Let's be honest here - you can name your dog just about anything and they won't care.
Heck, I even knew a guy who named his dog "Lexus Lucky Taco", although he later
shortened it to "Lucky" because he felt stupid shouting the dog's old name in
public. In the end though it all boils down to what you think is a good dog name
and how much effort you want to put into it.
The first method, known as "being lazy", is just giving your puppy a generic dog name
with no regard to his personality or physical characteristics. A dog name like
"Lucky" or "spike". Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that, and
the dog itself doesn't care if if you call him "Bud" because you had a beer can
on your counter or if you spend a month agonizing over a dog name that
sums up the most sublime elements of his personality. On a side note, if you're getting an
older dog that already has a name, just keeping that dog name doesn't fall into
the lazy category. After all, the dog's already used to that name and you wouldn't
like someone changing your name to Dieter or Jasmine out of the blue, would you?
An example of the opposite dog-naming process, known as "putting some effort
into it", is our new dog Kongô. Kongô is a mutt
we rescued from the pound. The consensus between us, our vet, and our mailman is that
he contains to varying degrees German Sheppard, Greyhound, Great Dane, and Pit Bull.
So he's large, fast, vigilant, and could probably hold his own in a conflict. So what's
a fitting dog name that sums that all up? I wanted something easy to say but
was still as unique as this mighty, mighty dog. After a few days deliberation I came
up with Kongô. Aside from being German for "Congo", it's the Japanese word for
"indomitable" and is the name of one of their mountains. As an added bonus, it's
also the name of one of their first battleships. Here's what
Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D has to say :
"The Kongô and her sister ships were all named after mountains. ... The word
"kongô" was the Japanese pronouncation of the Chinese translation of vajra in
Sanskrit. The vajra was originally the thunderbolt of
the god Indra. Later in esoteric, Tantric, or "vajrayâna" Buddhism, the vajra
symbolized supernatual powers that could be obtained through esoteric rituals.
In the sexual symbolism of Tantrism, the "vajra" was also associated with the
male organ. On the other hand, "kongô" could also mean a jewel or a diamond, or
hard as a diamond. So, appropriately, "Kongô" as the name of a ship could imply
the great power of a thunderbolt or the hardness of a diamond.
Copyright (c) 1999 Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved"
How great is that? In two syllables I got a word for a dog name that evokes Battleships,
thunderbolts, precious jewels, durability, mountains, and for the knockout punch -
the "male organ". Plus, it starts with a "K" to go with Kiva, which was my
wife's one condition for his dog name.
This is all I've got for dog names for right now. I'm working on a listing of
"famous" dog names with notes about them, but that's going to take a while to
grind out. In the meantime, I have faith that you'll be able to figure out a dog
name on your own.
