Thinking Dog Name Storm? (See Our Top Tough Picks for Boys and Girls)
Okay, so we're getting a dog! Or, well, my friend is, and somehow I got roped into the naming committee. Which basically means sitting around and throwing words out. So, I thought I'd actually try and make a process out of it today, this 'dog name storm' thing.
First thing I did was just grab a blank notebook and a pen. Old school, I know. I find typing makes me filter too much, writing it down feels more freeing. Sat down at the kitchen table, cleared away the breakfast stuff. Okay, ready.
Just Brain Dumping
Literally just started writing any dog name that popped into my head. Didn't care if it was common, weird, or something I'd heard five minutes ago. The first few were predictable:
- Buddy
- Lucy
- Max
- Daisy
- Charlie
Pretty standard stuff. Got maybe ten or fifteen of those down. Felt a bit... uninspired. Need to dig deeper.
Thinking About Themes
Then I started thinking about categories. Like, what kind of dog is it? (A goofy mutt, apparently). What are the owner's interests? (Likes hiking, old movies). So I started branching out.
- Nature names: River, Bear, Willow, Skye
- Movie names: Indy (Indiana Jones), Rocky (maybe too common?), Bogart
- Food names (just for fun): Biscuit, Pepper, Bean
- Tougher sounding names: Tank, Diesel, Jax
- Softer sounding names: Finn, Milo, Pip
Wrote down everything, even 'Waffles'. You never know. The point wasn't to find the name yet, just to get a big pool of possibilities. Filled up about two pages this way. Some were definitely silly, but I kept writing.
Trying Them Out and Shortlisting
Okay, now the list felt pretty chunky. The next step was saying them out loud. You gotta yell it, like you're calling the dog across a park. "WAFFLES! COME HERE!" Yeah, maybe not. "RIVER! SIT!" That felt better.
Started crossing off the ones that felt weird to say, or didn't quite fit the image of a goofy mutt. 'Bogart' felt a bit too serious. 'Tank' seemed wrong for a dog that trips over its own feet.
I also looked up a few meanings, just out of curiosity. Sometimes a name sounds good but has a weird meaning, you know? Didn't find any major red flags with the ones left.
Ended up with a shorter list, maybe ten names I actually liked and that felt right when spoken. Stuff like Finn, Jasper, Rosie, Piper, Monty.
The Result?
So, no final decision yet, but I've got a solid list to send over to my friend. The whole 'storm' process definitely worked better than just randomly thinking of names now and then. Having it all written down, trying different angles, saying them out loud – it helped narrow things down quite a bit. Felt productive, anyway. Now the hard part is for them to actually pick one!
