Introduction
Famous Scientist Dog Names in Pop Culture
The use of a famous scientist as a dog's name first came into the popular culture spotlight in the mid-1980s when Back to the Future debuted at the Box Office. Emmett "Doc" Brown, played by the eccentric Christopher Lloyd, was a brilliant and sometimes scatter-brained scientist who discovered how to time travel. He was portrayed as the stereotypical mad scientist archetype and had with him, his faithful canine companion. Of all the famous scientists to choose from Doc Brown and the creators of the Back to the Future movies went with one of the most recognized scientist's names in history, Albert Einstein. Einstein, the dog, was an intelligent medium-sized Sheepdog mix dog with wild hair that befits his namesake perfectly. Einstein was Doc Brown's best friend, and though Einstein was often Doc's guinea pig, Doc loved him very well and had his best interest at heart always. Einstein the dog was in all three of the Back to the Future movies and an important character in the Back to the Future canon.
The Back to the Future series took place over a significant time gap since it was a time-traveling story. Doc Brown appears in the 1985 timeline with Einstein but also has a role as the younger Doc Brown in 1955, when Marty McFly, the movie's protagonist, is accidentally sent back in time. In the 1955 environment, Doc Brown keeps another dog who is not Einstein but a Terrier mixed type named Copernicus. Nicolaus Copernicus is the mathematician and astronomer who in the 16th Century first formulated the model of the universe that places the Sun, rather than the Earth, as the center of the universe. Considering Doc Brown's interests and pursuits in astrophysics and fission in all three movies, the name Copernicus was fitting for his 1955 canine companion.
The Back to the Future series dogs have excellently matched names that take into consideration the breed appearance and disposition of Doc's dogs. The names are also meaningful to Doc Brown and help him forge a strong bond with his best friends. It seems all the considerations of naming a dog after a famous scientist were taken when choosing Einstein and Copernicus.
Famous Scientist Dog Name Considerations
When choosing a name for your new puppy or adopted a dog, you and your family will want something that befits both your dog and has meaning to you. Some people studying and practicing in the sciences have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of knowledge and honor their dogs with their favorite scientist's name. Others may have a strong interest in the life and work of these scientists and choose a name based on those interests. Whatever the reason, there are some considerations dog owners should make when choosing a scientist's name for the family dog.
The size and breed of your dog play a role in assigning a good name. Some scientist's names sound like they are more appropriate for certain sized dogs. Take Pascal for example. Blaise Pascal was a 17th Century inventor who made the world's first calculator, and though he made a significant impact on the world with his invention, his name seems more appropriate for a small dog. Breeds and dispositions may also play a role in selecting the perfect name. For example, any one of the water dog breeds, especially those with webbed feet like the Portuguese Water Dog or the Newfoundland, love the water. Naming these dogs Jacques, after the famous Jacques Cousteau would be an example of the theme.
Male Famous Scientist Dog Names
Votes | Name | Vote |
---|---|---|
3 |
Darwin
Charles Darwin defined Natural Selection and provided a theory of Evolution
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3 |
Einstein
The most prominent physicist in history
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3 |
Bacon
Francis Bacon developed the Scientific Method
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3 |
Schrodinger
One of the founders of quantum physics
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2 |
Telsa
Created the A/C Electrical System and paved the way for modern electrical inventions
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2 |
Newton
Formulated the Law of Gravity
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2 |
Galileo
Shocked the world by saying the Earth revolved around the Sun
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1 |
Mendel
The Father of Genetics
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1 |
Copernicus
Placed the Sun, not the Earth, as the center of the Universe
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1 |
Edison
Gave us music and light by inventing the phonograph and light bulb
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1 |
Graham
A reference to Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the first telephone
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1 |
Pythagoras
Paved the way for Western mathematics
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1 |
Sigmund
A perfect name for any mama's boy
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1 |
Franz
A reference to Franz Boas, Father of American Anthropology
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1 |
Edwin
Edwin Hubble, explorer of the Milky Way
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1 |
Nikola
A reference to Nikola Tesla
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1 |
Atlas
A mythological Greek Titan who discovered the spherical arrangement of the stars
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1 |
Pavlov
A physiologist who defined conditioned behavioral responses through his research with canine salivation
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1 |
Aristotle
A Greek scientist whose ideas shaped Western scientific thought until the Renaissance
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1 |
Pascal
Credited with inventing the world's first calculator
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1 |
Nobel
The man who invented dynamite
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1 |
Otto
Helped discover nuclear fission
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1 |
Hawk
A reference to Steven Hawking
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0 |
Archimedes
We wouldn't know how to calculate the underside of a parabola without him
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0 |
Sagan
Prominent astrophysicist who spent his life in search of extraterrestrial life
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0 |
Jacques
Jacques Cousteau was an underwater legend and co-inventor of SCUBA
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0 |
Watt
A reference to James Watt, Father of the Industrial Revolution
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0 |
Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was both scientist and Founding Father of America
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0 |
Erasmus
Physician, poet, naturalist, abolitionist, and grandfather to Charles Darwin
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|
0 |
Thomas
A reference to Thomas Edison
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Female Famous Scientist Dog Names
Votes | Name | Vote |
---|---|---|
2 |
Volta
Alessandro Volta was a pioneer of electricity
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2 |
Flossie
A nickname for Florence Nightingale, Mother of Modern Nursing
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1 |
Zora
Zora Neale Hurston was the protege of Franz Boas
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1 |
Curie
Marie Curie made discoveries in radiology
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1 |
Rosalind
Rosalind Franklin made contributes to the understand of molecular structures of DNA
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1 |
Agnes
Agnes Arber was the first female botanist elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society
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1 |
Avery
A reference to Oswald Avery who pioneered work on immunochemistry
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1 |
Irene
Irene Joliot-Curie was the daughter of Marie Curie and won a Nobel Prize for her work in chemistry
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1 |
Nettie
Nettie Stevens discover the X and Y chromosomes
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1 |
Fanny
Fanny Workman was an explorer and mountaineer
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1 |
Sophie
Sophie Germain developed Number Theory
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1 |
Mina
Mina Stevens Fleming developed the modern-day star cataloging system
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1 |
Clara
Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross
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1 |
Laika
A Cosmonaut dog and the first dog in space
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1 |
Gerty
Gerty Cori was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for her work in biochemistry
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1 |
Eva
Eva Ekebald is noted for discovering how to distill vodka from potatoes
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0 |
Ada
Ada Lovelace wrote computer programming in the 1800's
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0 |
Jane
Jane Goodall is the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees
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0 |
Emmy
Emmy Noether was known for her contributions to contributions to abstract algebra and theoretical physics
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0 |
Caroline
Caroline Herschel discovered comets
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0 |
Dixy
Dixy Lee Ray was a scientist who served as Washington State's first female governor
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0 |
Sofia
Sofia Kovalevskaya was the first Russian female mathematician
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0 |
Grace
Grace Hopper was a computer scientist and a Rear Admiral of the U.S. Navy
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0 |
Dian
Dian Fossey was another prominent primatologist working in Rwanda
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0 |
Alice
Alice Hamilton was a pioneer in the field of industrial toxicology
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0 |
Fossey
A reference to famous primatologist, Dian Fossey
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0 |
Henrietta
Henrietta Swan Leavitt's contributions to astronomy allow scientists to measure the distance of stars
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0 |
Joy
Joy Adamson was a naturalist who raised Elsa, the lion cub
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|
-1 |
Maria
Maria Agnesi was the first female mathematician appointed as a professor at a university
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-1 |
Ruthie
Ruth Benedict was one of the first female anthropologists
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