Pet names
60 Classic Dog Names, With Meanings
Timeless dog names that never date — Duke, Rex, Bella, Max, Winston and more, with meanings where they carry weight.
A classic dog name has been on dogs for generations and shows no sign of leaving. Duke, Rex, Buster, Bruno and Max are the old-guard boys' names; Bella, Lucy, Molly and Maggie the girls'. They're classic because they've been tested by thousands of dogs and never once sounded wrong.
Several carry a real meaning as well as a long history — Rex is Latin for king, Caesar and Roman both point to Rome, Winston is English for a joy-stone, Walter is Germanic for ruler of the army. The full list runs A to Z below; if you want a name with roots, start here.
All 60 classic dog names, A–Z
Latin · one, unity
Hebrew · grace
Italian · beautiful
Scottish · pretty, cheerful
Scottish
German · brown
English · friend
English
Latin
Persian · treasurer
English · good fortune
English · free man
Latin · fortress
Scottish
Greek · order, universe
Latin · skilled, right-handed
Greek · gift of God
English · noble rank
English · wealthy guardian
German · peaceful ruler
Greek · farmer
English · home ruler
Germanic · home ruler
English · God is gracious
Persian · treasurer
Hebrew · God beholds
English · noblewoman
Latin · lion
German · famous warrior
English
Latin · light
Greek · pearl
Latin · greatest
Germanic
Hebrew · star of the sea
Irish · sea warrior
Greek · shining light
Italian · black
French · black
Latin · olive tree
Irish · deer lover
German · wealthy
English · the pearl
French
Word name
Latin · king
English · rock
Latin · citizen of Rome
Latin · red-haired
English · reddish-brown
Hebrew · God has heard
English
Hebrew · he has heard
Word name
Latin · star
Greek · gift of God
Hebrew · God is good
Latin · evening
Germanic · ruler of the army
English · joy stone
Every name here is one people genuinely use for a pet, and each is drawn from the same hand-checked list behind our full names finder. Where a name has a real, settled meaning we give it; word-names like Biscuit or Shadow are marked as word-names rather than dressed up with an invented origin. The count in the title is the real number on the page, and we add to it over time.
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