Lord of the Rings Names for Dogs: A Guide to Choosing | Discover Magical Names for Your Furry Friend

Okay, so I’ve got a new puppy, a real cutie, and of course, I need to give him a name. Being a huge “Lord of the Rings” fan, I thought, why not pick a name from Middle-earth? It sounds pretty cool, right?

First, I started brainstorming all the characters and places I could remember from the books and movies. I jotted down names like Frodo, Aragorn, Gondor, and even Hobbiton. I even considered naming him after the greatest of all hounds in the histories of Middle-earth, Huan the Hound of Valinor. I mean, that’s a cool story, right? This dog defeated Sauron in single combat! That’s impressive. I guess that would make my dog the toughest dog ever!

Then, I went down a bit of a rabbit hole reading about Tolkien’s languages. Did you know he made up entire languages for the books? In Quenya, which is like the Elvish language, “dog” is “huo.” And in another language, he made up called Noldorin, it’s “hû.” He even played around with sound-based names like “roa” and “grā.” It’s like he thought of everything! I found all these facts just fascinating and amazing, but they are a bit too much for a dog’s name.

• Frodo – Seemed a bit too obvious.
• Aragorn – Majestic, but maybe too much for a little puppy.
• Gandalf – Wise, but I didn’t want to yell that at the dog park.
• Gimli – Funny, but didn’t quite fit my pup’s personality.

And then I moved on to female names. I don’t have a female dog, but it was fun to think about. “Luna” seemed nice. I also found “Padma,” “Bella” (which could be short for Bellatrix), “Leta,” and “Tina” (short for Porpentina). Some neat choices if you’re into “Harry Potter,” but I’m all about “Lord of the Rings” right now.

I also found a bunch of “Lord of the Rings” inspired lists online. There were like 125 names or even more! I started going through them, trying to imagine myself calling out each name. And finally I thought, that’s pretty epic.

After all that, I ended up choosing the name Shadowfax. It’s the name of Gandalf’s super-fast horse, and it just felt right. My pup is pretty speedy, and the name has that cool, adventurous vibe. Plus, it’s not as common as some of the other names, so it feels a bit more unique.

So, yeah, that’s how I ended up naming my dog Shadowfax. It was quite the journey, but I’m happy with the name, and I think my pup likes it too. He seems to respond to it, at least when there are treats involved!