So, you’ve got your beautiful new black dog, and now you need to think of name ideas.
This task should be easy and fun, but it can quickly become a headache, particularly when more than one person is involved. You prefer one name, your partner/spouse/child prefers another.
Maybe you can’t think of a suitable name, or you have no idea where to begin.
While it’s best not to rush the process and choose something you’ll regret, your new pup needs to know what their name is going to be as soon as possible so they can get used to it. And training your pup will be interesting without one!
This means that you need a name pretty quickly.
In the past, people were generally more reserved when it came to naming their pets. They stuck mostly to a narrow range of accepted monikers, such as Rex, Fido, Spot, and Spike.
Black dog names were limited to the obvious: Blackie/Blacky, or Jet, which are still in use today. While there’s nothing wrong with any of these names, we’re far more adventurous these days!
Although some dog lovers might think this makes the task easier, it could complicate matters by offering too much choice. It also adds to the problem of finding something truly unique, if that’s what you’re after.
If you’re struggling to come up with acceptable black dog names yourself, why not take a look at our list of the best black dog names? We’ve broken it down into handy sections to help you find the perfect name for your beautiful black pooch.
Of course, they don’t all have to allude to your dog’s black coat, although many of them do. Some are more suited to certain dog breeds than others, but there’s sure to be one or two that will spark your imagination and help you find the right one for your furry friend.
Cute Black Dog Names
Are you looking for a cute name for your dog? Remember, this is going to be for life! You’re going to be calling out this name in the dog park or shouting it across the backyard, so it has to be something you’re comfortable with.
It should also still suit your dog when they are all grown up. Puppies are ridiculously cute, so you can get away with calling it Bubbles. But imagine a full-grown Great Dane galloping off down the street while you yell ‘Bubbles’ at the top of your voice.
Well, it might work for some people, but not many would think that it’s cute!
Anyway, here’s a list of cute black dog names to give you an idea:
• Angel
• Bean
• Blackberry
• Black Beauty (Beauty for short)
• Coco
• Cookie
• Cuddles
• Fudge
• Gizmo
• Luna
• Pepper
• Pippin
• Pooh Bear
• Snuggles
• Sweetie
• Treacle
You can probably think of a few dozen more, but this is a good place to start. A lot of cute names are associated with food or allude to lovey-dovey ideas, such as snuggling, cuddling, and stuff like that. These names tend to suit smaller, affectionate, or fluffy dogs.
Although a Rottweiler called Cuddles has a humorous/disturbing ring to it, depending on your personal opinion!
Black Dog Names For Males
Many of these names are not specific to gender, but you might want one that sounds more masculine. If so, these are some good male dog names:
• Boomer
• Bruiser
• Buddy
• Damien
• Diesel
• Falcon
• Flash
• Flint
• Fox
• Gadget
• George
• Killer
• Meatball
• Merlin
• Orion
• Panther
• Renegade
• Rex
• Rocket
• Shadow
• Zoro
These are all great names for male black dogs, although you can see that we only covered a small section of the alphabet. There are many more out there, but we can’t list them all, or this article would be too long!
Black Dog Names For Females
There are plenty of female dog names to choose from, as you can see in the other sections of this article. Here are some others that you might like:
• Amber
• Ash
• Aurora
• Belle
• Candy
• Cinders/Cindy
• Cupcake
• Hope
• Joy
• Kali
• Lily
• Missy
• Muffin
• Pandora
• Poppy
• Storm
• Tootsie
• Yasmin
All of these are girlie names, and not all will suit every breed, so be sure to choose wisely!
Big Black Dog Names
Sometimes big dogs need a big name. Unless you want a Great Dane called Fifi or Doodles, just for fun!
Here are a few black dog names that are suitable for black Labs and bigger dogs:
• Apollo
• Bear
• Brutus
• Duke
• Goliath
• Hades
• Juggernaut
• King Kong
• Nemesis
• Thor
• Zeus
Although these black dog names are an excellent match for a supersized pooch, you might want to pick one for a tiny dog, such as a Dachshund, Pug, or Scottish Terrier.
A Dachshund called Goliath? How cute is that!
Black Dog Names: Unique
Looking for unique black dog names? Here are some that might take your fancy! They can be inspired by food, cars, movies, anything that your mind can dream up:
• Bentley
• Cedar
• Celeste
• Deva
• Dianthus
• Ebony
• Echo
• Eclipse
• Enigma
• Fennel
• Ferris
• Licorice/Liquorice
• Midnight
• Mustard
• Nyx
• Vixen
• Warlock
• Wolf
• Zenith
And you don’t need to stop there. With a bit of effort, you could come up with your own really unique name that nobody has ever thought of. Take any name, whether it’s a make of car, a favorite candy, movie star, breakfast cereal, TV program, or whatever, and change a couple of letters. Hey presto, you have a unique name for your pooch!
Funny Black Dog Names
Now, this doesn’t mean that you’ll be rolling on the floor each time you call your dog’s name, as this would probably become tedious very quickly. You’ll see such offerings as Chew-Bark-A and Bark Obama but remember, you will be using this name for (hopefully) a very long time. You’re going to take this dog to the vet, where they’ll need to know their name. You’re going to be calling this name when out in your neighborhood. Don’t be tempted to opt for something that seems hilarious at the time but seems pretty stupid after you’ve used it a few hundred times!
While some of these names might raise a smile among strangers when they hear you yelling at them, they’re meant to be endearing rather than laugh-out-loud funny.
Take a look at these examples for some inspiration:
• Batman
• Blackjack
• Black Pearl (perhaps using Pearl for short)
• Coke (after the Cola drink or a type of coal!)
• Darth Vader (you could use either Darth or Vader for short)
• Devil
• Django
• Elvis
• Espresso
• Gremlin
• Guinness
• Hershey
• Oreo
• Whitey (it’s a sort of ironic thing!)
• Yoda (a great name for a Pug, this is)
You can probably come up with some more along the same lines, but try to steer away from the more ridiculous ones. This is a living creature, after all, and it deserves a little dignity.
Tough Black Dog Names
Whether you have a proud black German Shepherd, a soft-as-butter black Labrador Retriever, or a tiny black Pug, you might want to give it a tough-sounding name. It’s either going to be very impressive, or it could be for fun. Just imagine if you were faced with a Doberman called Lucifer. Now imagine a Pug of the same name, and it has a different effect!
Anyway, whatever your reasons, here are a few badass black dog names:
• Ace (of spades?)
• Axel
• Azazel
• Beast
• Bullet
• Butch
• Demon
• Diesel
• Genghis
• Goliath
• Hawkeye
• Hercules
• Ninja
• Predator
• Panther
• Rambo
• Rocky
• Sabre
• Satan
• Shredder
• Snake
• Storm
• Tank
• Thanos
• Thor
• Tyson
• Viking
Is that tough enough for you? Come on, you can’t get much tougher than Rambo, Genghis, and Thor!
Popular Black Dog Names
All names inevitably fall out of fashion, often returning many years later as people indulge in a spot of retro thinking. Many of the names here will have gone through this cycle, but there are always new ones being added to the list that have been influenced by popular culture.
Take these ones, for example, that are the most popular black dog names of the last year:
• Abby
• Ace
• Bailey
• Baxter
• Bella
• Belle
• Blue
• Bruno
• Buddy
• Charlie
• Coco
• Daisy
• Dakota
• Dexter
• Dixie
• Kylo (as in Kylo Ren from Star Wars)
• Layla
• Lexi
• Lola
• Loki
• Marley
• Max
• Molly
• Pepper
• Remi
• Shadow
• Winnie
Of course, every list of the most popular names you find out there in Internet Land will be similar in some regards, but there will be differences. Names fall out of fashion pretty quickly, but some are timeless classics. Most of the ones listed here will probably be around for some time to come, but if you want something unique and original, then take note of the other sections in this article!
Black Dog Names With Meaning
Photo from: @thepoodlesworld
Some dog lovers like to have a story or a deeper meaning behind their pet’s name. While this is a great idea, finding an appropriate one can be hard. It all depends on what you’re into, but the trick is to choose something that has an air of mystery, intellect, or intrigue.
Take a look at these black dog names along with their meanings:
• Amaya – Japanese, meaning night rain.
• Artemis – a goddess from Greek mythology, the daughter of Zeus and Leto.
• Ashura – Swahili for friend.
• Behemoth – from Jewish folklore, a dark demon of indulgence.
• Bran – a giant from British/Welsh mythology, meaning crow or raven.
• Cerberus – the hellhound from Greek mythology.
• Draven – from the Old English drǽfend, meaning hunter; this name was made popular by the 1994 film The Crow.
• Elvira – horror/comedy hostess known as Mistress of the Dark.
• Erasmus – a Greek word meaning beloved.
• Fenris/Fenrir – the Asgardian wolf from Norse mythology.
• Grendel – a monster (descended from Cain) from the epic Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf.
• Hecate – the Greek goddess of the moon, witchcraft, magic, and doorways.
• Incubus – a male demon similar to a vampire.
• Kuro – Japanese for black.
• Lilith – appears in many myths, either as the first witch or Adam’s wife before Eve.
• Luna – Spanish for the moon.
• Medusa – from Greek mythology, the snake-haired female who turned people to stone with her stare!
• Morrigan – Irish Gaelic, meaning Phantom Queen (or Great Queen).
• Morticia – the witch-like mother of Gomez from the Addams Family.
• Musta – black in Finnish.
• Nero – meaning black, the name for the infamous Roman emperor.
• Nevermore – from the classic poem ‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allan Poe.
• Nisha – the Sanskrit word for black.
• Noir/Noire – French for black.
• Nyx – from Greek mythology, the personification of night.
• Preta/Preto – Portuguese for black.
• Shuck – from English folklore – Black Shuck was a huge hellhound that terrorized the residents of East Anglia.
• Tengu – from Japanese mythology, meaning heavenly dog or heavenly sentinel.
• Zeus – the Greek king of the gods.
Many of these have a dark and gothic touch, which is perfect when it comes to black dog names. Anyone reading this article is clearly a lover of black dogs and believes that they are special. This is refreshing to know, as black dogs generally have a bit of a hard time.
Traditionally, black dogs have been associated with bad luck. They’re an ill omen, a sign that things are about to go badly for anyone who sees them.
Now, we all know that this is nonsense, but this belief still lingers somehow, perhaps subconsciously. Some people harbor a belief that black dogs are more aggressive than others, without a shred of evidence to back this up.
Black dogs are also frequently overlooked for lighter-colored dogs in shelters, although some experts claim this is because of the lighting (dark dogs aren’t as visible in the cages, apparently!).
Depending on how wicked your sense of humor is, you can have some fun with black dog names. Some of the names in our list purposely play on the whole theme of darkness, demons, and gothic horror. Just imagine telling your neighbor, yeah, his name is Incubus, then watching their expression!
Exotic Black Dog Names
Similar to our list of unique names, but with a touch of the exotic! Many of these could be included in the black dog names with meaning section, and some are also good names for female black dogs:
• Dianthus (a flower that’s almost completely black)
• Hellebore (another black flower)
• Kimchi (Korean pickled cabbage)
• Lyra (a constellation and the lyre of Orpheus in Greek mythology)
• Obsidian (black volcanic glass)
• Onyx (a semi-precious stone)
• Ophelia (the unfortunate daughter of Polonius in Hamlet)
• Orpheus (the musician and prophet from Greek mythology who traveled to the underworld)
• Persephone (daughter of Zeus)
• Prunella (yet another black flower!)
• Shalim (the Canaanite god of dusk)
• Velvet (black velvet is luxurious, like your pup’s shiny black coat)
There are some seriously cool names in this bunch, and once you start looking at these ones, it might spur you on to look at other exotic flowers or different mythologies from around the world.
The only limit here is your imagination.
Black And White Dog Names
Not all black dogs are completely black. For the black puppy that has a splash of white, here’s a special list of names:
• Badger
• Checkers
• Chess
• Domino
• Harlequin
• Marble
• Panda
• Raccoon
• Rorschach (inventor of the inkblot test!)
• Tuxedo (Tux for short)
It’s just a handful of puppy names, but you get the picture. They all play on the fact that you have a two-tone dog!
Human Names For Dogs
It’s safe to say that most dog owners regard their furry friends as family members. One sign of this is that we often choose human names for our pets.
Here are a few of the more popular ones at the moment:
• Adam
• April
• Andy
• Austin
• Ava
• Bailey
• Benjamin (ben)
• Bob
• Brett
• Brian
• Bubba
• Clarence
• Clyde
• Colin
• Dean
• Eliza
• Emma
• Eric
• Erin
• Esme
• Floyd
• Homer
• Jody
• Kenneth
• Kevin
• Martha
• Oliver
• Remus
• Sam (Sammy)
• Zach
Of course, this is a tiny selection of the human names you could use, but, hopefully, it’s enough to spark your imagination and set you on the right road. You could think of names from your favorite TV series (you might recognize a few from cult TV shows in here already!) or a band you love. All you need to do is make sure the name fits your dog.
The Last Word
We hope this list of black dog names has helped you to find one that’s perfect for your pooch – or at least to narrow down the options! Although the title states that there are 200, if you can be bothered to count them, you’d find that there are more. That’s okay; we’ll let you have them for free!
To finish, here are a few words of advice…
Choose a name pretty quickly, but don’t name your new pup the minute you step through the door with them in your arms. Take two, maybe three days to get to know them. It may well be that they give you a clue in the way they act and as their personality and character start to show themselves.
Only pick a name you are comfortable saying. As we pointed out above, you might find yourself bellowing this name in the dog park or across the neighborhood.
Try to avoid any names that might sound similar to simple command words, as this will seriously confuse your pup while you are training them and maybe even beyond this time.
Names such as Fay, Ray, Mitt, and Kit can easily be mistaken for ‘sit’ and ‘stay.’ We are aware of our own names and know who we are. Our names are an important part of our individual selves. However, science has shown that dogs only see their names as a precursor to some kind of event. When you shout ‘Milo!’, your precious pooch doesn’t necessarily think, Hey, that’s me!
He’ll recognize the sound you’re making and connect it with the possibility of several events that he has learned to expect. He’ll either be rewarded, fed, petted, taken out for a walk, or given a command to follow. Depending on the tone, he may also realize that you are on the warpath because you’ve just discovered the bomb site that used to be your living room or that the contents of the trash can are now spread around the kitchen.
It’s best to keep the name as short and snappy as possible. Anything over three syllables is perhaps too long. Experts suggest that hard ‘k’ and ‘t’ sounds are best as the dog can pick them up easily.
In the end, have some fun and don’t stress over it. The perfect name will probably present itself at the right time. It will suddenly click, and you’ll think, Hey, that’s a great name!
And whatever name you choose, it will stay with you forever, bringing a smile and the odd tear to your eye whenever it comes to mind. So make it a good one!