# The history behind Fido

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-history-behind-fido/398681>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [April 4, 2007, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-history-behind-fido/398681 "2007-04-04T06:45:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Kenhbradshaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ce7236/32.png) [@Kenhbradshaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenhbradshaw)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-history-behind-fido/398681/1 "2007-04-04T06:45:58Z")

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You don’t go far enough in explaining the popularity of Fido as a dog’s name. True, it means faithful. But it is popular because it was the name of Abraham Lincoln’s dog. There is a picture and a story was written about him. Fido was knifed to death about a year after Lincoln died.

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-history-behind-fido/398681/2 "2007-04-04T18:09:42Z")

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Welcome to the SDMB.

A link to the column is appreciated. Providing one can be as simple as pasting the URL into your post, making sure to leave a blank space on either side of it. Like so: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_260b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_260b.html)

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-history-behind-fido/398681/3 "2007-04-04T18:24:44Z")

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I have to wonder what makes you think Fido wasn’t already a common name for dogs before Lincoln’s Fido. [William Makepeace Thackeray](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Makepeace_Thackeray)’s novel _Men’s Wives_ (1852) featured a dog named Fido, as did the semi-autobiographical novel _Our Nig_ by [Harriet E. Wilson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_E._Wilson) (1859).