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Posted on Mon, Feb. 16, 2009

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Lockjaw? Cardiac? Dog names run gamut

BY DIANE MCCARTNEY

The Wichita Eagle

A poodle named Prada.

A St. Bernard called Avalanche.

Lockjaw the pit bull, Clark Kent the Yorkie, and Brutus Maximus the mastiff.

Wichitans are creative in naming their dogs, borrowing from famous and fictional people, movies, mythology, food, flowers and places.

A study of the city's database of licensed dogs from 2008 shows some changes from 1997, when Max and Molly were the most popular canine names in Wichita.

Those names are still in the top five but have been passed in popularity by Buddy for males and Maggie for females.

Sadie, Daisy, Lucy, Sophie, Bailey and Jack make up the rest of the top 10.

Some names are an obvious fit for the breed: Feather the papillon, Fats the bulldog, Muscles the rottweiler and Wrinkles the shar-pei.

Likewise for names borrowed from famous people. Layla Ali and Mike Tyson are boxers.

But John Edwards the Chihuahua? His owner could not be reached for comment.

Pit bulls and pit bull mixes had some of the most intriguing names: Lunchbox and Eight Ball, Undertaker and Cardiac, Mayhem and Security -- but also plenty of Babys, Sugars and Princesses.

Food names are popular, with dogs called everything from Tofu to T-Bone, and some paint a perfect culinary picture: a Pomeranian called Cream Puff; a dachshund named Sausage; four Chihuahuas named Nacho.

A Labrador called Seabass, however, was not named after owner Cole Walton's favorite fish dish but after a character in the movie "Dumb & Dumber."

Rebecca Kallas admits she was inspired by the movie "Rocky" when she named her male Chihuahua.

"When he was a baby, he would get up on his back feet and paw at you like he was boxing," Kallas said. "So we named him Rocky Balboa."

And where there's a Rocky, "there has to be an Adrian," Kallas said, and that's how her female Chihuahua got her name.

The family also has Apollo Creed, a pug who's "Rocky's best friend," she said.

Other popular movies and books that appeared to influence dog owners were the "Lord of the Rings," "Harry Potter" and "Star Wars" series.

From mythology come powerful names like Zeus, Hercules and Thor.

Zeus the Great Dane, of course; but Hercules the Pekingese?

Reta Monaco said she named her Peke Hercules because "he thought he was tough."

The family used to have pit bulls, she said, and the Pekingese would bark at the much bigger dogs, "thinking he could tell them what to do."

Some names hint at sophistication: Hollywood, Tuxedo, Mink Stole and Bling Bling or designer names like Armani, Chanel, Valentino and Gucci (mostly poodles).

Others may suggest a problem: Nuisance, Trouble, Psycho, Shredder, Shark Boy and six dogs named Stinky.

Names that seem odd can have perfectly reasonable explanations, once you talk to the dog's owner.

Judy Atkins named her weimaraner-vizsla mix Hubcap because he greets customers at her dad's transmission shop.

"We thought a shop dog ought to be called Hubcap," she said.

Reach Diane McCartney at 316-268-6593 or dmccartney@wichitaeagle.com.