It's like a grapefruit on a toothpick!

February 12, 2009 1:39 PM

Help my neighbor name her new rescue dog with an enormous head! He's a black dog with white markings here and there. But the really distinguishing feature is his HUGE cranium! He is a super-sweet pit bull mix and is looking for something that will not add to the fear some will feel just by looking at him because of his breed.

You all helped me name my kitten (jersey cat) so I thought I would look here for help. Sorry, no picture.

posted by murrey to pets & animals (72 answers total)

Skully
posted by box at 1:43 PM on February 12, 2009

Sputnik?
posted by drjimmy11 at 1:44 PM on February 12, 2009

The Big Giant Head.
posted by Dreamcast at 1:44 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Bobble (head)
posted by CoralAmber at 1:44 PM on February 12, 2009 [3 favorites]

Matchstick
Magnacephalus
Edison (he looks like a light bulb)
The Brain
Kebab
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 1:44 PM on February 12, 2009

Phineas
posted by genmonster at 1:44 PM on February 12, 2009

"Pintsize?"
posted by CancerMan at 1:45 PM on February 12, 2009

Barry (Bonds)
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 1:45 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Brainiac
posted by CoralAmber at 1:46 PM on February 12, 2009

Hmm...Todd?
posted by madmethods at 1:46 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Noggin
Max Headroom
The Big Giant Head
Fluffy (for decreasing the fear factor)
Sweetums (see Muppet Wiki)
Sputnik (as in "head the size of")
Big Friendly Giant
posted by Flipping_Hades_Terwilliger at 1:48 PM on February 12, 2009

Jughead. Duh.
posted by notsnot at 1:48 PM on February 12, 2009

We had a kitten with a huge head that we named Bombhead (but with a Liverpool accent so bom-ed)
posted by zeoslap at 1:49 PM on February 12, 2009

Ohhh, I like Noggin suggested above.
posted by CoralAmber at 1:50 PM on February 12, 2009

Einstein
posted by zeoslap at 1:50 PM on February 12, 2009

I'm confused about what you're asking here.
Names for a big headed dog.

Moai
posted by inigo2 at 1:50 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Coconut!
posted by HotToddy at 1:54 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Dwight
Cranius Maximus
posted by mattdidthat at 1:54 PM on February 12, 2009

Some variation on the Thylacine (Tasmanian tiger - scroll down a bit to see a photo with its jaws open) - Tazzie, Thylo, etc.

Cerberus
posted by elendil71 at 1:56 PM on February 12, 2009

Bucephalus!
posted by Bromius at 2:01 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Melon.
posted by resurrexit at 2:03 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Bonce? Particularly as it sounds like Bounce (which terriers do) but means "head"? And is beloved of tough guy gangster sounding types (pit bull being a butch breed)
posted by Grrlscout at 2:05 PM on February 12, 2009

Kopfer (From German for head)
posted by Picklegnome at 2:05 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Bono
posted by Dr. Wu at 2:06 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

A girl I knew whose last name was Kennedy use to say that her name was Scottish for “large, misshapen head.” I always thought she was joking, but WP says “ The Gaelic personal name Ceannéidigh is derived from ceann meaning ‘head’ + éidigh meaning ‘ugly.’”
posted by ijoshua at 2:07 PM on February 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

This is possibly too obvious, but: Crane, short for "cranium."

Or Brain if you want people to think you named him Brian after the dog on Family Guy.
posted by kindall at 2:09 PM on February 12, 2009

Uber. Or Uber Q. Noggin if you prefer to be formal.
posted by quadog at 2:11 PM on February 12, 2009

I like "Noggin".

I also like "Noodle". Noodle is a funny word and it's slang for head. i.e., "Use your noodle".
posted by valannc at 2:11 PM on February 12, 2009

Definitely Sputnik.
"Spherical, but quite pointy in parts."
posted by pseudostrabismus at 2:12 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Bonk.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:17 PM on February 12, 2009

Another vote for sputnik.
posted by chez shoes at 2:17 PM on February 12, 2009

Monsieur Boeuf le Tête
posted by Alison at 2:22 PM on February 12, 2009

Murray Head

bonus points because then it makes this an eponysterical question
posted by geekyguy at 2:23 PM on February 12, 2009

A dog named Brainiac (especially if it was horrifically dumb) would be amusing.
posted by David Fleming at 2:24 PM on February 12, 2009

Nibbles.
posted by esmerelda_jenkins at 2:25 PM on February 12, 2009

Tiny
posted by pombe at 2:28 PM on February 12, 2009

Keeping with the So I Married an Axe Murderer theme, what about HEID
Also, I like Sputnik too.
posted by dearest at 2:43 PM on February 12, 2009

Um, my link didn't work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=varaAADgC84
Heid, as in "Heid! Paper! Now!"
posted by dearest at 2:44 PM on February 12, 2009

Zippy (the pinhead)
posted by The Light Fantastic at 2:46 PM on February 12, 2009

Noodle Noggin would make an excellent obscure Pinky and the Brain reference.
posted by CoralAmber at 2:47 PM on February 12, 2009

Tater.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 2:48 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Puddin.

Who's afraid of Puddin?
posted by Vaike at 2:52 PM on February 12, 2009

Don't name the dog after his big head, especially if it's a joke-y name. Some dogs can tell when they're being made fun of.

Seconding 'Puddin'. And nobody's afraid of Tigger, either.
posted by txvtchick at 3:06 PM on February 12, 2009

Hydrocephalus?
Acromegaly?
posted by scratch at 3:08 PM on February 12, 2009

Ziggy.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 3:18 PM on February 12, 2009

lollipop
posted by AaRdVarK at 3:21 PM on February 12, 2009

I like Melon and Sputnik. HEID! is good too, but you'd have to say it loudly for maximum effect.
posted by Pantengliopoli at 3:21 PM on February 12, 2009

Yeah Todd:
Sweeney Todd.

Otherwise Dr. Hippopotamus
posted by Namlit at 3:27 PM on February 12, 2009

Derby, Fez, Trilby, Porkpie, or other hat name
posted by carmicha at 3:30 PM on February 12, 2009

Rey Rey. That's 'king' twice in Spanish.

Disclaimer - our female pit mix is named Rae Rae. The name often gets a few chuckles and it totally fits her pit-ness.
posted by dog food sugar at 3:34 PM on February 12, 2009

Hedley
posted by cairnish at 3:38 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Cupcake.
posted by elpiconeroalcognac at 3:40 PM on February 12, 2009

I named my black and white rescue pit Ricky, as he's big, dumb, prone to violence, yet ultimately sweet and well intentioned.
posted by bunnytricks at 3:45 PM on February 12, 2009

Juggernaut
posted by mrbarrett.com at 3:55 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Wilson? (From whatever that Tom Hanks movie was, where his only friend was a soccer ball named Wilson.)
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:10 PM on February 12, 2009

I vote for Melon.
posted by newpotato at 4:14 PM on February 12, 2009

MODOK.
posted by MegoSteve at 4:23 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

I also immediately thought of Bobble . . . which also made me think Dwight. Both of which have been mentioned.

Melon and Sputnik are also pretty funny though. Then there's Nibbler. Or Quaffle, if you're an enormous geek like me.
posted by lblair at 4:32 PM on February 12, 2009

Seconding Hedley
posted by doctor_negative at 4:39 PM on February 12, 2009

Tiki
posted by orme at 4:45 PM on February 12, 2009

Charlie Brown
posted by orme at 4:46 PM on February 12, 2009

Pep Boy
posted by orme at 4:51 PM on February 12, 2009

Yes! Modok!
posted by electroboy at 4:52 PM on February 12, 2009

Zardoz. But only if you train him to spit rifles out of his mouth.
posted by Eddie Mars at 5:12 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Pumpkin
Cupcake
Lollipop
Bobble
posted by aquafortis at 5:22 PM on February 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

If you wanted to go a little highfalutin' you could name him "Gately" after one of the main characters in David Foster Wallace's novel Infinite Jest, who in the book is a former high school football player and current AA member who is described as having such a huge and sturdy cranium that he would win money on bets back in school by letting his classmates close doors on it and hit it with golf clubs and so forth. Or you could use Gately's old nickname, "Bim" (Big Indestructible Moron) or "Bimmy."
posted by letourneau at 5:32 PM on February 12, 2009

Frasier.
I remember the episode where the Italian restaurant put a character of Frasier Crane on its "Wall of Honor," and he was sooo upset because they made his head so big. "I look like a refugee from Easter Island!"
posted by Oriole Adams at 5:45 PM on February 12, 2009

Cranium!
posted by exceptinsects at 6:57 PM on February 12, 2009

Moai, as per Oriole Adams' story
posted by primer_dimer at 2:54 AM on February 13, 2009

Oh... Of course: Tadpole
posted by Namlit at 3:38 AM on February 13, 2009

mailbox
posted by modernpoverty at 6:37 AM on February 13, 2009

If he's playful, I've always thought "Frolic" would be a great name for a pet.
posted by specialnobodie at 11:26 AM on February 13, 2009