Introduction
The Brittany is a fairly small canine compared to most gun dogs but is particularly versatile hunting partner and equally pleasant home companion. While the American and the French Brittany are considered to be one breed, collectively the Brittany, differences in breeding programs have created a few minor differences. The legs of the Americanized Brittany are generally longer than those of the French and while the orange and white is a commonly seen color combination for both, French Brittanies typically have a black nose and are more likely than their American counterparts to have coats with liver or black instead of orange.
French Brittany Dog Names in Pop Culture
Bretagne, the French spelling of Brittany, was the name given to a Golden Retriever pup in Cypress, TX. As a young dog, she carried around bags of her treats as she followed Denise Corliss around the house, just waiting until her owner and handler would open it up and give her one. Bretagne was trained as a search-and-rescue dog and her first assignment was as part of Texas Task Force 1 from FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue Group, searching ground zero for any remaining survivors after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. She and her handler, alongside many other brave detection teams, scoured the rubble for two weeks looking for survivors. That was only the beginning of her service as a search and rescue dog, however. After assisting with the rescue work in New York she went on to search many other venues, including the Winter Olympics in 2002, Hurricane Ivan, Hurricane Rita, and Hurricane Katrina. She retired from search and rescue work in 2008 but continued serving her community by visiting schools and giving an ear to children who were having difficulty learning to read, and in 2014 she was honored with the American Humane Society Hero Dog Award in the Search and Rescue category. She was also featured in a non-fiction book about senior dogs, My Old Dog: Rescued Pets with Remarkable Second Acts, by Laura T Coffey.
September of 2015, Bretagne was the last surviving search and rescue dog that had helped with the disaster on September 11 and her sweet sixteen birthday celebration, made possible by the joint efforts of many New Yorkers, was almost as exceptional as she was. During her special day Bretagne dined on gourmet hamburgers and dog friendly cake, rode around New York in a vintage taxicab, viewed a display of herself in Times Square, and received a $1,000 donation to Texas Task Force 1 in her name, all followed by a romp in the Hudson River splash park, where her age all but disappeared. By June 6th of the following year, at nearly 17 years old, her age finally caught up with her and she had to be euthanized to prevent any further suffering. More than a dozen firefighters lined the street outside the veterinary clinic, saluting her as she made her final walk into the clinic and saluting her once again as she was carried out, draped in an American flag.
French Brittany Dog Name Considerations
There are several things that you can take into consideration when naming your new French Brittany, including your specific canine companion’s appearance, personality, or even their job. If your dog is to be used for hunting, or any other type of work that requires you to call out commands over a distance, it is particularly important that the name be one that is easy for your dog to hear and differentiate from their commands, even at a distance. Brittany dogs are known for having a pleasant and cheerful outlook on life and so there are several names on this list that reflect that tendency, such as Aida and Jolee. While there are names that refer to a dog with a red or orange-colored coat such as Alani, Russell, and Cam, there are also a good number of names such as Colbey, Darci, and Kieran that refer to the darker coat, to reflect the darker colors that are more common with the French Brittany than with the American, although the color related name Roan would work for either variety of Brittany. This breed consists of fairly compact dogs, with the French variety of Brittany having slightly shorter legs than their American counterparts, so names like Marmion or Prewitt may also be appropriate. Some names may be suitable for just about any good gun dog, such as Gawain, Takuya, and Tallis, where others might have a specific connection to the type of prey, such as Kafka, Neka, or Perdrix.
Male French Brittany Dog Names
Votes | Name | Vote |
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1 |
Garner
A name that means sentry in French
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1 |
Russell
A French name meaning red haired
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1 |
Dusky
The Dusky Grouse is a forest-dwelling grouse
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1 |
Gilles
A name meaning shield bearer in French
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1 |
Hugh
A name that means bright mind in French
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1 |
Sorrell
A French name that refers to reddish-brown hair
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1 |
Vachel
A name that means little cow in French
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0 |
Keiran
An Irish name that means dark, dusky, or dark-haired
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0 |
Merle
Derived from an Old French word merula, meaning blackbird
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0 |
Wyatt
A French name meaning guide
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-1 |
Ames
A French and Latin name meaning friend
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-1 |
Bob
A German name that means famed, bright and shining; the majority of Brittany Spaniels are natural bobtails
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-1 |
Boy
The name of the first registered Brittany Spaniel, registered in France in 1907
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-1 |
Colbey
A name meaning dark or dark-haired in French
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-1 |
Dax
A French name that means water
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-1 |
Kafka
A Czech name that means bird
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-1 |
Louvel
A name meaning little wolf or young wolf in French
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-1 |
Neka
A Native American name that means wild goose
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-1 |
Prewitt
A French name meaning small and brave
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-1 |
Pumpkin
A round orange squash; Pumpkin is sometimes used as a term of affection particularly directed at children
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-1 |
Roan
Roan markings are common in Brittany Spaniels; also means little red one in Gaelic and raven to the Frisians
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-1 |
Drake
A name that can refer to either a male duck or male dragon
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-1 |
Faisan
The French word for pheasant
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-1 |
Gannett
An Old German name that means goose
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-1 |
Gawain
A name meaning may hawk in Welsh
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-1 |
Gibier
The French word for wild game
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-1 |
Marmion
A name meaning small one in French
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-1 |
Raoul
A name meaning wolf counsel in French
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-1 |
Takuya
A Japanese name meaning forerunner or pathfinder
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-1 |
Talon
A French name that refers to the large claws of a bird of prey
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Female French Brittany Dog Names
Votes | Name | Vote |
---|---|---|
1 |
Adara
A French name meaning catches birds
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1 |
Fleurette
A name that means little flower in French
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1 |
Hilaire
A name meaning cheerful or merry in French
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1 |
Jolee
A name seen in England and France that means merry or cheerful
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1 |
Linette
A name which is seen in French, English, Celtic, and Welsh populations that means bird
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1 |
Mavis
A French name meaning joy
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1 |
Melaine
A Greek and French name that means dark
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1 |
Ophelia
A French and Greek name that means helper
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1 |
Patrice
A French name that means noble
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1 |
Pontou
The town in Brittany that this breed was developed in
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0 |
Aida
A name that means helpful in French and happy and famous in Italian
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-1 |
Alani
A Hawaiian name meaning orange tree
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-1 |
Bretagne
A historic province of France that was spelled as Brittany in the English language
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-1 |
Brittany
The English name for the area in France where the Brittany Spaniel originated
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-1 |
Calle
The word for quail in French
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-1 |
Cam
A name meaning orange in Vietnamese
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-1 |
Darci
A name that means dark in French
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-1 |
Eulalie
A French name meaning sweet spoken
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-1 |
Jozlyn
A name that means joyous in French
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-1 |
Kamille
A name that means free-born and noble
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-1 |
Keaira
A name meaning little dark one in Irish
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-1 |
Laci
A French and Latin name that means cheerful
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-1 |
Leala
A name which means loyal in both French and Spanish
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-1 |
Nydia
A Latin name that means nest or refuge
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-1 |
Odelette
A French name that means little song
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-1 |
Perdrix
The French word for a partridge
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-1 |
Searlait
A French name meaning tiny and womanly
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-1 |
Sephora
Derived from the name Zipporah
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-1 |
Sienna
An English name referring to a dark reddish-orange color
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-1 |
Tallis
A name meaning woodlands in France
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