Pet names

105 Male Dog Names, With Meanings

Boy-dog names for every kind of dog — Max, Cooper, Rocky, Zeus and more, with meanings where they're real.

Golden Retriever with a wavy golden coat outdoors
Photo: Dietmar Rabich — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This is the biggest list here, because boy-dog names cover the most ground — from the tough (Bruno, Rocky, Zeus, Titan) to the gentlemanly (Winston, Oliver, Henry, Duke). Max, Latin for greatest, and Cooper are about as popular as a dog name gets; Leo means lion and never goes out of style.

You'll find the mythology-heavy end too: Apollo, Odin, Thor and Loki all sit on this list, each pulled from a real pantheon rather than invented. Meanings are given wherever a name genuinely has one — Axel is Scandinavian for father of peace, Hunter says what it means — and the word-names like Bear, Tank and Diesel are left to stand on their own. A to Z below.

All 105 male dog names, A–Z

Ace Male

Latin · one, unity

Alfie Male

English · elf counsel

Apollo Male

Greek myth

Archie Male

German · bold, genuine

Ares Male

Greek myth

Astro Male

Greek · star

Axel Male

Scandinavian · father of peace

Bagheera Male

Word name

Bandit Male

English · outlaw

Baxter Male

English · baker

Bear Male

Word name

Beau Male

French · handsome

Benji Male

Hebrew · son of the right hand

Benny Male

Hebrew · son of the right hand

Bentley Male

English · meadow of bent grass

Blaze Male

English · flame

Bruce Male

Scottish

Bruno Male

German · brown

Brutus Male

Latin · heavy

Bubba Male

English · brother

Buddy Male

English · friend

Buster Male

English

Caesar Male

Latin

Cash Male

English

Casper Male

Persian · treasurer

Champ Male

English · champion

Chance Male

English · good fortune

Chester Male

Latin · fortress

Chief Male

English

Clyde Male

Scottish

Cooper Male

English · barrel maker

Copper Male

English · the metal copper

Cosmo Male

Greek · order, universe

Dexter Male

Latin · skilled, right-handed

Diablo Male

Spanish · devil

Diesel Male

Word name

Draco Male

Latin · dragon

Duke Male

English · noble rank

Eddie Male

English · wealthy guardian

Finn Male

Irish · fair

Fritz Male

German · peaceful ruler

George Male

Greek · farmer

Grover Male

English · grove dweller

Gunner Male

Norse · bold warrior

Hades Male

Greek myth

Hank Male

English · home ruler

Henry Male

Germanic · home ruler

Hulk Male

Word name

Hunter Male

English · one who hunts

Jack Male

English · God is gracious

Jasper Male

Persian · treasurer

Jax Male

English

King Male

English

Koda Male

Native American · friend

Kong Male

Word name

Lenny Male

German · brave lion

Leo Male

Latin · lion

Loki Male

Norse myth

Louie Male

German · famous warrior

Mac Male

Scottish · son of

Major Male

English

Marley Male

English · pleasant wood

Max Male

Latin · greatest

Maximus Male

Latin · greatest

Milo Male

Germanic

Moose Male

Word name

Murphy Male

Irish · sea warrior

Nacho Male

Word name

Nero Male

Italian · black

Odin Male

Norse myth

Oliver Male

Latin · olive tree

Oscar Male

Irish · deer lover

Otis Male

German · wealthy

Panther Male

Greek · the panther

Percy Male

French

Pluto Male

Roman myth

Prince Male

English

Rambo Male

Word name

Ranger Male

English · forest guardian

Remy Male

French · oarsman

Rex Male

Latin · king

Rocky Male

English · rock

Roman Male

Latin · citizen of Rome

Rufus Male

Latin · red-haired

Rusty Male

English · reddish-brown

Sam Male

Hebrew · God has heard

Simba Male

Swahili · lion

Simon Male

Hebrew · he has heard

Taco Male

Word name

Tank Male

Word name

Teddy Male

Greek · gift of God

Theo Male

Greek · gift of God

Thor Male

Norse myth · thunder

Tiger Male

English

Titan Male

Greek myth

Toby Male

Hebrew · God is good

Tucker Male

English · cloth softener

Tyson Male

English · firebrand

Vinnie Male

Latin · conquering

Vlad Male

Slavic · ruler

Walter Male

Germanic · ruler of the army

Winston Male

English · joy stone

Wolf Male

German · the wolf

Woody Male

English · row of houses by a wood

Zeus Male

Greek myth

How this list is put together

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.