Why is "Fido" a common name for a dog?

[njtt]

OK, it seems to me that Cecil really did not answer this question at all. He just told us what "Fido" means. i already knew that.

What I do not know, and what the original questioner was also asking, is why Fido has come to be used as a generic or default dog name, and this despite the fact that actual dogs are almost never called Fido (at least, I have never met one).

Does anyone actually know.

[Bob Ducca]

Originally Posted by njtt

OK, it seems to me that Cecil really did not answer this question at all. He just told us what "Fido" means. i already knew that.

What I do not know, and what the original questioner was also asking, is why Fido has come to be used as a generic or default dog name, and this despite the fact that actual dogs are almost never called Fido (at least, I have never met one).

Does anyone actually know.

According to this, President Lincoln had a dog named Fido which helped bring the name to popularity in America in the 1860's.

[John W. Kennedy]

Not to mention that “Faithful” is an obviously doggy sort of name.

[samclem]

Originally Posted by Bob Ducca

According to this, President Lincoln had a dog named Fido which helped bring the name to popularity in America in the 1860's.

I call bullshit on the info in that link.

First, show me that LIncoln had a dog and the dog's name was Fido. I couldn't find any contemporary evidence.

The name Fido for a dog first shows up mostly in England, then gets gradually more noticeable in the US. Nothing in newspaper articles about dogs named Fido in the period 1860-1875 that would indicate that Lincoln had such or dog or that it caused people in the US to name their pets such.

[Crazyhorse]

Originally Posted by samclem

First, show me that LIncoln had a dog and the dog's name was Fido. I couldn't find any contemporary evidence.

This site is among several with information about a dog that Lincoln allegedly named Fido. Much of the information is credited as coming from The Henry Horner Collection at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and a Life Magazine article from 1954, Lincoln’s Lost Dog by Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt.

According to the story Fido didn't travel to Washington with the Lincolns. He was given to family friends when they moved and lived out the rest of his life in Springfield. This might explain how he could have existed but never gained the expected fame and press coverage of a Presidential dog.

It was a common sight in Springfield to see Abraham Lincoln walking to the local market with Fido trailing behind carrying a parcel in his mouth. Fido was a floppy-eared, rough-coated, yellowish dog of uncertain ancestry. His date of birth was unknown although 1855 would be a good guess. Mr. Lincoln would sometimes stop at Billy the Barber's for a haircut, and Fido would wait outside with the other customers' pets.

[Crafter_Man]

Well then Fido got up off the floor an' he rolled over an' he looked me straight in the eye. An' you know what he said?

[hailrobonia]

If I had a dog, I would name it Fido or Rover. Everyone knows those are dog names, but it seems like nobody has ever met a dog with those names!

[John W. Kennedy]

So Lincoln’s dog Fido is the most famous forgotten dog that ever lived? Sounds like the Shakespeare-deniers’ argument that everybody knew that the Earl of Oxford wrote the plays, and besides, it was a state secret that it was death to reveal.

[Crazyhorse]

Originally Posted by John W. Kennedy

So Lincoln’s dog Fido is the most famous forgotten dog that ever lived? Sounds like the Shakespeare-deniers’ argument that everybody knew that the Earl of Oxford wrote the plays, and besides, it was a state secret that it was death to reveal.

Available information seems to support the claim that the Lincolns had a dog named Fido. That isn't necessarily evidence to suggest that it had anything to do with the name being popular for dogs. There are numerous references to dogs named Fido that predate 'Fido Lincoln'.

The juvenile miscellany, or, Friend of Youth - 1826

Fido, or The faithful friend - 1845

[BrotherCadfael]

Our neighbor's dog is named Phidoux.

Really.

[boomerwang]

They could've crammed more letters in there: Phayedough.

[Rampant Coypu]

Used to be an underground-ish dance and live band club in Houston called "Phaideaux"

BTW, stories about the faithfulness of dogs go back a long way. Argos the dog recognizes Odysseus when he returns in disguise after 19-20 years and almost immediately dies of happiness.

[Captain Amazing]

Here's the National Park Service saying Lincoln had a dog named Fido:

http://www.nps.gov/abli/planyourvisit/lincoln-pets.htm

Here's the Lincoln Institute:

http://www.abrahamlincolnsclassroom....d=126&crli=174

When the Lincolns left Springfield for Washington in February 1860, they left the family dog “Fido” with a neighboring Springfield family.

[hailrobonia]

One of the best dog names I've heard was Deeyojee. Sounds exotic, until you realize it's D-O-G.

[Ponch8]

Every single newspaper or magazine article about dogs (or cats) also uses the term "our four-legged friends." Learning to speak in cliches must be a requirement to graduate from journalism school.

[Irishman]

Could be worse. I heard a local news report on restaurant inspections, referred to "four-legged infestations" when talking about cockroaches, flies, and other insects. That one had me laughing pretty hard.

[LaurenIpsum]

I thought the name's popularity (or at least its fame) came from the Fido from World War II who kept waiting at the bus stop for his dead master.

[Cicero]

In that case all dogs would be called Greyfriars Bobby.

[John W. Kennedy]

Originally Posted by Cicero

In that case all dogs would be called Greyfriars Bobby.

Why not Argos?

[Colophon]

Originally Posted by hailrobonia

One of the best dog names I've heard was Deeyojee. Sounds exotic, until you realize it's D-O-G.

The dog that lives in a pub I know is called Deefer. As in Deefer Dog.

[ktel60]

In Louisiana, the preferred spelling is "phydeaux". Among members of the United States Marine Corps (currently serving or not, there are no "ex-Marines" SIR) , the popularity of the name is obvious.

[gnoitall]

Originally Posted by Cicero

In that case all dogs would be called Greyfriars Bobby.

Or Hachikō

[Scumpup]

Originally Posted by hailrobonia

If I had a dog, I would name it Fido or Rover. Everyone knows those are dog names, but it seems like nobody has ever met a dog with those names!

I once had a gecko named Fido, if that helps.

[MEBuckner]

When the Lincolns left Springfield for Washington in February 1860, they left the family dog “Fido” with a neighboring Springfield family.

Oh, sure, that's what they told poor old Honest Abe. "Yeah, that's right, Abraham, we, uh, Fido is--uh--we sent him to live on a, a farm! A farm back home in Springfield! I mean, he wouldn't have been happy--he wouldn't be happy--living in Washington in that cramped old White House. So we sent him to live with, uh, the Joneses--you remember the Joneses, right?--on their farm, where he can run and play and chase things and stuff."

[jezzaOZ]

My memory of school-boy latin is that the ending denotes the person.

Hence Fido means "I am faithful"
Fidus "you are faithful"

Etc.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Wasn't there a dog collar labelled "Fido" found at Pompeii?
Or dog bowl, or sign, or something.

I recall seeing something in a National Geographic....

[John W. Kennedy]

Originally Posted by jezzaOZ

My memory of school-boy latin is that the ending denotes the person.

Hence Fido means "I am faithful"
Fidus "you are faithful"

Etc.

Your schoolboy Latin appears to have been mixed up with a little schoolboy Chinese. "Fido" may, indeed, be a verb, but the conjugation is:

fido    I trust
fidis   thou trustest
fidit   he/she/it trusts
fidimus we trust
fiditis you trust
fidunt  they trust

But the etymology of “Fido” is not directly Latin-to-English, and is not from the above verb. It is from fidus, the adjective:

         Singular                      Plural
Masc.   Fem.    Neut. | Masc.   Fem,    Neut.
fidus   fida    fid   | fidi    fidae   fida     faithful
fidi    fidae   fidi  | fidorum fidarum fidorum  of faithful
fido    fidae   fido  | fidis   fidis   fidis    to faithful
fidum   fidam   fidum | fidos   fidas   fida     faithful (direct object)
fido    fida    fido  | fidis   fidis   fidis    from faithful

For unknown reasons, the -o form of masculine (and neuter) became the normal masculine form in both Italian and Spanish when they evolved from Latin, and English “Fido” comes from one of them.

[wcamero1]

About six years ago, on a routine visit to the vet, my wife and I were in line behind a middle aged woman and her dog. While we waited to sign in, the woman was practicing obedience commands with the young dog. After each command/response, she squeaked a little ball and let the little guy give it a bite; followed by a rub and a 'Good Boy' or a 'Good Boy Fido'. When we reached the desk, my wife drew my attention to the checkin sheet where the woman had written down her dogs name. It was written 'Phydeaux'. Seriously funny at the time, and still a cute story.

Bill, Seminole FL