of names, but we will most likely wait to see him to see what fits!


----------



## Shavy (Feb 12, 2009)

I'm a chef, so all of my pets end up with food names. I picked brisket this time around because it's relatively easy to say, it's a quintessential jewish food, and he is a massively meaty puppy.  I narrowed it down between that and "Lox" and let my son pick which we'd go with.


----------



## fishernut (Dec 15, 2011)

Without seeing him, I think Huxley is perfect (love the Brave New World reference!)


----------



## cta (May 24, 2011)

we wanted something different, so we went for a turkish name (SO is turkish). we were going to name him "asi"...pronounced "ah-see" because it means rebel. then i found out he had a nog named asi as a child, so i gave it the boot. then we thought of "aslan" pronounced "ah-slahn", meaning lion...his feet were so gigantic it seemed to fit in that respect, but it just didn't feel right. we finally picked coban, or to americanize it, chobahn, which means shepherd. along the way he has picked up the middle name "seytan" which means devil


----------



## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

"Hunter" has been my favourite name since I was little... I think it is a very fitting name for a German Shepherd, too!


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

Earlheim Helmar vomVollKommen, (aka) Loki.
Earlheim (e litter), Helmar (a friend gave this name),
vomVollKommen (breeder request), Loki (a friend gave
this name). i don't know if Earlheim is really a name,
i made it up.


----------



## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Shavy said:


> it's a quintessential jewish food, .


Really? I had no idea brisket was considered Jewish food. I've learned something new here. How is it generally cooked?


Kopper was from the "K" litter. Our breeder told us we could pick a "K" name or we could have her come up with his registered name. We kicked around "K" names for weeks-- Kumho, Koffee, Kaffeine, Kimbo. . . I wanted a name that wasn't too tough, but also not too sweet. We seriously considered Kimbo but I didn't want to be explaining who Kimbo Slice was ten years from now. We finally settled on Kopper because it can be both soft and snuggly, or kind of tough. 

Now we call him Kopper Top and he leaves Kopper mines all over the yard.


----------



## JackB. (Jul 29, 2011)

My husband and I loved the TV show LOST. The names we picked out were either Jack, Charlie, or Boone. Jack seemed the best fit.


----------



## robinhuerta (Apr 21, 2007)

The three C-puppies are named:
*Chica, Chatta & Caruso.*


----------



## marshies (May 18, 2011)

My breeder named my girl, A-litter Amaretto, call name Puppy (puppup, pupper, pup-a-lub-lub). It goes with the whole Cuervo, Whiskey, Vodka alcohol theme.  



robinhuerta said:


> The three C-puppies are named:
> *Chica, Chatta & Caruso.*


Now why couldn't you use some of these two-syllabled words of wisdom in naming Amaretto?

Now my pretty, elegant girly has the most undignified call name ever!! 

I love Chica and Drama!


----------



## Shavy (Feb 12, 2009)

Emoore said:


> Really? I had no idea brisket was considered Jewish food. I've learned something new here. How is it generally cooked?


Yeah, it's a pretty traditional main for shabbos and holidays; everyone has their own way of making it (or their bubby's way  ), but I'm a fan of braising it in red wine and stock, with carmelized onions, a few garlic cloves, and whatever herbs strike my fancy that day. Omnomnom....


----------



## GSDMUM (Aug 18, 2011)

Cheyenne - I wrote down lots of names from all of the lists on the dog name sites. I asked my husband which ones he liked and didn't. We finally chose a name we really liked and because we just love the Southwest and western names.

Brandy - I picked that because as a child a neighbor down the street had a dog named Brandy and I thought it was the nicest name. I always wanted a dog named Brandy.

Frisco - Again I looked at lists of dog names and picked this one because it sounded spunky and lively. Turned out that's exactly what he was like.

Bandit - just popped into my head

Cat named Quincy - looked at cat names, loved Quincy because it sounded friendly and unusual.

Brids names - Tiki and Tango ( budgie book said that these birds like names beginning with t's and c's because it is easier for them to "pronounce" IF they are talkers.


----------



## Saschasmydog. (Aug 26, 2011)

Sascha- German for Protector of Mankind, plus its a pretty name. I am 28 and wanted a female gsd named Sascha since I was 18. Earlier this year I got her. I didnt know the meaning of the name until about a month prior to getting her.


----------



## jetscarbie (Feb 29, 2008)

JackB. said:


> My husband and I loved the TV show LOST. The names we picked out were either Jack, Charlie, or Boone. Jack seemed the best fit.


 
haha. awesome! We named our youngest male Walt after the character Walt in LOST. We use to laugh so hard everytime the dad (michael) would yell out really loud, over and over again....wwwaaalllttt! Then he would always say "where's my boy?"
Even though we call him walt, we don't say it normal. We say it ...wwwaaalllttt.


----------



## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

Back in the "hairband" days there was a band called Nelson. The Nelson twins are sons of Ricky Nelson.
One of the twins is named Gunnar. I had a huge crush on him and swore one day I'd name my dog after him.









That's Gunnar at the top. I finally got my dream when I picked up my furball in Nov 2008. 

Ok, just kidding. I love telling people that. They look at me like I have two heads. Even my husband tells them that story, as a joke of course.

I really don't remember how we came up with the name. I had a list of names and we dwindled them down to Gunner and Luke. I really like the name Luke, but wanted a name with two syllables. 
You know, it sounds better when you're yelling at them. Gun...NERRRR!!!! 
So Gunner it was. I didn't realize how popular that name was until I joined a GSD forum and found quite a few.


----------



## Rua (Jan 2, 2012)

Registered Name: Minna Vom Der Steiger
Call Name: Juno

Myself and hubby always said that if we got a GSD, we'd name it Bowzer because we were big into the Mario games as kids. But on the car ride home, Bowzer just didn't fit our girl. She was too 'delicate' for it. That name is best suited to big oafish boy GSD, methinks. 

So we had a good brood about it. We both really loved the humour and the name of the cheeky character from the movie Juno. The minute we said the name "Juno" to our girl, her ears perked up and that was that. She more or less decided for us! 

We also have a cat named Ramsay. He's named after the chef Gordon Ramsay because he's always in the kitchen complaining about the food.


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Onyx was named for her black coat and then her white diamond on her chest reminded me of a jewel. 
Karlo's call name came from his great great grandfather....I looked back in his pedigree for inspiration. Pike was a choice as well, but I like the strength of the name Karlo and it isn't as common.
Kacie came with her name. 
Clover, my Golden/Border cross was born on St Patty's day....I wanted something fitting for that.
Stomper was named to honor my step-dads GSD...I fell in love with the breed because of Stomper.


----------



## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Franz von Knoefler - call name Dante. He was F litter and already named when I got him at 4.5ish months old. I don't care for the name Franz and so had a list of names that I said out loud on the 8ish hour drive home from the breeders. I liked the way Dante rolled off my tongue and he responded to it so it stuck.

Kaos von Wolfstraum - call name Kaos. I liked the name Kaos, always have (In any spelling) and it was also on Lee's list of K names she liked


----------



## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

I have always liked darker things and I knew I was getting a black male GSD so when I heard the song Hero/Heroine by Boys Like Girls I named my male Sinister. I LOVE his name. My mom thought that I was naming him after the Harry Potter character Sirius Black so she said "Oh, so his name is Sinister Black" even though the name was wrong I thought that sounded pretty good so his registered name is Sinister Black.

Malice is a word I liked that went well with Sinister. She is also solid black so a darker name was perfect for her. I haven't registered her yet but I will register her as SBD Posejpal's Vengeful Maleficent.

SBD Posejpal is the breeder name.

Maleficent is my favorite disney villian and she wants revenge so that's why I chose the word vengeful.


----------



## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

Siren: If you heard her mouth, you wouldn't have to ask!!!!

Wrangler: I wanted a "western" type name since he was a "cow dog". Since he was a blue merle, and Wrangler jeans are blue AND the jean of choice for most cowboy/country folks including myself. Wrangler seemed to fit.


----------



## k9sx5 (Nov 29, 2011)

My boy will be from the Z litter so I'm calling him Zieger (German for winner except with an s). Although once he's home he might choose a different one like Destructo, Goof, Shark etc etc.


----------



## Josie/Zeus (Nov 6, 2000)

Koda is from the S litter, I named him Alta Tollhaus Senon. Senon means "a gift from Zeus", very fitting if I may say so. 

Koda is his call name given to him by his original owner. I love his call name.:wub:


----------



## muddypaw (Jan 8, 2012)

Her registered name is Kalin. We chose "Shadow" instead because as a pup she followed me around ALL the time....she still does that, so it's perfect. She IS my shadow...


----------



## WendyDsMom (Nov 18, 2011)

I saw pictures of Wendy before we met her - I though she was DARLING! Her registered name is Wendy-ful Angelica Darling and her call is just Wendy-D, or Wendiferous one.

I had a list of names for a GSD picked out - but I can no longer remember them, I did name my Lab - Tabitha Lady in Black Velvet - Just Tabbie for short, Her mom was Lady in Black Velvet <Kennel Name> registered in England (I bought her in England while I was living there). I always wanted to name SOMETHING Tabitha.

Daughter would have been Tabitha, had she been first. Then I became obsessed with Heather.... guess what daughter is!


----------



## Fiddler (Feb 9, 2011)

I had recently lost my shepherd after 12 years and after being chosen from many, many applicants by a rescue to be the new Mommy for the 8 week old Pure Bred GSD they had online, three of my friends said to me in the same day that she was sent to me by the grace of God. I named her Gracie. 

A previous shepherd was named Ella after my mother, another was Kate because I like to play the tune Bonnie Kate on the fiddle .


----------



## Sif's Mom (Jan 24, 2012)

*Sif*

Well we decided to name her after a strong german legend of goddess. So after doing research we decided to name her Sif...Sif was one of the warriors that fought along side Thor...later becoming his wife. So when we went to pick her up we found out her daddy was named Odin...so it was fate and Sif came to live with us.


----------



## Vinnie (Sep 4, 2001)

I won’t bore you all with the past dogs but fast-forward to our current gang.

We have the oldest who is Jesse. She’s a mix so no registered name. DH named her after Jesse James.

Next is Dalton who’s registered name is Sadie Roses Giovanni. DH again decided on the call name after the Dalton brothers. I also liked it because I really liked the movie ‘Road House’ at the time. His registered name is after his grandmother (Sadie) and mother (Rose). His breeder did not have a kennel name. The name Giovanni is Italian and means “God’s grace” or “God is gracious”. 

Sundance’s registered name is Ezio zu Treuen Händen. DH also picked this call name. Of course he is named after the Sundance Kid. The registered name my son helped to pick and ends with the breeder’s kennel name. I was looking for months for a name that began with the letter “E” and just couldn’t come up with one I was really happy with. Went to dinner with my son one evening and asked him for a suggestion and he blurted out with no hesitation, Ezio. The name comes from the books/game the Assassin’s Creed and when I looked up the meaning of the name I really liked it. In Italian it means “friend” in Greek it means “eagle”. I sent the name off to the breeder in an email and she approved. So the full registered name means “friend of loyal/faithful hands”

Butch’s registered name is Dario von der Staatsmacht. Call name from DH after Butch Cassidy. The registered name I picked the first part and ends with the breeder’s kennel name. When looking I realized that both Dalton’s and Sundance’s registered names were Italian (not planned) so I started looking at Italian names. I wanted something unique and meaningful. Dario means “peace keeper” or “the one with peace in him” in Italian. DH also liked it because of the Indy race car driver. His full registered name means “peace keeper from the state of power”.

So we really have a few themes going on within our names. Call names are all old west outlaws (the cat’s name is Wyatt – the only lawman) and registered names have a meaning and are Italian/German. Generally, my DH picks the call names and I find a registered name.


----------



## DorothyM (Aug 29, 2011)

My husband is Italian, his favorite movie is Rocky....thus... We have a Rocky. =)


----------



## Angelina03 (Jan 9, 2012)

We, or rather I, chose Rocco because I wanted a name that sounded very masculine and "hard". I started off with Rocky, but felt it was too common. Rock was to short for my liking, so it became Rocco with the Italian spelling because Hubby is Italian. 




muddypaw said:


> Her registered name is Kalin. We chose "Shadow" instead because as a pup she followed me around ALL the time....she still does that, so it's perfect. She IS my shadow...


I love the name Shadow. I had a black cat named Shadow and she was a sweet little thing. I miss her so...


----------



## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Josie/Zeus said:


> Koda is from the S litter, I named him Alta Tollhaus Senon. Senon means "a gift from Zeus", very fitting if I may say so.


OH that is fitting. Very nice.


----------



## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

Our dogs were named by me, Gabor (we are the breeders) or by Cara. Mia was named by Cara, as it is her middle name. We try to pick names that would also fit as call names.

Lisa - Vala is one of the V girls.....


----------



## Razzle J.Dazzle (Sep 8, 2011)

Razzle is named after the drummer from Hanoi Rocks....Razzle Dingley  Let's see who's a true 80s music fan around here


----------



## JoMichelle (Jan 20, 2012)

Winter is called winter because... it just came to me! Actually I thought it was completely random but when I told a friend she said "Oh, Winter, that's the name of the dolphin from A Dolphin's Tale", then it occurred to me I had watched that movie a few days before. I must have subconsciously picked it, I love dolphins


----------



## Gracie's My Girl (May 27, 2011)

The breeder's grand-daughter named all of the puppies in the litter. We stuck with the name she picked...Gracie.  If I ever get another dog, I will try to be a little more creative and pick a more meaningful name.


----------



## Hercules (Aug 1, 2010)

The first dog I ever owned was a two year old rescue named Hercules. My parent made Mr rehome him during Christmas when I was on leave. In his honor when I adopted me two puppies, I stuck with the Greek mythology and named the boy Zeus and the girl Juno


----------



## Jacobs-mommy (Jun 8, 2012)

My daughter (9) and me are both huge twillight fans. So since gsd look like wolves she chose to name him jacob and i agreed cause i thought it was cute. His middle name ( blaze) came from my sons ( 15 & 7 ). So since we were at a tie for the name he got a first and middle name. Jacob Blaze.:wub:


----------



## rooandtree (May 13, 2012)

Fraya our 9 year old was named after my husbands grandmothers shepherd..and the Norse Goddess of love.....Zeus our 5 month old..we kept with the God theme...and picked Zeus as he is the God of all GOds and the God and protectoer of the SKy..because my daughters name is Skyler..therefore Zeus is now Skylers protecter


----------



## LukasGSD (May 18, 2011)

I didn't have a litter letter with Jaxon and even though I didn't have to include his Kennel's name I did anyways. So he is Bo Jaxon vom True Haus. (Because Jaxon vom True Haus was already taken.)

While anticipating my puppy I could not think of a think until I woke up the day of picking him up and said LUKAS. It means light, and at the time he was the light of my life, made everything so much better when I was in a miserable place. They said they'd not seen me smile that big in forever.

I think my next dog, my first girl will be coming out of a D Litter. So I've been thinking Dodger.

I get more creative with my Cats. 
Pigeon because she cooed and tilted her head funny and she was grey with bright orange eyes.
And our newest girl we named Sansa from Game of Thrones.


----------



## doggerel (Aug 3, 2011)

Pyrrha's name comes from Italo Calvino's absurdist novel _Invisible Cities_, which my husband and I read together and loved. Pyrrha (pronounced "peer-ah") comes originally from Greek mythology, where she was known for repopulating the world's women by throwing stones over her shoulder, alongside her husband Deucalion. 

It works as a dog name, though, because it's easy to say and doesn't sound like any other name or command! Most people are totally baffled by it when we try to tell them her name--but there's no use spelling it for them either.


----------



## gaia_bear (May 24, 2012)

I'm a tad bit of free spirit so wanted an earthy name but couldn't find anything that really clicked. After much research and many hours reading on the internet I settled on Gaia (pronounced guy-a) who is/was the Greek Goddess of Earth which sums up everything I had been looking for. 

It's a bonus that it's a different name so I don't have to worry about running into too many Gaia's.


----------



## gmcwife1 (Apr 5, 2012)

When we got our first kitten 14 yrs ago our now 23 yr old named him Oliver from the Disney movie Oliver and Company. Since then we have name each of our animals a Disney movie character name.

Our Samoyed's are Kenai and Koda from the movie Brother Bear. Our rescue cat was named Phantom because he always hid. Well he doesn't alway hide in our house, so he has been renamed Max from Tangled.

Our GSD puppy was named Nita from Brother Bear 2


----------



## childsplay (Jan 28, 2012)

Well, I needed a masculine name for a pup from a "U" litter. After much debate, my family agreed on Uther Pendragon, who was King Arthur's father. Lots of people think Uther is a German name and it seems to go well with a German Shepherd. We've never met another Uther.


----------



## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Hans was the name we chose for our future German Shepherd in, oh, 1988  We love Germany, love travelling there, and the name is so very typical. Also, monosyllabic and sounds kinda like a bark. We thought it was perfect for a German dog.

Norden was chosen for his registered name because he is from the "N" litter. Since we got him from New Brunswick, Canada, which way north of us, he is named North in German.


----------

