Help me name my dog please...

September 5, 2009 9:16 PM

I've had this dog for… a long time, I’m ashamed to admit how long. I keep thinking I’ll just ‘come up with’ a name, like I have with past cats and dogs. I am stumped.

She is ten, 15 lbs, Chihuahua / min pin mix (I think).
She is interested in people, tolerates other dogs, and ignores cats as if they were houseplants.
She jumps for joy like min pins do, and has the skinny legs, but a stocky chi body. She is black.
She loves food, and will climb like a mountain goat if there is food at the top of whatever.
She is an excellent companion and dog friend. She follows me around from room to room, and snoozes while I am still, but is up as soon as I move.
I was thinking a traditional girls name might fit her…
Maybe a Spanish name since she's a chi?
I’d like a two-syllable name that’s easy for me to say, and call at the dog park, as I have to yell pretty loud for her to her me (she is going deaf).
Feel free to disregard my preferences tho, as these restrictions so far have left me with no ideas.
She is a wonderful companion, who so far has just been ‘the dog’. I owe her a name. please help… I feel so lame about not being able to come up with anything that fits her.

posted by saragoodman3 to pets & animals (88 comments total)

Gladys.
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:20 PM on September 5 [1 favorite]

Can I just throw out there I will pay you $5 for naming rights? Since it is Saturday night and a holiday weekend and everything.
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:21 PM on September 5 [2 favorites]

I always seem to end up with boy dogs, so I'll give you the dog name I have always hoped to name a girl dog.

Stella.

Just the thought of you standing outside yelling, "STELLLAAAAAAA!" every time you call in a somewhat deaf chihua-pin would give me a happy.
posted by jamaro at 9:23 PM on September 5 [25 favorites]

J Lo.
posted by synthedelic at 9:30 PM on September 5

She follows me around from room to room ... I’d like a two-syllable name

Velcro!

Maybe a Spanish name since she's a chi?

Spanish pronunciation.
posted by zippy at 9:32 PM on September 5 [3 favorites]

Charo
posted by corey flood at 9:38 PM on September 5

A woman came up behind her husband while he was enjoying his morning coffee and slapped him on the back of the head.

"I found a piece of paper in your pants pocket with the name 'Nita' written on it," she said, furious. "You had better have an explanation."

"Calm down, honey," the man replied. "Remember last week when I was at the dog track? That was the name of the dog I bet on."

The next morning, his wife snuck up on him and smacked him again.

"What was that for?" he complained.

"Your dog called last night."
posted by netbros at 9:41 PM on September 5 [3 favorites]

I think The Dog is pretty cool, like she's the ultimate dog, the platonic ideal of DOG
posted by kathrineg at 9:41 PM on September 5 [2 favorites]

Post her photo!
posted by Ashley801 at 9:46 PM on September 5

Leeloo
posted by buzzv at 9:47 PM on September 5 [2 favorites]

Misha

Daphne

Laney

Mya

Lucille, Lucy

Macy
posted by gursky at 9:51 PM on September 5

When I was reading your list, my mind was racking up all my favorite girl dog names, but before I could start typing, I read jamaro's suggestion. And I love it. Seconding Stella!
posted by HotToddy at 9:52 PM on September 5

Mariana Trench.

Actually, that's just my favorite name of the moment. If there were a porn star with that name I would be a fan.
posted by Jawn at 9:58 PM on September 5 [3 favorites]

Gidget
posted by MsMolly at 10:03 PM on September 5 [1 favorite]

I agree we need a picture. My pets, bizarrely, tend to get named after foods. So I need to see ... what kind of food she looks like.

But, I doubt I'll beat Stella. That's the greatest idea ever.
posted by fritley at 10:03 PM on September 5

Carmen.
posted by googly at 10:09 PM on September 5

Stella, but pronounce it like Velcro.
posted by orme at 10:11 PM on September 5 [1 favorite]

Tupac
Vigo the Carpathian
Dogbot 5000
Madam Barksalot
Dogface McGee
She Who Must Never Be Named
posted by dephlogisticated at 10:35 PM on September 5 [4 favorites]

Fritley, not to derail...but what are your pets' names? I'm imagining Vytorin commercials for some reason, you know the ones with picture of banana cream pie and your aunt flo in her yellow bowling outfit?
posted by arnicae at 10:39 PM on September 5

Chi Chi
Duh.
posted by QueerAngel28 at 10:47 PM on September 5

Jamaro is on to something. Pick a name that's fun to yell. Stella is really good for a female. My dad's idea that my sister went with for a male dog is Norton, because that's what Ralph Kramden always yelled out in the Honeymooners. I've since pestered a friend to name his eventual dog Spaulding, because that's what Ted Knight yells in Caddyshack, which is one of my friend's favorites.

Stella is a good idea, but if you don't like it, there are other good yelling names. Edith (All in the Family), Alice (Honeymooners again) etc.
posted by Doctor Suarez at 10:49 PM on September 5

Stellaaaaaa!

and i have a cat that i have had for three months and i still can't name him. so i hear ya. my dog's name is clark.
posted by faintly macabre at 10:57 PM on September 5

Giant.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:58 PM on September 5

"Dipha."
"Dipha?"
"Yeah. Dipha 'dog'."
posted by obiwanwasabi at 11:05 PM on September 5 [1 favorite]

I adopted a very similar dog last year from the SPCA in New Orleans, black, min pin/chi mix, friendly, stocky, etc., and was all set to name her Stella...

... until I was searching Flickr for pictures of Carl Weathers and came across these two dogs who looked exactly like my dog, and were named Carl Weathers. I figured it was a sign, named her Carl Weathers (I just say Carl when I'm calling her) and it's worked out great. She's a ridiculous dog so the name lends itself to her personality.

I'm all for adding another Carl to the world, but I also agree Stella is a great name for the dog you're describing.
posted by jalexc at 11:29 PM on September 5 [1 favorite]

Another vote for "Stella". And yes, it is a good idea to take into consideration what you will sound like at the dog park when you call your dog.

I named my dog "Doctor" after my grandfather. (Yes, his given name was actually "Doctor".) I don't regret giving him that name, but I do get some strange looks when I'm yelling "Doctor!" at the top of my lungs across a crowded park.
posted by trip and a half at 11:57 PM on September 5

Pilar (this is the name of one of the characters from 100 Years of Solitude and the feminine of Pilon from Tortilla Flat if you want to get all literary)

Chuya (pronounced "choo-yuh," this is short for Maria de Jesus)

Ursula

Fixie, Mixie, Pixie, etc

Mochi

Peanut

Sugar

Mami

Panela (this is a kind of brown sugar)

Fixie, Mixie, Pixie, etc

Mochi

Peanut
posted by Juliet Banana at 11:59 PM on September 5

When I was in college, we found a cat on our front doorstep.

It being the new cat, we first called him "New Cat."

10 years later, the poor thing's name is still "New Cat."

Another vote for Stella.
posted by Seppaku at 12:11 AM on September 6

Lola
posted by Diagonalize at 12:11 AM on September 6

Wehyah. But don't ever say it out loud.
posted by wobh at 12:24 AM on September 6

What does she answer to? I mean, if you've had her for ten years, she's probably got some idea of what her name is. She probably thinks her name is Baby or Dog to begin with. In which case, I suggest you give her an awesome meta name, like with racehorses. Like Dr. Stella Mixie Velcro de la Fantastico. Pronounced Dog.
posted by Jilder at 12:27 AM on September 6

Deeogee (D-O-G)
posted by Acacia at 12:29 AM on September 6 [1 favorite]

I'm The Dog, so that's what you call me. You know, uh, that or, uh, her Dogness, or, uh, Dogger or, uh, El Dogerino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
posted by bpm140 at 12:53 AM on September 6 [1 favorite]

Our jackapoo is Chelsea, but our most common call is "Come on, The Dog".
posted by flabdablet at 1:45 AM on September 6

Vishnu.
posted by philip-random at 1:53 AM on September 6 [1 favorite]

Zelda!
posted by Mizu at 3:33 AM on September 6

PeePee

Pippa

Boogie

Shisha

Noogie

Mucha

Doobie

Dinah

Fancy

Puta

Perra

Peachy

Panda

Jackie-O

Clawdette

Sloopy

Queenie

Xuxa
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 4:12 AM on September 6

Fishface.
posted by mullacc at 4:38 AM on September 6 [1 favorite]

"Fore", if she likes chasing a ball.
posted by nonspecialist at 4:42 AM on September 6

my first cat was named Kitty ... 'cause she arrived as a kitten.

The next cat was named Puss.

If I had a dog I would call it Dog.

YMMV
posted by jannw at 4:43 AM on September 6

Chiquita, which just means "small girl" - and it's cool because you can also call her Quita or ChiChi, or Chiqipoo, or Banana. :) Does she like bananas?

I also like Lola or Lolita; there's something sort of "lolling" and lazy about that, plus LoLo and Lolly are cute nicknames.

Onyx, with Nyx as her nick.

Calla; Frida; Elvira; Flora; Inez; Lalla; Bella.
posted by taz at 4:55 AM on September 6

Oh, I forgot NINA! My neighbor had a great dog named Nina Simone. Best name ever.
posted by taz at 5:00 AM on September 6

I usually call my pets after the place I get them from; Paris and Raqqa (in Syria). Last year I brought a dog from Egypt. An egyptologist proposed 'Kemet' which means black in old-Egyptian and also was the name used for Egypt in those days (meaning fertile land, as opposed to the white sand of the desert).
I don't know where you got her from and if that would make a suitable name. Since she's black and Spanish, you could try Negro (pronounced well) or just Perro, meaning 'dog' in Spanish.
posted by Zinda68 at 5:20 AM on September 6

Ok, indirect answer to your question, although echoed by an earlier response. I had a cat for 18 years. She died in 1999, rip. Her common name was PC. This evolved from when she first adopted me as a stray young adolescent in 1981. She started out as Cat, but she was rather chubby, so we began calling her Fat Cat until someone suggested she might actually be pregnant whereupon as responsible young college music students, we renamed her Pregnant Cat.

Well, you know, once it was obvious she wasn't pregnant we felt odd referring to her in that way as it might have made her uncomfortable. Thus PC.

So, my suggestion is MD for My Dog. She's yours after all and you love her.
posted by michswiss at 5:37 AM on September 6

Pepper. It's feisty and comes in black.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 6:05 AM on September 6

Biggie Smalls. Or Stella.
posted by Dolley at 6:34 AM on September 6 [1 favorite]

How do you address her? Do you say "The Dog"?

As in, "Hey, The Dog, would you like your chow now?" Or, "Little miss The Dog, be still The Dog, we are just bathing you, good good good good The Dog, oooooh, The Dog is so good to be still, good good good let me do your paw...."

Have you had her this long and not gone to the dog park? Have you had her this long without any training that would require direct address?

I have called animals by their common noun, before, but animals with long show names so there was something more unique on their vet files and so on.

Whatever you call her now, that's her name. But she could have a nickname, if you want.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 6:39 AM on September 6 [1 favorite]

I owe her a name. please help…

Your story reminds me of one of the plots of The Neverending Story (umm, spoilers, I guess) where this kid Sebastian keeps reading that he needs to give someone a name, and he keeps putting it off and putting it off, until it's almost too late. He eventually breaks down and gives that someone the name "Moonchild", so I was going to suggest "Moonchild", but then you said that a two-syllable Spanish name might be cool, so I'm going to suggest "Luna" instead.

Luna.
posted by 23skidoo at 6:40 AM on September 6 [2 favorites]

Nibbles.
posted by esmerelda_jenkins at 6:47 AM on September 6

Blossom.
posted by Wordwoman at 6:51 AM on September 6

Anonymous?
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:58 AM on September 6

Lupe Vélez.
posted by elsietheeel at 7:01 AM on September 6

rarf

Go outside yelling that a few times....
posted by HuronBob at 7:07 AM on September 6 [1 favorite]

I think a good name for a dog is Diogenes, because like Diogenes, a dog defecates where it pleases.
posted by Modus Pwnens at 7:27 AM on September 6

I had a cat named Orange Cat. How about El Perro, since she's maybe spanish-ish.
posted by codswallop at 7:32 AM on September 6

It has to be LOLA!!
posted by frizelli at 7:37 AM on September 6

We had a cat for a long time that we couldn't figure out a name for. After a while she became "No Name" and that was her name thereafter.
posted by Sassyfras at 7:55 AM on September 6

Jane Doe.
posted by Lou Stuells at 7:59 AM on September 6 [1 favorite]

my aunt had a dog called Davros Withnail

Davros from Dr Who (leader of the Daleks)

Wthnail from "Withnail and I"

Nicknamed DW for short ... a good name for a dog
posted by jannw at 8:15 AM on September 6

You said you wanted two syllables, but if you can do without, I'd go for Goat. Might also try Nanny, for Nanny Goat.
posted by dilettante at 8:15 AM on September 6

My chihuahua's named Luna. I'm not overly fond of the name, but she came with it and we're too lazy to change it. In a perfect world my dog would be named Martini, but my boyfriend's vetoed that one. It's also a terrible name for a chihuahua, so if I could I'd rename her Tequila.
posted by lilac girl at 8:48 AM on September 6

Ethel, of course. She was Lucy's faithful sidekick in "I Love Lucy".

Otherwise, I'd probably name your dog, Brandon, Lord of The Rings.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:00 AM on September 6

Falkor.
posted by water bear at 9:02 AM on September 6

Lots of Spanish names are longer, but have cute diminutive forms.

Guadalupe/Lupita/Lupe

Rosa/Rosita

Bebe

Bianca

Blanca

Felicia

Amada

Amelia

Alma/Almita

Isabel/Isa

Chiquita

Candela/Cande or Candy

La Negra Tomasa

Maria Fatal

Coqueta

don't name her Puta. You don't want to be head calling her "Putaaaaaaaa! Putaaaaaa!"
posted by Locochona at 9:08 AM on September 6 [1 favorite]

Mabel

Petunia

Daisy

Rosebud

Ethel

Edna
posted by bluedaisy at 9:12 AM on September 6

Chica - here are some of the explanations I found for the name - But I love it just for how it sounds!

chica - A name for a girl, preferably an extremely hot girl, that you find pride in just knowing.

1.-Chica = girl
2.-Chica = small, little
3.-Chica = young
posted by Weaslegirl at 9:27 AM on September 6

My mom's still mad at me for giving her cat (previously my cat) the name Furrball. That wasn't her original name (it was Scirroco, like the VW), but the cat is, well, a tad nuts. I took to calling her the psychotic furrball, which eventaully got shortened to furrball. My mom hates going out into the neighbourhood yelling "Furrrbbballll..... Furrballll...." trying to get the cta to come inside. So yeah. I don't recommend furrball.

Stella's awesome though.
posted by cgg at 9:38 AM on September 6

Beanie.

She jumps like a jumping bean.
She is tiny and black like a black bean.
"Beanie" is easy to shout.
She fits close to you like a beanie cap.

Beans are good for you. It's sounds like this little doggie is good for you. Lucky you.
posted by valannc at 9:58 AM on September 6

She's dark and follows you around = Shadow.
posted by torquemaniac at 10:05 AM on September 6

Well - if you are "stumped", then "Stumpy" immediately comes to mind ;-)

(We have a little Bichon-Yorkie cross that is officially named "Copper" due to his color, but because he had some training issues, I started to refer to him as our little "poopy"... he now answers to both ;-) )
posted by jkaczor at 10:55 AM on September 6

Skippy.

Gordita? Because she is small and not fat?
posted by kldickson at 11:44 AM on September 6

Beanie.

Umm...please no. People will think it's short for Beaner, which would be bad, considering it's a Mexican dog.

Nthing Stella. That's pure, unadulterated awesome.
posted by ValkoSipuliSuola at 12:39 PM on September 6

Churchill used to call his depression the "black dog", so I'd always hoped to have a black dog and name it Churchill. It's more of a boy's name, but what the heck, she's a dog. Churchill would be an awesome name.
posted by alona at 1:52 PM on September 6 [1 favorite]

Min-pins jump a lot. How about Pogo?
posted by radioamy at 2:02 PM on September 6

If you wanted to go with alona's suggestion, you could call her 'Winnie". Otherwise, I like Lola.
posted by Night_owl at 4:06 PM on September 6 [1 favorite]

Frances. Frank for short.
posted by Anoplura at 4:11 PM on September 6

I gave my cat an "official" name, but for whatever reason, always just called her Kitty. I've finally come to expect that Kitty is her name. And you know what? It kind of suits her. Maybe you just accept her awesomeness and call her "Doggie."
posted by missjenny at 4:31 PM on September 6

Casey. (short for quesadilla. she likes food.)
posted by water bear at 5:47 PM on September 6

Her name is Nachos!
posted by lundman at 6:18 PM on September 6

Chi-Chi
posted by The_Auditor at 6:19 PM on September 6

Carmen Miranda, or Carmen for short.
posted by Susurration at 6:45 PM on September 6

Deeogee (D-O-G)
My friend had a cat with this name, so lovely. I vote also for Stella, however Dog works well for me too. We had a cat named "kitty" for most of my life.
posted by purpletangerine at 6:50 PM on September 6

"Freda"
posted by boatsforshoes at 7:36 PM on September 6

Chica (as Weaselgirl suggested ... great name)
Margarita (and call her Rita)
Si-Si (for yes-yes, NOT "Sissy")
Hey Dammit! (Dammit as the nickname)
posted by Smalltown Girl at 1:17 PM on September 7

My family's first cat is named Trillian, but I usually just addressed her by title (i.e., Cat or The Cat). Recently they adopted a stray which my brother promptly dubbed Sanchez. Since the household is now under dual cat ownership, I've had to get used to referring to Trillian by name.

Also, I named the family dog, but my mom spelled the name. With... interesting results.
posted by NMcCoy at 2:45 PM on September 7

Odo.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:07 PM on September 7

Stella.

On the topic of great dog names to yell, when my dad was a kid, his family got a dog and let him name it. He named it Mr. Peabody (from Rocky and Bullwinkle). My grandmother cursed herself for letting his smart ass name that dog because she was the one who had to stand at the door and call him. Mr. Peabody!!! Come here, Mr. Peabody!
posted by Pax at 9:32 AM on September 8

Name her Guantanamera and call her "Won Ton" for short.
posted by ErWenn at 7:16 PM on September 13