How did your dog get it's name?!?

Our dog Nikki got her name b/c I got her from a friend whose name was nichole and she looked like a Nikki
Marley got her name I don't know how, we researched the breed BMD for about a year and I would write down names I liked.  when we picked her out she just looked like a Marley.
We just recently lost a Malachi (AKA Kai)because my husband wanted to name a child that and I didn't want to name a boy that so I said it was a good name for a dog, and it was a good name for a good dog!!!

Brown was already named when we adopted him. He knew his name, and I didn't want to change it, so Brown it was. Brett named Grey. I guess he wanted to keep with the color scheme.

Our first dog's name was Ananda, an Akita x GSD. We named him after the Buddha's most loyal disciple. Not his most gifted disciple, not his most impressive disciple, but his most loyal. As it turns out though, Ananda the dog was acutally quite magnificent in addition to being loyal.
 
When we adopted Conrad his name was Simba (yes, he was originally gotten as a childrens' pet before their parent got sick of him and dumped him at the pound). We argued about names for a few days before my husband, an English teacher, suggested Conrad, after Joseph Conrad.
 
Marlowe was named Bubba (ugh, why does coonhound=redneck name?) by the shelter, but he was a stray so we don't know his original name aside from the serial number tattoed in his ear. I was lobbying for Guiness (get it, black and tan, get it--god I'm lame) but my husband again saved the day by suggesting Marlowe, the main character in Heart of Darkness. Like the character Marlow, Marlowe the dog is rather inscrutible and serious.

Princess was originally my mil's dog.  My husband, horrified at the thought of "Mitzy" (no offense to any Mitzys out there), convinced his mother to pick a different name by saying, since she was an "English" dog (a Yorkie), she should have an English name like Duchess or Princess.  I always said she had more of the personality of Xena, Warrior Princess than Princess Diana.

My 9 year old son is a HUGE Ella Fitzgerald fan. I kid you not, he sings the ENTIRE lyrics for "The Lady is a Tramp" three times during his baths.
I was going to name her "Mage" but I figured that wouldn't be good because it's a one syllable word and I was always taught that dogs do better with a name that has more than one syllable.
I had a MILLION boy names picked out but I was stumped for a girl name. I asked my son what he would think about us naming her Ella and he said," Mm hm, like Ella Fitzgerald!" So it stuck.
Her full name is Ella Fitzgerald.

When I fisrt got Gizmo at 6 weeks old I was only going to foster her and needed a name that would stand out.  I had just watched the movie "Gremlins" and thought she had the same pattern as the main gremlin from the movie so I called her Gizmo.  Little did I know she would win over my heat and become my perminate pet.  Now I mostly call her Gizzy or just Giz.

My mom named Nikki...I'm not sure exactly why she chose it.  I'm not really one for giving dogs people names, but it fits her.  Cairo is my own dog and I wanted to give him a name that no other dog I knew had, something different and unusual.  Something you don't hear every day.  I actually almost named him Beowulf cause I was reading it in English and it sounded cool...but it didn't seem to fit him at all and it was kindof a mouthful, so I picked Cairo instead.  []

I like dessert names for animals and Gingerbread is kind of a ginger color... he has a really sweet personality too, so it just fit.
 
Cinnabun (I'm in the process of updating my signature pic so that he'll be included) is small, a kind of cinnamon color and white like a cinnabun with white icing. He has a sweet and spicy personality, so it fits too. []

I just started names I wanted, but SU didn't like many of them.  So I asked to name some, which turned out, I didn't like.  When we got to Peanut, we both thought it was cute & agreed on that name.  People expect to see a chihuahua ?sp? when they hear the name.  They're usually surprised to see a GSD/Rott mix named Peanut.
Same for Draico, I wanted a "firm" name for my GSD, actually Thor, but SU didn't like that one, so Draico it is.

Babe was named by my mother and 2 year old niece. My mother used her forgetful memory as her excuse and my niece kept calling her baby girl. The name was easy for both of them to remember and it really does fit her. I wanted something more in tune with her breed, my sister went with the flow and my father said we couldn't call her Zilla cause that is what he called my niece! Hehehe, in fact we still call her Zilla and she is almost 14!
 
So Babe it was and still going...........
 
Tru

Nothing so fancy here. [] I had recently lost a dog (15-1/2) named Bud.  On the way back from the shelter after signing the adoption papers, I was trying to think of something short and simple. Max it was.

Joyce

Before we got Cassidy as a puppy, I had looked online at a ton of dog names, and pick out a bunch that I liked, and narrowed it down from there. The last two that I liked were Cassidy and Shadow. I picked Cassidy (obviously []) , but I still like the name Shadow and I might name a future dog that.

Mirelle came with her name when I got her. She's going to be a service dog, and is a puppy in training. So I didn't get to pick her name but I was quite nervous about what name she would have. What if it was some name I hated, or maybe I already personally knew a dog named that? [:-] lol Anyway, I do like Mirelle, and though it is quite unusual, I think it's a pretty name []

when we got berserker it was hard to name him, he was essentially but not technically my first dog, so i was clueless. we called him puppy in the meantime.
first i wanted to call him gambit (my husbands dog was named storm, went with the x-men theme) but it didnt really seem right. he was a very crazy puppy, i know puppies are hyper, but he really really was a psycho. we just happened to be watching the movie clerks one night and for those that have seen it and recall the song the one guys cousin olaf sings (i dont think i can repeat it on here) but one of the words is berserker..so we were singing it, and looked at my dog, and from then on my dog was no longer just puppy, he was berserker, and yes he truly is berserker. soon after which he came into his full name, puppensteiner lowenbrau berserker. we still call him puppy quite often though, it will seem weird when he's really old...perhaps then we will call him dog.

I leaned never to let my boyfriend name an animal, out first pet togther was a hamster who he named "baconster"  then we adopted a kitten and since I picked out the kitten I let him name it and "catster" it was, he almost didn't let me get the cat in the first place so I didn't want to argue to much over the name.  After that I didn't let him name any more pets.  He does call Gizzy "puppy" often but mostly when he's upset at her.  He'll tell me somethine like "look what puppy did..."