# What to name my new dog
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 22, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855 "2016-01-22T04:22:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/1 "2016-01-22T04:22:53Z")
So I’m getting a puppy next week and due to some rules required by the German SV registry I’m supposed to name her with a name that starts with W. (I’m not German by the way.) Any suggestions? I like historic names.
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/2 "2016-01-22T04:25:33Z")
Wehrmacht?
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/3 "2016-01-22T04:30:39Z")
I firmly believe a dog should not be named for the first 48-72 hrs\*; that way you can see their personality & give them an appropriate name.
- Unless they choose one sooner, I grew up with a guy who had a dog named, “Pizza”. Can you guess what the dog jumped up on the table & stole two slices of its first night in the house?
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### Author:  [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/4 "2016-01-22T04:33:46Z")
So, she’s a German Shepherd yes? And (by protocol) needs a name starting with W yes?
What about Wilhelmina?
Or Whoopie? 😃
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### Author:  [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/5 "2016-01-22T04:42:09Z")
Oops. Wrong thread
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### Author:  [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/6 "2016-01-22T04:47:00Z")
> [@kambuckta](#):
>
> So, she’s a German Shepherd yes?
> And (by protocol) needs a name starting with W yes?
>
> What about Wilhelmina?
>
> Or Whoopie? 😃
Yes
Yes
too complex for a dog’s name. one to two syllables at most.
No, just No 🙂
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/7 "2016-01-22T04:49:33Z")
Whatever name you pick just remember that one day you will be wandering around the neighborhood yelling that name when she gets loose.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/8 "2016-01-22T05:19:11Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> Whatever name you pick just remember that one day you will be wandering around the neighborhood yelling that name when she gets loose.
I know. I regret the day I named my dog “Sex.”
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### Author:  [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/9 "2016-01-22T05:24:56Z")
> [@drewder](#):
>
> Yes
> Yes
> too complex for a dog’s name. one to two syllables at most.
> No, just No 🙂
Her registry name could be Wilhelmina, but you could just call her Billie. Billie seems like a good name for a German Shepherd. Horses are like that, too. They have one name that’s registered to them, but are generally called by a close nickname.
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### Author:  [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/10 "2016-01-22T08:20:08Z")
Winnie or Willow.
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### Author:  [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/11 "2016-01-22T08:27:12Z")
WC Fields
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### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/12 "2016-01-22T08:42:42Z")
Wiggles W Wittlesbach
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### Author:  [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/13 "2016-01-22T10:57:33Z")
I was so hoping it was a dachshund.
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### Author:  [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/14 "2016-01-22T11:48:10Z")
Wall-E!
Seriously though, this sounds like it’s going to be her kennel name. You can actually call her anything you like, so don’t worry too much about what goes on the form.
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### Author:  [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/15 "2016-01-22T12:19:22Z")
Thanks for the suggestions. I think we’ll go with Winter.
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### Author:  [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/16 "2016-01-22T20:18:16Z")
Wolfgang, hope I’m not too late.
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### Author:  [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/17 "2016-01-22T20:24:19Z")
> [@drewder](#):
>
> Thanks for the suggestions. I think we’ll go with Winter.
Please post photos of Ms. Winter once she arrives home!
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### Author:  [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/18 "2016-01-22T20:42:59Z")
Could you not just tell them you’re naming it Whatever, and then call it what you want? (I got my dog at four months from a shelter, which is obviously not the same thing, but they named him Wapi. We never called him that. His name is Gus.) Dog people are insane.
Or just go with Whatever.
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### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/19 "2016-01-22T21:36:16Z")
A dog obedience teacher once told me dogs learn the name faster if it ends in an open vowel sound.
If you name a dog after somebody you know, that person may resent it.
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### Author:  [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-name-my-new-dog/743855/20 "2016-01-22T22:05:20Z")
> [@Lowdown](#):
>
> Could you not just tell them you’re naming it Whatever, and then call it what you want? (I got my dog at four months from a shelter, which is obviously not the same thing, but they named him Wapi. We never called him that. His name is Gus.) Dog people are insane.
>
> Or just go with Whatever.
Yeah the breeder said it’s perfectly acceptable to call the dog whatever we want and that the name need only be on the registration. She even suggested that we just put a W in front of whatever name we choose.
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