Dog names and their naming tendencies

Summary The theme of this research is “Names of Dogs and Their Naming Tendencies” and it deals with the categorical features of the names of a single subclass of mixed-breed dogs and their naming tendencies, which are revealed in the written naming motives. The aim of this research is to analyse the tendencies of naming dogs. The semi-standardized (structured) interview and an online survey on the website www.apklausa.lt were applied during the research. The survey consisted of 3 questions: “What is the name of your dog?”, “Why did you give this name for your dog?”, “What was the most important thing when choosing a name for your dog?”. A total of 341 male and female respondents of different ages, who have mixed-breed dogs, participated in the survey. The research revealed that names are given to dogs due to the characteristics of the denotation itself, emotional relationship with a dog and personal reasons. After the analysis of the collected names it was determined that particular names of dogs are mostly given due to personal reasons, less often they are given due to the characteristics of the denotation itself and most rarely - due to the relationship between a person and a dog. Most zoonyms are given according to personal names. The research can be useful and interesting for dog owners who are looking for an interesting name for their pet and onomatologists who can use the results of the research for further zoonymic studies