How to Browse Pet Names by Category on Bow Wow Pet Names (bowwow.com.au)

Updated

Bow Wow Pet Names (bowwow.com.au) is a free pet-naming directory organised around categories rather than a single search box. You can browse by popularity, gender, paired names, first letter (A–Z), and — for dogs and cats separately — by breed. The fastest route depends on what you already know: a letter, a gender, a breed, or nothing at all.

Start With What You Already Know

The site's navigation mirrors the way most people narrow down a name. Pick the entry point that matches your situation:

What you know Where to go What you get
Nothing yet Find the Perfect Pet Name / Pet Naming Tips General guidance and a broad starting list
You want something common Popular Pet Names Names ranked by popularity
The pet's sex Male, Female, or Unisex Pet Names Gender-filtered lists
You're naming two pets Paired Pet Names Names that work as a set
A starting letter Pet Names from A to Z One page per letter, A through Z
The breed (dogs) By Breed Breed-specific dog name lists
The breed (cats) By Breed Breed-specific cat name lists

Browsing by Letter (A–Z)

This is the most direct path when you have a sound or letter in mind. The site lists a full alphabet index for pet names, and repeats the same A–Z structure separately for dog names and cat names. Each letter opens its own page, so "Pet Names Starting with B" gives you a single consolidated list rather than a mixed directory.

Use this route if you already like how a name sounds — for example, you want a name beginning with "M" to match a family member's initial.

Browsing by Gender and Pairing

Under both the Pet Names and Dog Names menus, the site splits lists into Male, Female, Unisex, and Paired categories. The Unisex list is useful if you haven't confirmed the pet's sex or want a name that suits either. The Paired list is the one to check if you're naming two pets at once and want names that sound deliberate together rather than coincidental.

Browsing by Breed

Dog names can be filtered by breed, with dedicated pages for Beagle, Blue Cattle, Boston Terrier, Boxer, Cavoodle, Chihuahua, Corgi, Dalmatian, Doberman, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Jack Russell Terrier, Kelpie, Labrador, Maltese, Pomeranian, Poodle, Shih Tzu, and Siberian Husky, plus a "View all Dog Breeds" entry for the rest.

Cat breed pages are narrower: Persian, Ragdoll, Siamese, and Siberian, with a "View all Cat Breeds" link for additional breeds.

Breed pages suit owners who want a name that fits a breed's typical character or appearance — for example, a sturdy, traditional-sounding name for a German Shepherd, or something softer for a Ragdoll.

A Practical Browsing Sequence

If you want a single recommended path, try this order:

  1. Skim Popular Pet Names to see what's common — useful for knowing what you're avoiding as much as what you like.
  2. Narrow by gender or unisex to cut the list roughly in half.
  3. Jump to your preferred letter if a sound has stuck with you.
  4. Check the breed page last, to confirm the name suits the animal you're actually bringing home.

What to Expect and What's Missing

The site is a name directory, not a naming service — there's no account requirement described, and the content is list-based browsing. One extra tool appears in the navigation: a Dog Age Calculator, which converts a dog's age into human years and sits outside the naming lists.

Two limits worth knowing before you start: cat breed coverage is much thinner than dog breed coverage (four breeds versus roughly twenty), and the A–Z index is split across many separate pages, so browsing a single letter is quick but scanning the whole alphabet is not. If you need a name that isn't tied to a breed or letter, the Popular, Unisex, and Paired lists will get you to a shortlist fastest.