Whether you're getting ready to adopt the dog of your dreams or you're still dreaming about the day you'll achieve pet ownership, my policy is that it's neeeeever too early to start thinking about the most important part: what name you'll give your new pup!
So when Reddit user Dr_Edge_ATX posed the question, "Non-Americans, does your culture have 'old-fashioned' dog names like we do in America, such as Fido, Rex, Spot, Rover, etc, and what are some?" I KNEW this would be a gold mine of some ~international~ names to add to the list.
2. Simba
In Kenya, the typical old school name for a dog is "Simba," which is Swahili for "lion." The name was and still used by some people because no one would want to mess with a dog named after a lion.
3. Boy Boy or Girl Girl
In Singapore, male dog: boy boy. Female dog: girl girl. We're not creative people.
4. Foofoo
In Thai: Daang ("Spots"), Toob (for floppy-eared), Ouan ("Fat"), Foofoo ("Fluffy"), Toong ngern ("Bag of silver"), Toong tong ("Bag of gold"), and a lot of times we just call them by their colors like Dum for black, Dang (red) for orange-brown, or Khow for white.
5. Rekku
7. Pualuk or Takulik
Inuit not too far in Nunavut have Amaruq ("wolf"), as well as Tiguaq ("adopted one")! Asked a few elders, and they say Pualuk ("mittens") and Takulik ("white spots over eyes") are also incredibly common!
—SQmo
9. Pochi
Pochi and John serve this purpose in Japan, but much like Spot, they're pretty much only reserved for dogs that an author didn't want to spend any effort naming.
10. Laika
13. Bluey
In Australia: definitely Bluey (always a blue heeler) or Lucky. Unfortunately most dogs called Lucky seem to be spectacularly unlucky!
14. Schröder
In Germany: A friend of mine is in some kind of dachshund club; there are four Schröders.
15. Moti and Hira
17. Zućo or Maks
In Croatia 🇭🇷 really old ones are Garo and Zućo, maybe Riki and Floki. Rex and Aron I hear a lot nowadays, maybe Luna and Maks.
18. Raoul
In French I’d say we have: Médor, Rex, Snoopy, Princesse for like, tiny yappy dogs, and of course Raoul le pitbull.
20. Bran
21. Fufu or Fufa
In my country, we have two official languages: English and Maltese. Names like Rex are common, but some people choose old fashioned Maltese names like "Fufu" for a male and "Fufa" for a female. It does not mean anything really, but it is a sort of a baby name or a term of endearment.
22. And finally, Quiaokeli!
My husband is from China, and we were walking down the street once and came across a LOT of people walking their dogs. Almost like 75% were little brown mini poodles. He said they are called 巧克力 (Qiaokeli) meaning "chocolate," and I thought it was super adorable that just specifically those dogs are called chocolate dogs.
Now, go forth and name your present and future dogs accordingly!
