Dog Names Meaning Brave

Names that mean bravery are seen quite often in popular culture in many different areas. The popular 1990s children’s television show from Australia, Bananas in Pajamas, featured a wise old dog by the name of Bernard, although the character was not brought back for the 2011 remake of the show, and another example of a dog with a name that refers to bravery was a television character by the name of Kelly, the titular character in the 1991-1992 television show, Kelly. This was another children’s show from Australia which centered around a recovering former police dog, a highly trained German Shepherd named Kelly, and his adventures with the grandchild of Sergeant Mike Patterson, Jo Patterson, and her friend Danny Foster. 

In 1999 the world was introduced to the animated series Courage the Cowardly Dog, a show about a pink Beagle dog that must overcome his many fears in order to protect his farm and family from all sorts of paranormal and supernatural events. While Courage is not at all fearless, he does exhibit bravery by overcoming his cowardice to protect even those that treat him poorly. Riley, an Irish and Gaelic name referring to courage, seems to be a fairly popular name. Riley, a mixed breed dog in Maryland, was listed as one of America’s most prolific canine blood donors in 2013, donating lifesaving blood to veterinary blood banks every six weeks, and in Hollywood the up and coming canine actor who played alongside Ryan Kwanten and Alicia Silverstone in the canine-centric romantic comedy Who Gets the Dog? in 2016 is also known by the name Riley. 

While the Call of Duty video game series has always featured dogs, the military canine featured in Call of Duty: Ghosts plays a larger part than in the other series games. Riley, a 14-month-old German Shepherd with military training, is an important part of the squad, sniffing for explosives and assisting during hostile conflicts, he is even able to be controlled by the player remotely for certain parts of the game. Television and movies are not the only places that brave names are found, however. Connie Paulgrave, often spelled Konni or Koni in the media, was a Labrador Retriever who lived up to her name as a brave advisor and the right-hand dog to the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, from 1999 until Connie’s death in 2014. Putin even stated during a press conference that he too has bad moods and said that "In those situations, I try to consult with my dog Konni, who gives me good advice." Connie was regularly seen at his side during staff meetings and greeting foreign dignitaries and in 2008 she became the first dog whose collar was tracked by the Global Navigation Satellite System.