Kiwis barking mad when naming their pooches

Forget Fido - when it comes to naming their four-legged-friends, many Kiwis have gone barking mad.

While Max and Bella remain the most popular dog names, the list of wacky monikers registered ranges from funny to bizarre.

Lists from registers in Auckland, North Shore, Waitakere, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Wellington and Christchurch reveal the lengths some owners go to give their pet an original name. A few were registered with no name and others as Dog, Pup or Puppy. Some were simply Boy or Girl.

The most unusual included Aeroplane Ears, Ting Ching, Stolen, Fugly, Jesus, Rangatira Skid, Fish, Slimey, Tomato, Toaster, Communion, Botox, Coast Guard, Death, Samfoomfa, Awesum, Piddles, Griffy Griff Griff, Poopoo, Trevor the Wolf and X.

Some owners went for multiple moniker, such as Alfred Pupsicle Trounson Clarke, Hippo Musafa Nambala, Danger High Voltage and Berlios Rotunda Fancy Pup.

Alcohol was the inspiration for many names, with Tequila, Budweiser, Stella, Bollinger, Moet, Merlot, Cristal, Bourbon, Clicquot, Guiness, Whiskey, Speights and Tui registered around the North Island. Many dogs shared their names with international sports stars and celebrities - Brad Pitt, Robbie Williams, Bon Jovi, Zsa Zsa, Joe Cocker, Tua, Tyson, Beckham, Sonny Bill and Schumacher to name a few.

All Backs past and present were represented by Jonah Lomu, Zinzan, Joe Rocokoko and Jerry Collins. Fashion-lovers named their pooches Coco Chanel, Versace, Gucci, Vivienne Westwoof, Gabana and Hugo Boss.

Others honoured scientific and artistic achievers, including Edison, Einstein and Picasso.

Names from movies, TV shows, books and cartoons included Mr Darcy, Fox Mulder, Dangermouse, Darth Vader, Batman, Frodo, Scooby, Snoopy, Lassie, Munter, McDreamy and Dracula.

Nicky Viggers, from Remarkable Vets in Queenstown, said dogs were not affected by out-of-the-ordinary names but anything more than three syllables "probably wouldn't work that well" because the animals found it harder to remember. Children may not be the best judges. "We had one client who allowed their child to name their Rhodesian ridgeback," said Viggers, "and ended up with Princess Fiona. It all comes down to what you feel like yelling out loud in public."

Out with the old, in with the new

Jessica Ryan is among many Kiwis who strayed away from the traditional when naming her dog.

She chose the moniker Megabyte for her border collie, which is used as a heading dog on her farm in Horokiwi, Wellington.

"Meg is a good working dog name, and my husband is a computer fanatic," she said.

"We got her as a pup, we already had a dog called Maximum and I wanted to call her Minimum. But when we got her I looked at the size of her feet and realised she was going to be bigger than Max so Minimum wasn't going to work."

Megabyte usually gets called Meg - unless she's in the dogbox.

"Just because it's easier. But she is called Megabyte when she's being spoken to sternly - just like your mother uses your full name when you're in trouble."

"I tend not to be out with her in a park shouting Megabyte, but certainly with our friends there have been times when they've paused a second (and said) 'what?'."

anna.leask@hos.co.nz