What are Southeastern Guide Dogs most popular dog names?
What are Southeastern Guide Dogs most popular dog names?
Most guide dog organizations allow the honor of naming privileges to be bestowed upon the puppies going through training by people who donated a lot of money, so it isn’t exactly like there’s a set of rules to follow like with hurricanes, as it’s more up to the donor.
So a lot of the time, names can overlap, or come from goodness knows where. The impawtant thing is that that’s the dog’s name, and so it isn’t really like a normal adoption where the new owner could change it if they wanted.
The Southeastern Guide Dogs blog recently recapped the top 10 most requested puppy names, while also noting that every letter of the alphabet has been used at some point (X has the least, with 14 dogs beginning with that letter).
The first Southeastern Guide Dogs canine was a black Labrador Retriever named Freedom, and the longest name that has been given was the regal-sounding Sir Maverick of Monaco.
Southeastern Guide Dogs is located in in Palmetto, Florida, about 45 minutes south of the Tampa Bay area, and the school was founded in 1982. Their first graduation was held in February 1984, and since that time they’ve graduated more than 3,200 teams.
They also help military veterans as well with a program that was begun in 2006, which not only offers guide dogs, but also service dogs and emotional support animals as well.
Now, onto the listing of the Southeastern Guide Dogs most popular dog names. Etymology, when pawsible, will come from Bruce Lansky’s 1998 book The Very Best Baby Name Book in the Whole Wide World.
What are the Southeastern Guide Dogs most popular dog names?
Here at Dog O’Day, we know the pawfect name is one of the most fun and (impawtant) parts of getting a new puppy. So it’s fun to dig into the Southeastern Guide Dogs most popular dog names list and look into the etymology, which will come from Bruce Lansky’s 1998 book The Very Best Baby Name Book in the Whole Wide World, because it really is the best.
No. 10 – Penny
A penny is, of course, one cent, in addition to being a nickname for “Penelope,” who is a character from Greek mythology (Odysseus’s wife).
Famous Dog Twitter celebrities with the name Penny include historian Canadian Penny and Penny Lane (of lawn potato fame), and Brain’s owner, the niece of Riverton policeman John Brown, is also named Penny in the Inspector Gadget movies (Penny was played by Michelle Trachtenberg and Caitlin Wachs).
No. 9 – Angel
Angels are typically thought of as comforting, soft guardians, though they are depicted in scriptures as fearsome warriors. A guide dog ideally will be a combination of the two, though as big fans of Joss Whedon works, we like to think of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer character played by David Boreanaz who got his own spinoff detective show.
No. 8 – Faith
Faith is, by definition, “trust or confidence in someone or something,” so it is a good name for a guide dog to possess.
Faith is also the name of Eliza Dushku’s Buffy/Angel character, and the name of an important character in the late Anne of Green Gables books, in addition to being a fairly popular human name.
No. 7 – Lucy
According to Lansky, “Lucy” comes from Latin for “light” or “bringer of light,” which honestly makes a lot of sense in this context.
Famous Lucys throughout history and pop culture include Lucille Ball, Lucy Lawless, Lucy Hale, Lucy Van Pelt from Peanuts and Lucy Pevensie from the Chronicles of Narnia.
No. 6 – Annie
Anne (also spelled Ann) comes from either “Anna,” which is either English or Latin for “gracious,” or “Hannah,” which comes from Hebrew and means the same thing.
Annie just radiates friendliness and good cheer; it’s hard to imagine an Annie not helping someone if they needed it, so it’s no wonder that it’s a popular guide dog name.
Famous Annies (or close to it) include novelist Anne Bronte, children’s novelist Anne Marrow Lindbergh, much royalty throughout history, and teacher Anne Sullivan.
Other famous fictional Annies include the lead character from the musical of the same name (which Sir Winston Da Doodle starred in during a local production last summer), Anne Shirley from the Anne of Green Gables series of novels, Catherine Hicks’ matriarch in the 90s drama 7th Heaven, Kimberly Williams-Paisley’s role as Annie Banks in the Father of the Bride movies, and Rashida Jones’ character of Ann Perkins from Parks and Rec.
The Southeastern Guide Dogs most popular dog names list concludes with the top five.
Here at Dog O’Day we recap the Southeastern Guide Dogs most popular dog names, digging into the etymology when possible with help from Bruce Lansky’s 1998 book The Very Best Baby Name Book in the Whole Wide World.
No. 5 – Jake
Jake is a shortened form of Jacob, which is Hebrew for “supplanter” or “substitute,” according to Lansky. It comes from the Biblical character from Genesis who was the son of Isaac and Rachel, brother of Esau and grandson of Abraham. (He was the trickster who stole Esau’s birthright.)
That doesn’t seem like the greatest heritage, but Jake also sounds like an action hero, which is fun, and there are actors like Jake Gyllenhaal (October Sky, Donnie Darko, Spider-Man: Far From Home), in addition to the team-famous NFL quarterbacks Jake Plummer (Arizona Cardinals) and Jake Delhomme (Carolina Panthers), adding to the positive side.
No. 4 – Liberty
This makes sense, because the purpose of a guide dog is to enable a blind or visually impaired person more freedom to go about their lives, whether that be work, school, or socializing. And the English word “liberty’ comes from the Latin root “libris,” which means freedom. It’s where we get the word “library” from, as well as the academic discipline of “Liberal Arts,” which is basically how to think well and clearly, in the sense of being able to gather, analyze, evaluate and deliver information free of fallacies.
(Sorry to nerd out there. I was an English major whose degree was technically in Liberal Arts, and I studied Latin in both high school and college. And as a visually-impaired person myself, I like this association.)
No. 3 – Buddy
Buddy has been a synonym of “friend” since at least sometime in the nineteenth century, and many dogs have gotten that name as well, sharing it with actors like Air Bud himself, as well as Bud Abbott of Abbott and Costello, actor Buddy Ebsen of The Beverly Hillbillies, and 1970s NASCAR driver Buddy Baker.
So it makes sense that many guide dogs would be given this name as well, especially as it was the fourth-most popular male dog name of 2019.
No. 2 – Charlie/Charley
According to Lansky, Charlie (sometimes also spelled Charley) is a shortened form of Charles, which comes either from German, meaning “farmer,” or English, meaning “strong and manly.” Considering that many breeds of dogs were developed to help in the fields, this seems like a noble and worthy moniker to bestow.
Charlie, however you spell it, can work for a male or a female dog, just as in real life it can be a reference to actor Charlie Sheen (Eight Men Out, Major League, Two and a Half Men) or the title character of Charlotte “Charlie” Duncan (Mia Talerico) in the underrated Disney Channel sitcom Good Luck Charlie.
Also, the main character of the All Dogs Go to Heaven franchise is named Charlie Barkin (voice shared by Burt Reynolds, Sheen and Steven Weber in the first movie, second movie and TV series, respectively).
No. 1 – Maggie
Maggie is traditionally a short form of Margaret, which Lansky says comes from Greek and means “pearl.” Maggie as a nickname is thought of as more Scotch/Irish, but either way conveys a pleasant association, which is probably why it ranked No. 10 in the top female dog names of 2019. Maggie can also be short for several other names, all of which are fairly uncommon.
Famous real-life Maggies include British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and actress Maggie Smith, and there was a recurring Buffy character named Professor Maggie Walsh.
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