Color Inspired Dog Names

Introduction

Color is an important part of our lives, in the colors we see, the colors we feel, and even in the colors of the food we eat. Whether its due to their enthusiastic greetings each day, the amusing antics that they exhibit, or the new places that they take us, our dogs add color to our lives. Like colors our canine companions can be a calming influence, helping us to relax at the end of the day, or a stimulating one, getting us up and going each morning for our morning walks. People looking to colors for inspiration have many options available, from comedic to elegant.

Color Inspired Dog Names in Pop Culture

Featured Famous Dog With a Color Inspired Name

Grigio

Colorful names like the ones in this list have frequently been popular choices to label our canine companions, so its no surprise that we see many of these names in popular culture throughout many different places and time periods. While the name Blue is often associated with male dogs like Bluey, the oldest verified dog, an Australian Cattle dog that lived to the ripe old age of twenty-nine years and five months old, Blue has also been popular for female dogs such the English Bull Terrier owned by hockey commentator Don Cherry and the beloved blue dog from the animated children’s show "Blue’s Clues". Rusty was the name of choice for the canine protagonist in the Rusty film series in the late 1940s, a series of movies produced for young viewers that featured the adventures of the titular canine and a young boy named Danny Mitchell, and in the 1998 movie “Rusty: The Great Rescue,” in which a Beagle named Rusty helps to rescue stolen puppies.

Copper is another familiar canine moniker inspired by color, one that, for many of us, instantly brings to mind the image of Copper the hound dog from the classic Disney movie “The Fox and the Hound,” a heartwarming tale about the unlikely friendship between an orphaned fox kit and a hound dog pup destined to be a hunting dog. Beverly Hills Chihuahua, a live-action animal film revolves around a small pampered Chihuahua by the name of Chloe, who gets dog-napped in Mexico while under the care of her owner's irresponsible niece. In the film, starring Angel the dog in the role of Chloe (with occasional help from her stunt double Rita), the gardener’s Chihuahua, a little dog named Papi with a big crush on Chloe, pursues her dognappers through Mexico in order to find and save her.

Names based on colors are not a new idea, however, and were used as far back as the 19^th century. Stories from that time within the Catholic faith tell of the legendary dog, Grigio, a huge canine so named for his gray coat, and Saint John Bosco, known to the populace as Don Bosco. Don Bosco was a Roman Catholic priest in Italy who dedicated his life to the education and betterment of disadvantaged youths and developed kinder and more effective teaching methods. The stories tell of a large wolf-like grey dog that befriended him and occasionally walked alongside him as he made his evening trek home through dangerous parts of town. As Don Bosco tells it, the dog protected him from dangerous criminals along the way several times and at one point even prevented him from leaving his home when danger threatened outside. The mysterious dog always disappeared after the incidents and the priest never pursued its origin, just referring to the dog as his friend Grigio.

Color Inspired Dog Name Considerations

Choosing a name for our dogs is an important task, it’s a name we will be saying and hearing multiple times a day, hopefully for many years to come. Choosing a name that your dog responds well to and that is easy for you and your household to pronounce can help to enhance your bond as well as improving the response time to training. There are many options when choosing a name inspired by color, color names are able to express not only the dog’s physical attributes but also their personality traits and their heritage. Certain color names might have an obvious physical origin, such as the blue merle-coated dog named Blue or the Golden Retriever with the name of Goldie, while others may be slightly more subtle like Whitman, a name which means white-haired but may also allude to the 19^th-century poet and essayist Walt Whitman. When choosing a name based color, individual personality may also influence the decision and white dog with a high prey drive may be well-suited to the name Gavin, while a dog with a calm and healing nature may end up with the name Turquoise. A dog’s breed and heritage may also affect the final selection and a name like Sienna may work well for an orange-colored Spinone Italiano, while a Spanish Greyhound, the hunting hound of choice for many Spanish kings, may be given the moniker Porfirio or Jacinta to denote their royal status.

Male Color Inspired Dog Names

Votes	Name	Vote
9	Bruno In Germany this name means brown one, while in Italy it means brown haired
9	Copper A metal with a distinguishing reddish brown color, frequently used to make coins such as the US penny
8	Colby A Scandinavian name with Old Norse roots that means dark or coal-black town
7	Blue While only some dogs have blue eyes or a blue coat, almost all dogs are true blue friends
7	Denver This is a name of Old English and French origin that means green valley
7	Periwinkle A light purple-blue color reminiscent of the periwinkle flower
7	Slate Slate is a fine-grained metamorphic rock with a unique dark grey coloration
6	Merle A French name that means blackbird
6	Tanner A name that refers to both the color tan and the profession of a tanner, or one who tans hides
6	Blanche This name is derived from the French word for white, blanc
5	Bowie An Irish name meaning yellow-haired
5	Sage A name that both references the bluish-green color of the sage plant and suggests wisdom
4	Albion A Celtic name that means white cliffs
4	Lloyd This Welsh name means the one with grey hair
4	Roux A French word for red; also a cooking term relating to a mixture of flour and fat for thickening sauces
4	Salmon A distinctive pinkish color as well as a strong swimming ocean fish that makes a healthy meal
4	Sterling A strong name that refers to the color of sterling silver
4	Taji A name meaning silver and yellow color in Japan
4	Umber A natural yellowish brown pigment that is darker than either sienna or ochre
4	Zisa The Lakota Sioux word for orange
3	Adam The meaning of the name Adam is of the red earth
3	Forest A deep, dark shade of green, like you would find in a shady forest
3	Red The name Red is almost exclusively given to dogs with red coats
3	Rusty Named for the unique red-brown color of rust
2	Gavin A Welsh name meaning white hawk
2	Grigio The Italian word for grey
2	Porfirio A name from Spain and Italy that means purple or purple clad
2	Zigi The Dakota Sioux word for orange
1	Wit The Dutch word for white
0	Dunne An English name meaning dark or brown
0	Ska The Lakota Sioux word that means white
0	Whitman An English name meaning white-haired

Female Color Inspired Dog Names

Votes	Name	Vote
11	Ivory This refers to the creamy white color that comes from the tusks and teeth of certain animals
9	Amber A name that references the color of the fossilized resin of ancient trees, hardened like stone and used as decoration
9	Iris A Greek name that means colorful or rainbow
8	Olive A reference to the distinctive color of green olives
8	Tale A name from Egypt meaning green
8	Turquoise A semi-precious stone with a unique blue-green color
6	Sienna An Italian name referring to a reddish brown color
5	Raven A name referring to the highly intelligent large black bird known as a raven
5	Scarlet A particularly vibrant shade of red
4	Chloe A name from Greece meaning a growing green shoot
4	Melina A Greek name that means bright yellow
4	Morela A Portuguese name that means one with the brown hair
4	Saffron An expensive spice with a distinctive yellow-orange hue
4	Sapa The Lakota Sioux word for black
3	Arona A Hawaiian name meaning colorful
3	Roja The Spanish word for red
2	Daiya A Chinese name that translates into black-colored jade
2	Hitomi A Japanese name meaning blue eyes
2	Ngaire A name of Hawaiian and Maori origin meaning silver fern
1	Eerin An Australian name meaning small grey owl
1	Goldie This name refers to the precious metal known as gold
0	Ashley The grey of ashes is the inspiration for this English name
0	Rufina An Italian name that means red-haired
-1	Bianca An Italian name that means white
-1	Cera A French name that means colorful
-1	Ebony A name referring to the black colored wood of the Ebony tree
-1	Fiona Although the Irish meaning of Fíona is vine, the Gaelic name is from the word fionn, meaning white or fair
-3	Jacinta An Italian name meaning purple or hyacinth