Lifestyle

The Top 10 St. Patrick’s Day Dog Names

Faith and Begorrah! Yes, those would make perfect names for a pair of St. Patrick’s Day pups. But if those don’t suit you and you’re in the market for an Irish-themed dog name this spring, DoggieNames.com has come up with its Top 10 for the holiday.

These names would work well for any of the Irish breeds, such as an Airedale, Irish Setter, Irish Wolfhound, Kerry Blue Terrier, or Wheaten Terrier. Of course, an Emerald Isle-inspired moniker might also make a good choice if you’d like to honor your family’s Irish heritage, or if St. Patty’s just happens to be one of your favorite holidays.

1. Shamrock or Clover

Shamrock follows the recommendation of many trainers, who advise choosing a name for your pup that’s one or two syllables and begins with a strong consonant sound. That makes the name easy for your pup to hear, understand, and respond to. Shamrock fits the bill perfectly. And both Shammy and Rocky are an excellent nicknames.

Plus, think of the fun you could have with the command, “Shamrock, shake!”

For your St. Patty’s Day girl pup, Clover’s a great pick. And there’s always Lucky, which has long been a popular dog name.

2. Guinness

One of the most famous breweries in the world, Guinness was founded in Dublin way back in 1759, and it’s still the world’s largest producer of stout. It’s also the original producers of the Guinness Book of World Records, which was developed, according to the company, to be the “definitive reference book to settle nightly debates in the 81,400 pubs in Britain and Ireland.” We’d call that a fine and distinguished heritage for any discriminating dog.

In terms of Irish food and drink names, you’ve also got Jameson and Bailey. Bailey’s a name that’s been rising in popularity in the last few years, and now it appears at No. 4 on the list of Top 10 Most Popular Names for boy dogs.

3. Madra

Irish/Gaelic for “dog.” ‘Nuff said.

4. Dublin

The capital of Ireland makes a fine dog name, and bonus, you can call him Dub for short! Also on the geographical list are Cork, Galway, Derry, and Blarney, all of which make a nice alternative to the more common Barney.

5. Molly

Rover.com recently polled its users to discover their favorite Irish-themed dog names. Leading the pack were Riley, Fiona, Kelly, and Molly (which also happens to be No. 3 on DoggieNames.com Most Popular list). We’d add Bridget, Eileen, and Maeve to that list.

6. Liam

Your pooch would probably be proud to be named after Academy Award-nominated actor and action star Liam Neeson, who hails from Ireland. The name Liam also made the list of favorites from Rover.com, as did Connor and Tristan. Declan and Seamus (pronounced shame-us) are great choices as well, and follow the trainers’ recommended guidelines in terms of naming.

7. Finn

Irish last names translate really well to dog names, and Finn, in particular, happens to be popular among celebs, too. Actress Amanda Seyfried (Les Miserable, Mamma Mia!) is famous for her devotion to her Australian Shepherd mix Finn. Other family names worth considering are Fitz and Mac.

A photo posted by Amanda Seyfried (@mingey) on Nov 27, 2014 at 9:39pm PST

8. Bono

If you’re a fan of great musical talent from the Emerald Isle, you could do worse than to name your pup after U2 megastar Bono, who’s also an award-winning philanthropist. There’s also Enya, Ireland’s top-selling solo artist ever, as well as Welsh pop star Duffy, and, of course, the controversial Sinead O’Connor. Besides sharing a rich cultural heritage, all of these artists are also Grammy winners.

9. Conan

Here’s the thing. Since talk-show host Conan O’Brien is known for his shock of red hair, this would be the perfect name for a red-coated dog, such as an Irish Setter. But get this — Conan is actually Irish/Gaelic for “hound,” which makes it all the more perfect.

10. Patrick

Well, you didn’t think we’d be leavin’ out the name behind the holiday itself, did ya now? St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated across the globe on what’s said to be the anniversary of the death of Ireland’s patron saint. As the legend goes, he was fasting at the top of the hill when he was attacked by snakes, but he drove them all back into the sea, thereby ridding the country of the slithery reptiles forever. Definitely a brave act worthy of honoring as a name for your beloved pet. Patty is the lovely female version of the moniker, and many have shortened it to Paddy.

With one of these St. Patty’s Day names, the luck of the Irish is sure to stay with your best pal.

Read more about dog names:

About the author: Atlanta’s own Toni Perling is a writer and web content provider, mostly about dogs, hence her blogger name, Doggienista. 🙂 And hence, her two beautiful rescue dogs: Daisy Jo and Bud Earl. She tweets for them at DaisyJoBudEarl, and shares her collection of dog names and trends at DoggieNames.com. Toni started asking her parents for a puppy pretty much the minute she learned to speak, but they held off until she was the ripe old age of 10, when the family welcomed a Miniature Schnauzer named Truffles. In between, she inhaled every book about dogs ever written and can pretty much identify any breed by sight. She’s also a longtime supporter of spay/neuter/rescue, and adopted her first dog, a sweet lovable mutt named Sophie, from an Los Angeles County shelter.

Tags: Dog Names, Dogster Holidays, Humor, Lists, Offbeat

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