Moby-Dick Inspired Dog Names

While Moby-Dick may have been a classic adventure or quest novel, its reach has far surpassed its genre throughout history, thanks to endless references in popular culture.

One of the most famous pop culture references to date actually uses the name of one of the lesser-known characters in the novel, a tattooed Polynesian harpooner named Queequeg. Outside of being one of the most prominent harpooners on the Pequod, Queequeg is also representative of Melville’s theme of racial diversity and on-ship democracy. He also builds a coffin after the ship’s demise is prophesied, which later becomes Ishmael’s raft after the ship is destroyed. 

In popular culture, Queequeg is referenced in several episodes of The X-Files by Dana Scully, who names a rescued dog after him because she and her dad used to read Moby-Dick together and adopted names of the characters, her’s being Starbuck and her father’s being Ahab. 

Unfortunately, Queequeg’s life on-screen is short-lived and the Pomeranian’s background is nothing short of gruesome either. In the third season’s fourth episode, titled “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose”, Scully and Mulder end up investigating a murder that happens to involve the dog. The original owner, Mrs. Lowe, ends up passing away in her apartment and the hungry dog did what needed to be done to survive. Once the murder case was solved, thanks to her neighbor Clyde Bruckman, who helped the elderly neighbor, Scully and Mulder find the dog outside of her apartment with a note detailing that the dog needs a new home, and despite the details of his becoming ownerless, claims that he is actually “paper-trained and well-behaved.”

Although Scully takes good care of the dog, she’s left to care for him during another case since no one in her family is able to watch him (and the fact that she hates kennels). While he faithfully rides in the car with them, he ends up whining enough to force Mulder and Scully pull over, thinking he has to use the bathroom but he promptly leads her to a body and helps them further the case. Sadly, the next time he does so is his last. When Scully lets him out again while working a case, he disappears and leaves nothing but his collar, leaving the audience to assume he’d be eaten by the lake monster the agents had been studying. 

In several episodes afterward, she references her loss for the poor dog when she sees other canines and even changes her computer password to his name in honor of his duty, bravery and loyalty.