The best male dog names are ones that fit the dog’s personality followed by a name that fits their appearance. You want to choose a name that has meaning to you and is a great match for your dog.
It’s your dog so take a little bit of time picking out a name for him or her. I have 127 of the top dog names for 2019 and the meaning for each name. Read thru the meanings and hopefully find the best name for your male dog.
At the bottom of the article is a summary of the most unique (and odd) male dog names of 2019.
Most popular male dog names of 2019
This is a list of 127 of the top male dog names of 2019 which I reduced from about 150 names. Go directly to the list of male dog names that start with the following letters:
C thru F
G thru I
M thru P
R and S
T thru Z
Male dog names that start with A & B
Abe: Short form of Abraham. Hebrew for “father of many, multitude, father of multitudes”.
Ace: American for “number one, the best, highest rank, noble”. Latin for “unity, first-rate”.
Alf: Swedish, Norwegian, & Danish for “elf”. Short for Alfred in English meaning “elf, counsel, wise counsel”.
Andy: English form of a Greek name meaning “manly, masculine, man, warrior”.
Apollo: The Greek god of prophecy, healing, music. poetry, beauty, and wisdom. Also, the god of the sun and light. The name means “destroyer, to destroy”.
Archie: Short for Archibald. German for “genuine, bold, brave”.
Bailey: English for “bailiff, berry clearing, city fortification”.
Bandit: No results found. I assume it is an affectionate name for a trouble maker or one who excels at mischief.
Baxter: English for “baker”.
Bear: No results found, but I assume it means “big, strong, powerful”.
Beau: French for “beautiful, handsome, sweetheart”.
Benny: Short for Benjamin or Benedict. Benjamin is Hebrew for “son, right hand, south, son of the right hand, son of the south”. Benedict is Latin for “blessed”.
Blue: Means the color blue.
Bo: Short for Beauregard which is French for “beautiful gaze”.
Boomer: No results found. How about “active, energetic, destructive”?
Brady: Short for Bradach. Irish meaning “large-chested”.
Brody: Scottish for “ditch, mire”.
Bruno: German for “armor, protection, brown”.
Brutus: Latin for “heavy, dull, stupid”.
Bubba: German for “boy”, American slang for “brother” or a nickname meaning “large”.
Buddy: A variation of Bud meaning “brother, friend”. My dog was named Buddy and he was without a doubt my best friend. For the first 3 days after I adopted him, I would say things like “Want to go for a walk, buddy?”, “How you doing buddy?”. “What’s your name, buddy?” I was already calling him buddy so I went with Buddy as his name (I miss you, Buddy!)
Bull: No results found. The bull is the symbol for the astrological sign, and the astronomical constellation, of Taurus. It corresponds to the traits of loyalty, stability, or being calm and\or stubborn. It could also mean big, strong and aggressive.
Buster: English nickname meaning “bust, burst”. Sounds like a good name for a dog that breaks a lot of stuff.
Dog names that start with C thru F
Cash: It may be a short form of the Latin name Cassius meaning “vain, empty, hollow”, and can simply mean money. From the English surname meaning “box maker” but derived from a French word for “case”.
Champ: Short for Champion. English for “warrior” but simply means “winner”.
Chance Latin origin and English for “good fortune, luck”.
Charlie: Short for Charles, German for “free man, army, warrior, strong, free”.
Chase: English & French for “huntsman, hunt, chase”.
Chester: English and Latin for “camp of soldiers, fortress”.
Chico: Variation pf Francis \ Francisco. Spanish for “boy, lad”.
Chip: Short form of Charles or Christopher. German for “free man, warrior, to bear”.
Coda: No results found. The dictionary meaning is “a concluding event, remark or section, closer, conclusion, swan song”. Could be short for the Native American word Koda, or the name Dakota, which means “friend, companion, ally”.
Cody: Irish for “helper”.
Cooper: English for “barrel maker”.
Copper: No results found. A red-brown metallic element that is malleable and is a great conductor of heat & electricity with an atomic number of 29. Also, an old-timey slang name for a police officer, or a small butterfly.
Dak: No results found. The dictionary meaning is to transport post (mail) by horse (mail delivery) or a rest house along post routes. Could also be short for Dakota, a Native American word for “friend, ally”.
Dexter: English for “one who dyes”, Latin for “right-handed, skilled, to worship, using the right hand”.
Diesel: No results found. How about “high octane, powerful, strong”?
Dom: Short for Dominic. Latin for “of the land, lord, landlord”.
Donnie: Short for Donald. Gaelic & Celtic for “ruler of the world”.
Duke: From the noble title and Latin for “leader”. Also short for Marmaduke meaning the follower of a saint named Maedoc.
Eddy: Short for Edward or Edmund. English for “wealth, fortune, protection, guard, wealthy protector”.
Elvis: No results found but maybe an homage to Elvis Presley – the “king”. Possibly derived from Alvis meaning “all-wise”.
Fin, Finn: Old Norse name for a person from Finland”. German for “white, fair”.
Frank, Frankie: Refers to a German tribe, the Franks, meaning “Frenchman”.
Male dog names that start with G thru L
George, Georgie: German and Greek origin meaning “farmer, earth-worker”.
Gunner: Variation of Gunnar. Old Norse for “war, warrior”.
Gus: Short for Augustus. Latin for “great, exalted, venerable, to increase”.
Hank: Short for Henry. German for “home-ruler, home leader, power, ruler”.
Harley: English for “hare meadow, rock meadow, woodland, clearing”.
Harry: English form of Henry (see Hank above) or short form of Harold meaning “army, power, leader, ruler”.
Henry: From the German name Heinrich meaning “home-ruler, home leader, ruler, power”.
Hercules: Latin form of Herakles and Greek for “glory of Hera” and the name for the hero son of Zeus.
Horton: As a surname, it is English for “dirt, mud, enclosure, yard town, gray settlement”.
Hunter: English for “hunter, pursuer”.
Ian: Scottish form of John. English, Latin and Hebrew origins meaning “God is gracious”.
Indy: Short for Indiana. American for “the land of the Indians”.
Jack, Jackson: English for “one who supplants” and “son of Jack”.
Jake: Variation of Jack or Jacob. Jacob is Hebrew for “supplanter”.
Jasper: Latin for “treasure, treasure keeper”.
Jax: Same as Jackson meaning “son of Jack”.
Jeb: Short for Jacob meaning “supplanter”.
Joey: Short for Joseph. Hebrew for “he will add, increase”.
Kane: Irish for “battle”.
King: English for the king or ruler of a country.
Kyle: Gaelic for “narrows, strait, channel”.
Lee: English for “meadow, pasture, clearing”.
Leo: Latin for “lion”.
Loki: From Norse mythology for the god Loki with the reputation of being mischievous and a troublemaker, meaning “knot, lock”.
Lou, Louie: German for “famous warrior”.
Lucky: English for “fortunate”.
Luke: Greek for “from Lucanus”. Maybe an homage to Luke Skywalker.
Dog names that start with M thru P
Mac: Short for Gaelic surnames starting with Mac or Mc meaning “son of, son, man”.
Marco: Italian form of Mark or Marcus and from the god name Mars the god of war.
Marley: English for “pleasant wood, boundary wood, marten wood, meadow near the lake”.
Max: Short for Maximilian which is derived from the Roman name Maximus meaning “greatest”.
Micky, Mickie: Short for Michael and Hebrew for “who is like God”.
Miko: Hebrew for “who is like God”.
Milo: German form of Miles and the meaning is unknown but could mean “gracious” or from the Latin word mille meaning “soldier”.
Moose: No results found but I’m sure it means “big, unruly, powerful”.
Murphy: From an Irish surname meaning “sea warrior”.
Newton: English for “new town”.
Nico: Short for Nicholas. Greek for “victory of the people”.
Norton: English for “north town, northern town”.
Ollie: Ollie is short for Oliver. Various origins meaning “olive tree” or German for “host of elves”.
Oscar: Gaelic origin and the meaning is uncertain. It possible means “dear friend, friend of the deer, spear of the gods”.
Otis: Derived from an English medieval name of Ode and German Otto meaning “wealth, fortune, son of Otto”.
Peanut: Like the nut meaning “small, tiny, cute”.
Perry: English or Welsh meaning “pear tree”, or Latin for “traveler, wanderer”.
Peter: Greek for “stone, rock”.
Prince: English for the royal title.
Male dog names that start with R & S
Rex: Latin for “king”.
Rico: Short for Ricardo, a Spanish form of Richard meaning “brave, power, rule, hardy” or Enrico, an Italian form of Henry meaning “home-ruler”.
Riley: variant of Reilly. Old English, Celtic and Irish for “rye cleaning, wood clearing, valiant, courageous, a little stream, rye meadow”.
Rocco: German origin for “rest”.
Rocky: A form of Rocco.
Romeo: Latin meaning “a pilgrim to Rome”.
Roscoe: English and Norse for “wood, forest, deer wood”.
Rudy: Short for Rudolph, German meaning “fame & wolf”.
Rufus: Latin for “red-haired”.
Runner: No results found but how about “one who runs, a runner, fast, energetic”.
Rusty: English nickname for someone with rusty, reddish-brown hair color.
Sam, Sammy: Short for Samuel or Samson. Hebrew for “name of God, god heard, requested of God, God’s heart, God’s name”.
Samson: Hebrew for “sun, the sun”.
Scooter: No results found. Possibly a nickname for Scott which refers to someone from Scotland.
Scout: English for “first explorer, to gather information covertly, to listen”.
Shadow: Simply means “shadow, shade”. Also corresponds to darkness, things that are hidden, or are difficult to see.
Sparky: No results found, but maybe refers to an energetic dog from the word spark, or a sparkplug which fires up an engine.
Spike: No results found. How about tough and scary or intimidating?
Sport: No results found. Maybe active, energetic?
Male dog names that start with T thru Z
Tank: No results found but possibly refers to someone who is large, powerful and difficult to move.
Teddy: Short for Theodore (or Edward). Theodore is Greek for “gift of God, God’s gift”. Edward is English for “rich guard”.
Thomas: Greek and Arabic for “twin”.
Thor: In Norse mythology, Thor is the god of thunder, lightning, strength, and war.
Toby: Medieval form of Tobias from the Greek name Tobiah which is Hebrew for “God is good”.
Tucker: From an occupational surname for “cloth fuller” and derived from an Old English word meaning “offend, torment”. A fuller was someone who cleans raw cloth by pounding it.
Tyson: From an English surname meaning” quarrelsome person, firebrand”.
Vance: Derived from an English surname meaning “fen, marsh”.
Vic: Short for Victor. Roman name for “victory, conqueror”.
Vinny: Short for Vincent. Latin origin meaning “to conquer, prevailing”.
Willow: English for “willow tree, freedom”.
Winston: Derived from an English surname meaning “joy, stone” (happy rock?)
Xander: Short for Alexander. Latin and Greek for “defending men, to defend, defender, warrior, help”.
Zack: Short for Zachary or Zacharius. Hebrew for “God remembers, to remember, the Lord recalled”.
Zane: From an English surname possibly meaning “God is gracious”.
Zeus: Name for the Greek god meaning “shine, sky”.
Top unique, unknown and “odd” male dog names
Here is a list of the unique names from above. I also have the names that I could not find a meaning for, or that I did not add to the list because the names are… ridiculous.
Unique: Ace, Alf, Apollo, Bandit, Bear, Boomer, Brutus, Bubba, Bull, Cash, Coda, Copper, Dak, Hercules, Lucky, Peanut, Runner, Spike, Tank, Thor, Zeus
Unknown meaning or odd: Baby, Benji, Bentley, Coco, Engine, Fang, Gizmo, Mater, Money, Nemo, Opie, Oreo, Roco, Simba, Usher, Yoda, Ziggy
Final thoughts
If you can, wait a few days before you name your male dog. Try to figure out their personality or strange things that they do and find a name that fits them. Or pick a name of the color of their fur or other physical feature.
If you or some you know are thinking of adopting a female dog, then take a look at my article Top Female Dog names. And if your male dog name is not on this list, then I suggest using the site Behind the Name. Every other site I used to find name meanings were littered with ads and videos making the sites extremely slow.
