If you hear someone calling for a dog named, say, Gizmo, you probably don't expect to see a 150-pound Great Dane lumbering over. Not every large dog is named Titan or Maximus, and that made us wonder what the most common names are for top large dog breeds.
So we dug into our database of more than 5.6 million names for the 10 most popular large breeds, according to the American Kennel Club: Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Boxers, Rottweilers, German Shorthaired Pointers, Siberian Huskies, Doberman Pinschers, Great Danes and Australian Shepherds. Though there were certainly a number of names in common among many breeds, there were a few that stood out, too.
Most Popular Names for Top 10 Large Dog Breeds
Tara Gregg, Animal Photography
No. 10: Australian Shepherd
Top Female Names: Sadie, Molly, Maggie
Top Male Names: Buddy, Max, Bear
Karin Newstrom, Animal Photography
No. 9: Great Dane
Top Female Names: Bella, Daisy, Lucy
Top Male Names: Duke, Zeus, Max
Julie Poole, Animal Photography
No. 8: Doberman Pinscher
Top Female Names: Lady, Sadie, Bella
Top Male Names: Max, Zeus, Duke
Sally Anne Thompson, Animal Photography
No. 7: Siberian Husky
Top Female Names: Sasha, Sheba, Tasha
Top Male Names: Max, Dakota, Bandit
Sam Clark, Animal Photography
No. 6: German Shorthaired Pointer
Top Female Names: Sadie, Maggie, Molly
Top Male Names: Jake, Max, Duke
Sally Anne Thompson, Animal Photography
No. 5: Rottweiler
Top Female Names: Roxy, Sasha, Sadie
Top Male Names: Bear, Max, Rocky
Sally Anne Thompson, Animal Photography
No. 4: Boxer
Top Female Names: Bella, Roxy, Daisy
Top Male Names: Rocky, Max, Tyson
Nick Ridley, Animal Photography
No. 3: Golden Retriever
Top Female Names: Maggie, Molly, Sadie
Top Male Names: Buddy, Max, Jake
Nick Ridley, Animal Photography
No. 2: German Shepherd
Top Female Names: Lady, Sadie, Sasha
Top Male Names: Max, Bear, Buddy
Leesia Teh, Animal Photography
No. 1: Labrador Retriever
Top Female Names: Molly, Maggie, Sadie
Top Male Names: Buddy, Max, Jake
Names in Common
For females, three names caught our eye: Molly, Sadie and Maggie. Not only were they found all over this list — in fact, Sadie made the top 10 for all 10 breeds — but the three names comprised the top three(in varying order) for four breeds: Labs, Goldens, German Shorthairs and Aussies. Bella made the top 10 for all breeds as well, which makes sense — it was the most popular female puppy name of the year last year.
The males also had a number of names that came up over and over again: Max, the most popular male puppy name of 2014, made the top three for every breed in this slideshow. Buddy (which made the top 10 for nine breeds), Max and Jake were the top picks (in varying order) for both Labs and Goldens. Zeus, Duke and Max were the top three (again, in different orders) for Great Danes and Doberman Pinschers.
Standing Out From the Crowd
The Siberian Husky got our attention (and not just because of those gorgeous blue eyes). Though, like all the other large breeds, Max claimed a top spot, popular names for the Siberian Husky were either rarely or not at all common among other breeds. Tasha, Sheba, Bandit and Dakota didn't make the top three for any breed besides the Siberian. Interestingly enough, Dakota showed up on both the male and female lists for Siberians: No. 2 for males and No. 4 for females. Other names that appeared just once in any breed's top three were Tyson (No. 3 for Boxers) and Lucy (No. 3 for Great Danes). Shocking, since Lucy was the No. 3 most popular puppy name overall last year!
What About Poodles?
Yes, the Standard Poodle would be considered a large breed and a very popular one at that. But because the data for the most common names of Poodles (the AKC's No. 7 most popular breed) was not broken down into Toy, Miniature and Standard, we elected to leave it out of the slideshow. The top Poodle names were mostly in line with many of the other popular names on the list: Molly, Bella and Daisy for females; and Max, Buddy and Charlie for males.
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