Tray was an old name in Britain for spaniels.
Satan may be the most common name now in England; but rarely for spaniels.
The ugliest dog I ever saw belonged to a hunter who was my guide on a back-country trip in Panama. His owner once had accidentally hit him in the head with a machete when chopping a trail so his head was kind of lopsided. He called the dog Tesoro (Treasure), which was kind of funny.
Thanks for sparking a memory! “Trezor”, which means “treasure” in Russian, appears to have been a popular name for dogs.
I named a female tabby cat “Dottie”. You’d be surprised at how many people didn’t get the joke.
Does anyone know if “Schatzie” (sp?) is really something Germans name their dogs or is it done only by English-speaking Dachshund owners?
I saw a huge jet black Great Dane once with an ID tag on his collar that I read as “Satan”. I asked his owners if I could pet Satan. And they freaked out. The dog’s name was “Satin”, and they were very born again Christians.
French Médor
Laika was the first dog in space, 1957.
From Wikipedia:
Laika died within hours from overheating, possibly caused by a failure of the central R-7 sustainer to separate from the payload. The true cause and time of her death were not made public until 2002
merdeux in Cajun French.
Sounds like the English equivalent would be “Fifi.”
I used to chuckle whenever I came across dogs named Bob or Mike. I’ve even known a few dogs named Steve, but don’t find it odd because my childhood friend’s dog was named Steve.
I suspect dogs with human names were named by the children in the household and not the adults.
According to the Russians I know, Laika is definitely not a stereotypical dog name. It was the name of one particularly famous dog, but has nowhere near the status of “default dog name”. They agree that Zshuchka is a pretty typical name for a female dog, though.
In Ukraine, the stereotypical dog name is “Bobik.” It is, apparently, a diminutive of Bogdan.
I couldn’t help but chuckle over Dottie’s name, as I once had a tabby named Spot. 
As far as Schotzi goes, the only dog that I’ve ever heard named that was the St. Bernard mascot for the Cincinnati Reds in the eighties owned by Marge Schotz, the team owner.
Oh my! I learn something new every day and this is an example of something new that I learned today.
Thank you. I enjoyed learning that.
The Dine’ (Navajo) word for dog, and default name for most, is leechaa. Which literally means something like ‘creature that shits a lot’.
When I lived in Candler Park one of my neighbors had Phideaux. (They were Acadians.) He was a pretty cool dog.
My cousin’s dog back in the late 50s was named Fido, but they spelled it Phydeaux. I think even at the time that was an old joke though.
Probably because one syllable names that begin with obstruents are really good dog names. They are easy for dogs to learn and respond to, and you are going to say your dog’s name a lot during training. polysyllabic names never work well.
I met some hipsters with a Rover. More people who failed at “ironic.”
I’ve known several people with Calico cats named “Callie.” None of them thought they were clever, though. I did know a Tabby owner who though she was clever for naming her cat “Tabitha,” and calling her “Tabby.”
It was probably a blessing, as the Soviets had no intention of bringing her back. Her corpse is still orbiting somewhere.
Well, I grew up in with an Airedale named Sunny Susannah of Lomar. How many syllables is that?
Pedigreed dogs are commonly given quixotic multi-syllable (even multi-word) names, just like race horses.
But we just called her Suzy. Still polysyllabic.
ETA: P.S. What’s an obstruent?
Here in Japan the generic name for a dog is “Pochi,” but “Koro,” “Shiro,” and “Taro” are fairly common names, too. While I have never heard of anyone actually calling their dog Pochi, the others are popular enough among the woefully unoriginal.
As for the etymologies, “Pochi” is the most recent but has the most uncertain origin. It is believed to be either a corruption of the English “pooch” are the French “petit.” “Koro” comes from “korokoro” meaning “rolling about; roly-poly.” “Shiro” means “white” and is just about as lame as a dog name can get. “Taro” is a generic boy’s name, a bit like naming your dog “Bob” or “Jim.”
Also, although you didn’t ask for it, the generic cat name here is “Tama,” which means “ball” in Japanese, possibly in reference to the shape of a sleeping kitty.
Not really, it’s not used by women with handbag dogs but by guys who think their yapper is Strong and Mighty even though it’s a badly-trained Scottish Terrier, and mis-training those takes special effort. The same kind of guys may name the dog Hércules or Sansón (which yes, are Hercules and Samson).
Spelled “Phideaux” for pretentious hipsters.
I think I’ve found a new username!