How did you come up with your dogs name???

My hubby named Rocky,  I named Brownie because she is brown, and I named Dipstick because his tail looks like it was dipped in paint!  For Dipstick, I was going to name him Gator(he has some power in his jaws) but my daughter liked Dipstick better!

Chyna & Schatzi were both named when they came to me.  Since they both knew their names, I didn't change them. 
 
Bevo is named after my college mascot.  (University of Texas, Longhorn named Bevo) 
 
Brinxx was supposed to be my "home security system."  She is not a security kinda dog, unless you count her securing her food bowl at meal time. 
 
Shooter, peed on my boss, who found it funny.  He carried Shooter around pointing him at my co-workers saying "we gotta shooter here."  It just kinda stuck.

Interesting thread.  Well Bogey aka Bog was named by his breeder.Why?? Previous owner never changed it.  I thought about changing it when all the hoopla from previous owner was happening but nothing seemed to stick.  It been interesting to learn some of the meanings of his name..Bog=toilet in UK, Bogey = bad golf shot (no wonder my mom doesn't like him!), lot of others none good so now we say Bogart (actor).

When I got  Raja her name was Winnie.....
 
I changed it because she had a horrible life and she didn't know her name anyways, and I didn't want her to associate Winnie with bad things.
 
 
I chose "Raja" because it means "Hope" in Arabic.....I figured she had to have some kind of hope living where she came from. It just fit her.
 
 

I couldn't have children, soooo coming up with our names were  easy.
 
 Hannah....I would've named my 1st daughter Ruth Marie ( mother's name ) couldn't really name her completely after Mom so I named her Hannah Ruth
 
 Madelynn.....was going to be grace Marie, but, my bf was pregnant when I got her & was naming her baby Gracie Anna, & threatened my life if I named "my stupid dog " Gracie!! [:@] So, my daughter ( step ) & I were trying to think of what to name this gorgeous little shepherd I waited my who,le life for. We batted names & my daughted insisted on Selena....I wAS like noooo lol. Then she said Maddy & I said no because of Maddy @ the kennel, they'd get confused ( worked @ the kennel I got her @, took her with me every day...resident dog was Maddy ) So, I saID OK, WHAT'S THE EXTENDED VERSION OF mADDY? sry caps We figured out Madelynn....I said madelynn, she looked @ me, wagged her tail & jumped for me to hold her....Madelynn Selena it was!!! I also say it MadaLynn a lot, like 2 names ( Lynn's my middle name )
 
  Potter.....my daughted wanted to call him Harry I said YUCK...so we agreed on Potter Patrick ( Patrick is my exhub's middle name ) Potter fits the son to a tee....but Diablo fits better [sm=devil.gif]
 
  Then comes Gracie.....I say since my bf's daughter is now almost 3, all bets are off lol. Grace Mae was my favorite aunt's name. We call her Gracie Mae though....she looks like a Gracie we think. Potty training time is funny.....My Mom used to sing to my aunt Gracie Mae sh*t in the hay & my aunt wou,ld get soooo mad LOL so I sing to Gracie....Gracie Mae please sh*t in the hay....even though it's grass not hay []

Kord is Kord for a few reasons. First, the names I wanted were long and I was getting veto'd by family, and by family I mean EVERYONE, even those that do not live within 600 miles.  Second I wanted a german name, but not a popular one.
 
So in the end we bargained down to a couple of names, Kord is actually named for the very first shepherd that my parents had. His name was Kord and he was from Tannenwald Kennels. He was a huge bear, and he was my best friend. I called my mother and asked her if she minded, ran it past family and that is how it came to be.
 
Really makes no difference in the end, cause he gets called Moose boy most of the time.[]
 
Tru
 
 

Grady was a rescue from the shelter in Arkansas.  I found him on etfinder.  He was being offered by a local rescue group.  I printed out his pictures & walked around with them and took name suggestions from friends.  DH & I kinda wanted a southern sounding name.  Grady stuck.
 
Aspen was a former pet sitting job.  His former family was really into sports.  They named him ESPN.  They loved sports & the Goldens more than the dog.  When I heard that they were thinking of rehoming him, I spoke up.  I'd never been a small dog person but his Papitude won me over.  Once he came to live with me, I changed his name to Aspen.  It was close to ESPN & I thought it fit him better.

I am just loving this thread !
 
It must be so hard for fosters to come up with names since they see so many dogs.  Prancer's was picked up as a stray - the foster named her "Dolly Madison" (ewww) - she was adopted out for one week and returned, and that family was calling her "Belle".   She didn't know either name, so renaming her was easy enough.      The only time I actually call her Prancer is when I want her to come (I'm pretty sure she thinks that it MEANS "come") - generally I end up calling her "Fluffernutter" or "Little Bit". 
 
I'm a HUGH Elvis Presley fan - my husband will NOT allow me to name any of my pets anything Elvis related .... but I have a:
* a Parakeet named Crazy .... which is Elvis' self given nickname
* a Parakeet named Sun .... after Elvis' horse, Rising Sun
* a Dog with the nickname "Little Bit" .... which was Elvis' nickname for his girlfriend during the 50s
 
I figure as long as my husband doesn't read any of my Elvis biography books that he'll be none the wiser

I love this thread too!
 
Starting with the dogs:
Honey was named by my mom when we first got her as a puppy, she named her Honey because she was brown [8|]  Her middle name is Marie, or Bunches of Oat's (you know, as in Honey bunches of Oats, lol).  Usually I just call her Marie or Maria......or Pretty Girl.
 
Cody's full name is Dakota Wilson.  His name before we got him was Wilson (from Dennis the Menace), but we just didn't like it that much.  Dave's a HUGE Dodge fan, and is in love with his Dodge Dakota.  We fiddled with names like Hemi, Diesel, etc, but decided Dakota, or Cody for short, fit him very well.  He loved it and answers very very well to it.
 
On to the cats:
Julius got his name because....well.....he's orange.  That's it, he's orange.  You know, like in the "Orange Julius" sense.  []
 
Spunky, Vera, and Brady all came with their names.  Vera and Brady are fosters, and Spunky, well, his just fits.  He's such a sweet cat, and loooooves to play, so Spunky it is!

Tootsie was named after the candy. I think. She reminded me of a tootsie roll because shes long and dark. I also had a great- great aunt named Tootsie and I thought that was a cool name.

ORIGINAL: Raja19

When I got  Raja her name was Winnie.....

I changed it because she had a horrible life and she didn't know her name anyways, and I didn't want her to associate Winnie with bad things.


I chose "Raja" because it means "Hope" in Arabic.....I figured she had to have some kind of hope living where she came from. It just fit her.

Raja is what my breeder named Dizzy when she was naming the puppies. She named them all after Disney movies so I bet you can figure out where Raja came from. Anyway, if I hadn't been able to find another name I liked I would have kept Raja as I'd never heard a dog called that. I like to try to come up with original names instead of using what everyone else does. Working at boarding kennels and seeing all the Sam's, Max's, Bailey's and that got kinda old.

Shiva

Mangus' name came from my work.
 
It's a term some of my managers made up to describe stuff (usually not in a ositive light).  For example "that end display looks mangus" or "you've got some mangus in your hair".  Anyway, one day I came home from work and told my Fiance in a very serious tone . . . "this house looks Mangus" (it was a disaster).  This is before we got our dog, but that was it . . . DF said when we get a dog that would be it's name.
 
I was planning to get a boy dog (it sound more like a boy name), but now my little girl is a Mangus and it fit's her perfectly.

I live Mangus... thats cute... i think our next dog will be named Monster since thats what I end up calling them half the time anyway

the baby waiting at the bridge - Lady Wrongway - I too did not want a "common" name for our bichon, but she showed the 1st day that she was lady.  She sat with her legs together to one side, refused to bark loud (unless she felt threatened), preferred to sit beside you than in your lap, etc.  For 4 days I looked for a name for her.  She learned everything we taught her the same day (housebreaking was a dream).  On the day we to see if she would like to fetch, we threw a chew rope through a bedroom from the living room, into a bathroom.  She brought it back without having us "go teach" what we wanted.  From our spot in the living room we could throw the chew rope through 2 seperate bedrooms and have it land in the same bathroom.  The 3rd throw, she realized that this was the same bathroom & brought the rope back to us through the other room.  From then on, no matter what room we threw through, she would go through the opposite room pick it up and bring it back.  Even if it did not go all the way to the bathroom, she still would go through the opposite room and around. 
 
Named her Lady Wrongway for her backward/wrongway approach

Gypsy's registered name is Rangler's Burlesque Queen. She is named after Gypsy Rose Lee, a stripper! I wanted something different (most of the litter was named after the Clintons) and SHE was different from the rest of the litter.  The rest were red with white paws, chest and collars, while she is a pied (red and white patched).  Sooo, every family must have its black sheep, right?  Besides, Gypsy Rose Lee was one smart lady who did VERY well for herself. 

I was watching 'Biography"  one night and her story came on.  They said she was, "the queen of burlesque" and I said, "THAT'S IT!!!!". She was the first one in the litter who had a name (she was also the first one with a buyer--the day after she was born!).  It was alooong eight weeks until I could pick her up and the rest is history.

My cats?  Harvey came with his name and he would answer to nothing else.  It really does suit the silly guy. Bandit's name at the rescue was Mr. C[:'(].  I hemmed and hawed for a day or two until I realized that the big galoot had stolen our hearts ergo Bandit was his name!