168 Tough & Strong Dog Names
Tough dogs demand tough names.
And no one has more tough dog names than the list below, which features 111 monikers — strong and durable all — drawn from pop culture, sports, food, and more.
More: 104 SUPERB NAMES FOR HUSKY DOGS
While the majority of these hardy handles are for boy dogs, some are specific to tough lady dogs (so marked with an asterisk (*)), and others are gender-neutral so they'll work for any pup — so long as the said pup is tough like sandpaper or a pair of Carhartt pants.
Did we miss your favorite tuff dog name or tuff dog nickname? Share it with us in the comments below!
Tough Names For Boy & Girl Dogs
- Admiral
- Ajax
- Aragorn (like the character from Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings trilogy)
- Atlas
- Axel
- Bamm-Bamm
- Bandit
- Bane
- Bear
- Beast
- Beefy
- Blaze
- Blue
- Bo (like the athlete and Nike spokesman)
- Bones
- Boomer
- Boss
- Brock
- Bronson (like the actor and 70s tough guy)
- Bronx
- Bruiser
- Bruno
MORE: 38 NAMES PERFECT FOR BIG DOGS
- Brutus
- Bugsy
- Bullseye
- Buster
- Butch (like the boxer portrayed by Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction)
- Buzz
- Cage
- Callahan (as in Dirty Harry, the hardboiled cop played by Clint Eastwood)
- Captain
- Champion or Champ
- Chevy
- Chopper (like the junkyard dog from 1986's Stand By Me)
- Clubber (Rocky's foil in Rocky III, played by Mr. T)
- Compton
- Conan
- Courage
- Crash
- Crumbles
- Danger
- Deke
- Diablo
- Diesel
- Doyle
- Dozer
- Drax
- Durden (as in Tyler Durden, Brad Pitt's character in Fight Club)
- Duke
- Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger's character from Predator)
MORE: 100 UNIQUE & UNUSUAL DOG NAMES
- Elektra *
- Exene (in honor of the singer and poet of the same name from LA punk icons, X) *
- Fang
- Fender
- Floyd
- General
- Godzilla
- Goliath
- Gorilla
- Griffin
- Groot (as in the character from Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise)
- Gunner
- Hades
- Harley
- Hawk
Taylor Alger/iStock/GettyImages
- Hercules or Herc
- Hagler or Hags (like the boxer)
- Holt
- Hooch (the dog from the 1989 Tom Hanks vehicle of the same name)
- Hulk
- Jax
- Jaws
- John Rambo
- Jimbo
- Jupiter
- Justice
- Kane
- Khaleesi
- Knuckles
- Kodiak
- Kojak
- Kong
- Luke (as in Luke Cage, the Marvel superhero)
MORE: 100 ADORABLE NAMES IF YOU HAVE A WHITE DOG
- Mace
- Mack
- Major
- Marble *
- Max
- Meatball
- Mick
- Murph
- Nails
- Nitro
- Onyx
- Phantom
- Pistol
- Porkchop
- Quint (the hardscrabble fisherman from Jaws)
- Raven
- Ranger
- Red
- Rex
- Riggs (Mel Gibson's character from the Lethal Weapon films)
- Ripley (Sigourney Weaver's character from Alien & Aliens) *
- Rock, Rocky, or Roxy*
- Roman
- Rooster
- Rubbles
- Ryder
- Sarge
- Scar
- Sentinel
- Sergeant
- Shadow
- Sheba
- Sid Vicious
MORE: 40 IMPRESSIVE GERMAN DOG NAMES
- Sonny
- Snake (as in Snake Plissken of the Escape From New York movies)
- Spike
- Spinks
- Stone
- Storm
- Strummer (as in Joe, co-founder of the band The Clash)
anjajuli/iStock/GettyImages
- Tank
- Tarzan
- Tex
- Thor
- Tiger
- Titan
- Trooper
- Turbo
- Tyson (as in the boxer, Mike)
- Ulysses
- Valkyrie
- Vince
- Vlad
- Vulcan
- Warden
- Wendell
- Xander
- Yukon
- Yosemite
- Zane
- Zeus
- Zod
- Vader
- Venom
- Vlad
Punny Names For Tough Dogs
- Andy Warhowl
- Arf Vader
- Bark Ruffalo
- Boba Fetch
- Darth Maul
- Ernest Corgnine
- J.K. Growling
- Indiana Bones
- L.L. Drool J
- Snarls Barkley
- Notorious D.I.G. (or Diggie Smalls)
Need more inspiration for your new pet’s name?
Pets are like our children. We love them, care for them, and we get to dress them up in adorable outfits so it's extra important that we take time to find the perfect pet name that reflects their personality and potential. Because settling on a name for your new pet can be hard and emotionally wrenching (oh the indecision!), we've gathered nine pet-naming techniques to find the perfect fit, as well as assembled a handful of our most beloved lists of pet names below!
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