Unusual Dog Names for Your Unique Puppy

By Janice Jones   |Last Updated 08-09-2021

Choosing unusual dog names for a new puppy or older dog can not only be fun, but can make a statement about you and your special dog. 

Sometimes though, this is a really difficult decision.  The choices are endless.

What makes your special puppy unique?

Is it the color of the hair coat or markings that caught your attention? 

Is it some clever or cute behavior that made you fall in love?

Maybe it was the size of the pup?  Was he the runt? The Biggest?  The Boldest?  The risk taker? The smartest one in the litter?

However you answer these questions will help you make that all important decision.

Remember though, it must be something you can live with for the next 12 to 15 years and even more for some breeds.

Guidelines for Naming Your Dog

• All are short (one or two syllables);  some are a little longer
  
• Easy to pronounce
• Dog Friendly (used them all on my dogs to get their reaction)
• They should not have the same beginning sound as someone else in the family, either human or canine.
• Ideally they won’t rhyme with another name, although I broke this rule myself.  I have two boys with the names Toby and Obie.  They seem to know the difference.

Unusual Dog Names Based on Color or Size

Sometimes the most endearing names describe the looks of our dogs.  Consider the name “Peanut” for a very tiny dog.  Alternately, you could name that same puppy, “Goliath.”

Both send a message.  If you have a tiny dog, but want a great “BIG” dog name, you’re not alone. Most small dog lovers will tell you that their small dog really thinks he’s a big dog. AND, most have big personalities.

Many people will chose an unusual dog name based on color.  “Poppy” makes a good girl dog name and it is also a beautiful red flower, the perfect name for a red female puppy.

More Red Dog Names

There are so many more ideas if you’d like to choose an unusual color name for you dog.

White Dog Names

Black Dog Names

Brown Dog Names

Blue, Gray or Silver Dog Names

Black and White Dog Names

Tan Dog Names

More Unusual Dog Names Based on Size

Acorn

Baby

Beans

Beener

Beanie

Binkie

Bitz

Bitty (Itty Bitty)

Bonsai

Bug

Button

Buttons

Elf

Inch

Littlefoot

Micro

Midge

Mini

Mite

Peanut

Pixie

Poco

Shorty

Shortcake

Slim

Speck

Squeak

Squirt

Teenie

Thumbelina

Tink

Tinkerbell

Tiny

Twig

Twiggy

Weenie

Unusual Dog Names Based on Science/Math Terms

Have an exceptionally bright or clever dog?  He needs a name based on his extraordinary IQ.  How about a name from one of the science or math disciplines.  Take a look.

Abacus

Antenna

Apollo

April

Aquarius

Arc

Argon

Aries

Astra

Astro

Atom

August

Aurora

Axis

Beta

Blizzard

Boron

Breezy

Byte

Carbon

Centaur

Chet

Cipher

Circuit

Coal

Cobalt

Comet

Copper

Corona

Cosine

Count

Cyber

Delta

Diesel

Digit

Eclipse

Element

Flare as in Solar Flare

Flask

Flora

Flurry 

Foil

Gamma

Gene

Gram

Gravity

Hippo, Short for Hippocampus, a small area of the brain thought to be the center for memory and emotions.

Suggested by Nadine Fillery From Swansee, UK

Halo

Hedron

Hurricane

Iris

Jet (Stream)

Kilo(kilogram)

Krypton

Lunar

Magnet

Mass

Matrix

Mercury

Meteor

Micron

Monsoon

Moon

Mystic

NASA

Neon

Neptune

Neutron

Nitro

Nobel

Nova

Obtuse

Octet

Ozone

Pangea

Pi

Pipette

Pisces

Pixel

Pluto

Polar

Prism

Proton

Pulsar

Quark

Quasar

Radar

Radon

Rhombus

Saturn

Savannah

Silver

Sine

Spark

Star

Stellar

Sulfur

Tally (Tally Mark)

Tangent

Taurus

Tax

Tetra

Tin (the element) Tin Tin

Titan

Tornado

Tweak 

Vector

Vertex

Venus

Zero

Zeta

Zinc

Zodiac

Unusual Dog Names Based on Famous Scientists and Mathematicians

There are many important scientists that should be added to this list. 

To keep the list manageable and not sounding like a high school history lesson, I’ve only listed those that I think would make great unusual dog names. 

If you want to suggest one, please use the form at the bottom of the page.

Archimedes: mathematician,
physicist, astronomer, engineer, inventor (287 – 212 BC)

Binet:  Psychologist:  Wrote the first IQ
test. (1857-1911)

Boole:  English
Mathematician involved in differential equations and Boolean algebra. (1815-1864)

Copernicus: Put forth the notion that the Earth revolves around the Sun.   (1473 – 1543)

Cousteau:  Conservationist, filmmaker, photographer, studied the sea. (1910-1997). His first name, Jacques, would make a good choice for a French breed.

Crick:  British molecular biologist was the co-discoverer of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953.  (1916-2004)

Dalton: English chemist, physicist, and meteorologist, known for his work with atomic theory.  (1766-1844)

Darwin:  English Naturalists and geologist know for his formation of the Theory of Evolution.  (1809 -1882)

Diesel:  Invented the compression
combustion engine, which was named the Diesel engine after him. OK, so Diesel is not an unusual dog name in the 21st century.

Edison:  American Inventor of many things including the electric
light, motion picture camera and phonograph.  (1847 -1931)

Einstein:   German
theoretical physicist, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest minds of
modern times. (1879 -1955)

Euclid:  Also known as Euclid of Alexandria:  He was a Greek Mathematician known as the “Father of Geometry” (325 BC – 265 BC)

Franklin:  We might think of Ben Franklin as a statesman, author, and inventor, but he is also remembered as the person that showed how electricity was a force of nature. Ben might work for a dog’s name, too.

Freud:  Austrian neurologist, known as the “Father of
Psychoanalysis” a method for treating mental disorders.  (1856 -1939)

Galileo:  an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, engineer,
and philosopher.(1564-1642)

Gauss:   German mathematician known as the “Prince of Mathematicians” (1777 – 1855)

Hubble:  American
astronomer who played a role in establishing extragalactic astronomy. The Hubble Space Telescope was named after him.  (1889-1953)

Halley: An English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist,
and physicist who is best known for computing the orbit of a comet, now known as Halley’s Comet.  (1656-1742)

Jenner: An English scientists, he is best know for his discovery of the Small Pox vaccine.  He is considered to be the “Father of Immunology”   (1749-1823)

Kepler:  German
mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer. He is best known for his laws of planetary motion. (1571 to 1630)

Lovelace
is considered to have written instructions for the first computer program in
the mid-1800s.  Her first name, Ada, would make a good female dog name.

Madam Curie:  Polish
and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research
on radioactivity.

Mendel: 
German speaking Friar and scientists that is considered to be the founder of modern genetics;  (1822-1884)

Newton: An English Mathematician and physicist who discovered the laws of gravity and motion among other things.  (1642-1726)

Pascal:  A French Mathematician, physicist, and inventor made numerous contributions to modern day mathematics.  (1623 -1662):  His first name, Blaise would make a good dog name, also

Pasteur:  French
chemist and microbiologist best known for inventing the “germ theory”  that led to doctors washing their hands and treatment of milk
pasteurization.(1822-1895)

Sagan: An American astronomer that is best remembered for his work on popularizing the field of astronomy to the public through TV shows and books.  (1934-1996)

Tesla:  A Serbian-American engineer and inventor, he is remembered for his development of the alternating current, his contribution to the field of  electromagnetism and wireless radio.  (1856-1943)

Watson: An American geneticist who is best known for his work in understanding the molecular nature of DNA.

Whitney:  Inventor
of the cotton gin

Didn’t find that perfect dog name for your new puppy? Keep Looking.

More Great Unusual Dog Names

Here’s a list of our most popular dog names:

Dogs names from Mythology

Disney Dog Names for Boys

Disney Dog Names for Girls

Dog Names Based on Food

Dog Names Based on Drinks

Do You Have some Unusual Dog Names You’d like to Add to This Page?

Please send me a quick note with your list of names, definitions if necessary and if it is a person, their nationality and when they lived.  To get credit for your contribution, please remember to leave your name and location.