There are many dog breeds that come in all black or mostly black, such as Chows, Schipperkes, Labrador Retrievers, and Rottweilers. Finding a name for your black dog, big or small, can look for sources of inspiration from the color black and names meaning darkness and the night.
Big Black Dog Names
Big black dogs can be mixed breeds or breeds like Portuguese Water Dogs, Belgian Shephards, and the massive Newfoundland. If you need a male or female black dog name for a big, bold dog, these choices may work for you.
| Blackjack Cosmo Darth Elvira |
Indigo Inkwell Jaguar Knight |
Morticia Panda Panther Phantom |
Puma Raven Shadow Smokey |
Small Black Dog Names
Just as there are big black dog breeds, there are several small dog breeds that come in black like the Pomeranian, Cocker Spaniel and the Pug. These cute names would fit a small precious black dog well.
| Ace Agate Beetle Bean |
Blackberry Inky Magpie Olive/Olivia |
Opal Oreo Poppy Raisin |
Smudge Spades Spot |
Unique Black Dog Names
If you want a more unusual name for your female or male black dog, these names come from things that are black.
| Angus Chicory Crow Diamond Earl Grey Ember Friday |
Guinness Hershey Licorice Magic Mahogany Mamba Mocha |
Molasses Nestle Obsidian Onyx Penguin Pepper Sable |
Sapphire Sierra Squid Tea Toucan Tulip |
Popular Black Dog Names
These names are commonly found with black dogs if you're looking for something more familiar to name your new pet.
| Ash/Ashes Batman Bear Blackie |
Chocolate Cinder Cocoa Coal |
Cole Ebony Eve Jett |
Midnight Night Pearl |
Black Dog Names Meaning Black, Darkness and Night
These names come from different languages and exemplify concepts such as night time, darkness, dusk and other black items like hair. Give your black dog one of these names for a more unique sounding moniker.
| Name | Meaning | M/F/U | Origin |
| Abnus | type of dark wood | F | Persian |
| Achlys | darkness | F | Greek |
| Adham | black stallion | M | Arabic |
| Adriana Adriano |
dark | F |
Spanish |
| Amaya | night rain | F | Basque |
| Blake | black | U | Old English |
| Brangwen | dark and pure | F | Welsh |
| Bruna | dark hair | F | German |
| Caliban | black | M | Romanian |
| Cary/Carey | dark complexion | U | Gaelic |
| Charna | black | F | Yiddish |
| Ciara Ciaran |
dark or black | F M |
Irish |
| Coakley | dark meadow | U | Old English |
| Colley | dark hair | U | Old English |
| Corbin | crow | U | Latin |
| Corvinna | dark hair | F | Latin |
| Darcy | dark one | U | French |
| Devlin | little dark one | U | Celtic |
| Dolan | black hair | M | Irish |
| Donahue | dark fighter | M | Irish |
| Donovan | dark-haired chieftain | M | Gaelic |
| Dougall | dark stranger | M | Gaelic |
| Douglas | black river | M | Scottish |
| Doyle | black stranger | M | Irish |
| Duncan | dark warrior | M | Gaelic |
| Feardorcha | dark man | M | Irish |
| Finneas | dark skin | M | Persian |
| Gethin | dark skin | M | Welsh |
| Guadalupe | river of black stones | F | Spanish |
| Hadrian | dark hair | M | Latin |
| Hari | dark | M | Hindi |
| Jemish | queen of darkness | F | Sanskrit |
| Kakarauri | dusk or darkness | F | Māori |
| Kara | black or dark, courageous | M | Turkish |
| Keir | dark or black | M | Irish |
| Kerry | dark hair | U | Irish |
| Kyra | little dark | F | Sanskrit |
| Laela/Layla | dark hair | F | Arabic |
| Lila | night, play | F | Arabic/Persian |
| Lonán | blackbird | M | Gaelic |
| Manu | bird of the night | M | Polynesian |
| Maureen | dark skin | F | Arabic |
| Maurelle | dark, elfin | F | French |
| Maurice | dark skin | M | Latin |
| Maurus | dark skin | M | Roman |
| Maury | dark complexion | M | Latin |
| Melanie | black, dark | F | Greek |
| Melantha | dark flower | F | Greek |
| Merel | blackbird | F | Dutch |
| Merle | blackbird | U | French |
| Miyako | beautiful night child | F | Japanese |
| Moreno | dark skin | M | Spanish/Italian |
| Morris | dark skin | M | English |
| Myrtle | dark | F | English |
| Nigel | black hair, dark hair | M | Irish |
| Nisha | dark, night | F | Hindi |
| Nox | dark, dusk | U | Latin |
| Perran | little dark one | M | Irish/Cornish |
| Pinchas | dark skin | M | Hebrew |
| Rajnish | lord of the night | M | Hindi |
| Ratree | night | F | Thai |
| Risna | dark hair | F | Hindi |
| Sauda | dark complexion | F | Swahili |
| Tinuviel | nightengale | F | Sindarin |
| Tynan | dark | M | Gaelic |
Black Dog Names From Other Languages
Another easy way to find an unusual name for a black dog is to look at other cultures. The word "black" in other languages can make a lovely name for your new black dog.
| Name | Origin |
| Aswad | Arabic |
| Badeng | Balinese |
| Beltz | Basque |
| Černá | Czech |
| Čornyj | Russian |
| Czarny | Polish |
| Den | Vietnamese |
| Du | Welsh |
| Dub | Hmong |
| Dubh | Irish |
| Dúdú | Yoruba |
| 'Ele'ele | Hawaiian |
| Fekete | Hungarian |
| Geomjeong | Korean |
| Gvhnage | Cherokee |
| Hēisè | Chinese |
| Hitam | Indonesian |
| Itam | Tagalog |
| Juodas | Lithuanian |
| Kahòn:tsi | Mohawk |
| Kālā | Hindi/Punjabi |
| Klale | Chinook |
| Kuro | Japanese |
| Lusa | Choctaw |
| Madow | Somali |
| Mávros | Greek |
| Melns | Latvian |
| Mnyama | Xhosa |
| Morë or Morna | Quenya |
| Morn | Sindarin |
| Must | Estonian |
| Musta | Finnish |
| Nero | Italian |
| Noir(m)/Noire (f) | French |
| Nyeusi | Swahili |
| Pango | Māori |
| Preto | Portuguese |
| Qara | Azerbaijani |
| Sápa | Lakota |
| Schwarz | German |
| Seedum | Thai |
| Siyāh | Turkish/Persian |
| Sort | Danish |
| Svart | Norwegian/Swedish |
| Tsídii | Navajo |
| Zwart | Dutch |
| Xap | Mongolian |
Black Dog Names From Famous Real and Fictional Dogs
There are many well-known dogs, both real and fictional, that were black. You can name your black puppy after one of these unforgettable dogs.
| Name | Claim to Fame |
| Balto | Siberian Husky that led a famous sled team in 1925. He was primarily black. |
| Barney | President Bush's Scottish Terrier |
| Baskerville | After Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles story |
| Chop | Grand Theft Auto V |
| Fala | President Roosevelt's Scottish Terrier |
| Fluffy | Three-headed giant black dog from the Harry Potter series |
| Grim | Evil black dog figure from Harry Potter series |
| Jock | Scottish Terrier from Lady and the Tramp |
| Kyle | Gru's black dog in Despicable Me |
| Mrs. Beazley | President Bush's Scottish Terrier |
| Sirius | Sirius Black from Harry Potter series took the form of a black dog |
| Sunny | President Obama's black Portuguese Water Dog |
| Toto | Black Cairn Terrier in the Wizard of Oz |
Black Dog Names Based on Mythology
Another excellent source of inspiration for your black dog is world mythology and folklore. You can name your black dog after a god or goddess of the night or famous ghostly dogs.
| Name | Claim to Fame |
| Al-Quam | A god of the night and war in Arabic mythology |
| Artemis | Greek goddess of the hunt who is associated with the moon and night |
| Cadejo | Latin American folklore tells of an evil large black dog with red eyes |
| Cerebus | Three-headed giant black dog that guards the underworld in Greek mythology |
| Chandra | Hindu god of the moon |
| Chernobog | In Slavic mythology, the god of darkness |
| Hades | Greek god of the underworld who is associated with darkness |
| Hecate | Greek goddess of witchcraft who is associated with the moon and the night |
| Kali | Hindu goddess of destruction, the name means "the black one." Can be used for males or females |
| Krishna | The major god in Hinduism, the name means "black" or "dark" |
| Lilith | In Judaism, the first wife of Adam. The name means "of the night". |
| Luna | Roman goddess of the moon |
| Melaina | In Greek mythology, a nymph whose name means "dark" or "black" |
| Nótt | Norse goddess of the night |
| Nut | Egyptian goddess of the night |
| Nyx | Greek goddess of the night |
| Orpheus | Means "darkness of night" in Greek and was a poet who visited the underworld to find his wife |
| Rajani | Hindu name that means "the dark one" and another name for the goddess Kali |
| Ratri | Hindu goddess of the night |
| Shuck | Black Shuck is a legendary ghostly black dog roaming the English countryside |
| Selene | Greek goddess of the moon |
| Tsukuyomi | Japanese god of the moon |
Choosing the Best Name for Your Black Puppy
Black dogs are beautiful dogs that deserve a name that stands out from the rest of the canine crowd. Whether you choose a name related to their color or follow a different naming route, make sure you find something that fits you and your dog's personalities and interests, and you'll enjoy saying it for the lifetime of your dog.
