I decided to name my dogs after American Indian Tribes instead of giving them African names.
First was Dakota Sun….then, Cheyenne Moon and Apache River.
I already have my next two picked out.
My two are named based on music.
Willie's name was Onyx when we got him from the breeder (his litter was all gem names) and Ray wanted a name that matched his color (red). So his registered name is Hacker's Red Headed Stranger, which, if you don't know, is a Willie Nelson movie, hence "Willie."
Rosie's name at the breeder was Cher - her little was all rock n' roll names. Ray is a huge fan of the Grateful Dead, so Rosie got her name from one of their songs - Hacker's Ramble on Rose, or Rosie. I had wanted to name her Grace - my daughters were singing Amazing Grace in the car on the way to pick her up, but the two dogs would have sounded too much like the tv show "Will & Grace" and anyway, Ray didn't like that name. So Willie and Rosie it is.
Sophie came to us as DeeDee (the shelter worker renamed her that because she hated her original name of BeeBee). I figured since she had been renamed once before then another time would hurt. Princess Sophie Cat is her full name.
A friend told me a story of how a co-worker allowed her 3 year old daughter to name the new family dog. Promptly she named it "Stick". Horrified the mom explained she was thinking of a cuter name that ended in an E noise. The little girl looked around and said you mean like "Telephone Poley"? The mom then thought Stick sounded just fine. I ROFL when I heard this so we now have a dog named Good Ol' Stick. I'm pretty sure if we get another B we'll name it Telephone Poley!PS- I've always wanted to write a children's book called "The Adventures of Princess Sophie Cat and Good Ol' Stick"!!!
OMG…this was too funny! Great story! 
My wife and I are both 70's-80's children, so we grew up watching He-Man and She-Ra cartoons. We'd toyed with Sheba for a name, but She-Ra quickly took it's place. And yes, she believes she IS the Princess of Power. 
What's interesting is, we really only use that name for command/disciplinary purposes…for some completely unexplainable reason, we've both nicknamed her "Wheatey", and I have NO idea why either of us started calling her that. We like Wheatey better, but think it's probably too late to change it as she responds to She-Ra when we need her to come, sit or stop.
So we just keep Wheatey as an "unofficial" or "nick" name.
I decided to name my dogs after American Indian Tribes instead of giving them African names.
First was Dakota Sun….then, Cheyenne Moon and Apache River.
I already have my next two picked out.
The JRT I pet sat for years, before he went to the Rainbow Bridge, was named Apatche (spelled that way because he was all white with a small brown patch around 1 eye). Everytime I see you post about your dog Apache, I think of him…great memories! Needless to say, I love that name.
Zindeku…..we just call him Deek...means "protective charm" is Swahili.
My other two came with names. Gracie and Britches...we call her Britty.
Dash got his name for his speed and it was when the movie the incredibles came out so my son wanted to name him Dash.
Sissy (beagle) was a rescue and was named for her skittish personality.
Gizmo (cat) was named when I got him, but he does look like Gizmo from Gremlins–before he got wet! Or whatever it was that turned them greed and ugly. Hell, I can't remember.
Amber (cat) was another rescue named before we got her. The entire group of cats were named after liquer or beer so she became AmberBach.
Susie (our foster 
was named when we got her. She doesn't respond to it and I don't think it really fits her but I will allow the new owners to name her.
Sophie came to us as DeeDee (the shelter worker renamed her that because she hated her original name of BeeBee). I figured since she had been renamed once before then another time would hurt. Princess Sophie Cat is her full name.
A friend told me a story of how a co-worker allowed her 3 year old daughter to name the new family dog. Promptly she named it "Stick". Horrified the mom explained she was thinking of a cuter name that ended in an E noise. The little girl looked around and said you mean like "Telephone Poley"? The mom then thought Stick sounded just fine. I ROFL when I heard this so we now have a dog named Good Ol' Stick. I'm pretty sure if we get another B we'll name it Telephone Poley!PS- I've always wanted to write a children's book called "The Adventures of Princess Sophie Cat and Good Ol' Stick"!!!
Cute! I kinda like 'Stick' 
well fender is really "platinum's fremont desert storm" and when i got him mary k had been calling him russell (gag). my hubby plays guitar and it is an expensive taylor(acoustic/electric); i got my puppy and named him fender, like stratocaster
Cory is "Sherwood's Little Red Corvette" from Robyn's car litter and Jayden is "Sherwood's Secret Keeper" from her secret litter. She was already calling them Cory and Jayden and we just stayed with those names. Must admit that Jayden frequently gets called "Bubba" or "Jay". Both have been called "brat face" when it has seemed appropriate!
Our two sons named our female boxer "Adrianne" because she was a boxer and Rocky was a "boxer" and Adrianne was Rocky's wife. Actually, they just wanted to be able to stand in the back yard and call out "Yo! Adrianne!"
Pat
oh, i didnt realize you had cory! how is she?
well fender is really "platinum's fremont desert storm" and when i got him mary k had been calling him russell (gag). my hubby plays guitar and it is an expensive taylor(acoustic/electric); i got my puppy and named him fender, like stratocaster
Fender is an awesome name!
My hubby plays drums…..hmmmmmm, for the next b....how do you like Zildjian as a Basenji name?
If we can find a bass player we could have ourselves a rock n roll band!
Rascal we named because as a puppy her behavior reminded us of the characters from the Little Rascals. Manning is named for Peyton Manning since my fiance and I are huge University of Tennessee fans. All of our friends have a running joke about it, anytime the Colts are playing people ask us if Manning's tuning in to watch his godfather.
With the cats we got a little more creative. We have Freya named for a norse goddess, darwin because he was a stray we found in the animal science building at UT, and Merlin (who I think we misnamed, hes getting so fat I keep calling him Henry VIII!).
oh, i didnt realize you had cory! how is she?
Cory is doing great and pretty much rules the roost. Jayden adores her and pretty much lets her have her way and win every argument.
Pat
Well Zaire's full name is "Taji Nyonda Zaire Usharifu". Taji is her kennel name and the rest of her name means "Beloved Nobility of Zaire".
Charlie being a parson got a much more European name"Avitars Charlemagne Veritas" or "The embodyment of Charlemagne's Truth"
Well, here's my story: My male , who I adopted from BRAT, was named 'Ollie' when I got him. So all I did was change the spelling to 'Ali' to reflect his African heritage. My new member of the family, a B/W female who I'm picking up this Saturday, I've named 'Aja'. It means 'high priestess of Mecca'. It's also a great Steely Dan song!!!:D
Seti is named after an Egyptian pharaoh (he was the father of Ramesses II). Everyone always thinks we named him after the acronym SETI "Search For Extra Terrestrials"…that could be more fitting perhaps...
Everyone's stories are wonderful!
Basenji owners - it's true that we are as unique as our dogs. I take pride in the fact we are not littered with "Sugars, Fluffys, and Spots" 
My little girl got her name with a mispronunciation.. I loved the name "Lecia" which can translate close to 'joy/happiness' (ie Felecia etc) … it should be pronounced Le-sha ... but being a American, my first attempt at pronouncing it was Lee-c-ah. The moment I said it - her ears pricked, and I knew I had a winner. I did change the spelling so my fellow country ppls could actually pronounce it correctly - so she is "Lycia" on paper and the Frenchies get it fine. Which for me was much easier to pronounce from her registered name of "Hajomi" (lovely as it is.)
my dogs call names are Spencer and Chloe. I just like the names… Their AKC names are quite different though.
Shango here got his name from African mythology. Shango was a highly respected God that the Yoruba people worshipped. He's known as the God of Thunder so Shango has a little lightning bolt on his collar!
Plus, I just think Shango is a cool name and he responds to it well!
