Sporty Dog Names

If sport is your passion, why not give your dog a classic sporty name? These dog names are inspired by sports and famous athletes.

Tap the arrow to see a name's meaning, and the heart to save it to your shortlist.

Ace
The term often refers to top performers in sports, suggesting athleticism and skill.
Arby
The name suggests energy and agility, often associated with athletic dogs.
Ash
Ash is associated with athleticism due to its connection to ash wood, often used in sports equipment.
Batter
Batter refers to a key player in baseball, making it a sport-related term.
Beanball
Beanball is a term from baseball, associating the name with sports.
Beezer
The name suggests energy and playfulness, often associated with athletic, active dogs.
Bender
The name is associated with athletic maneuvers in sports like hockey and soccer.
Birdie
The name is associated with golf terminology, suggesting an active, athletic lifestyle.
Blitz
The term originates from a fast, aggressive move in sports, particularly football.
Buzzer
The name suggests energy and activity, often associated with sports like basketball where buzzers are used.
Caddy
Caddy refers to a golf assistant, associating the name with athleticism and outdoor activity.
Captain
The title often refers to leaders in sports teams, suggesting athleticism and competitiveness.
Chase
The name implies action and movement, often associated with athletic activities.
Cheese
Associations with energy and playfulness make this a fitting name for active, athletic dogs.
Clutch
Clutch refers to a key mechanism in fast cars, associating it with speed and agility.
Coach
The term is often associated with sports mentors, implying athleticism and leadership.
Crackerjack
The term suggests energy and agility, often associated with athletic activities and competitive sports.
Crank
The name suggests energy, action and strength, often associated with athletic or sporty characteristics.
Curveball
Curveball is a term used in baseball, associating the name with sports.
Cutter
The name implies agility, speed, and precision, traits often associated with athletic activities.
Derby
The name is associated with famous horse races, evoking athleticism and competition.
Deuce
Associations with tennis scoring and playing cards suggest activity and competition.
Diamond
Associations with baseball fields, known as "diamonds", give the name a sporty connotation.
Driver
The name relates to car racing, a competitive and athletic activity.
Dugout
Dugout refers to a baseball field area, linking the name to sports.
Earnie
The name is often associated with athletes, suggesting energy and physical prowess.
Eephus
Eephus refers to a tricky pitch in baseball, making it a sport-related term.
Fungo
Fungo refers to a practice method in baseball, associating the name with sports.
Gambit
Gambit refers to a strategic move in games, often associated with agility and quick thinking, traits common in sporty dogs.
Gopher
Gophers are active and playful animals, traits often associated with sporty dogs.
Grand Slam
The term originates from tennis, referring to winning all major tournaments in a year.
Grounder
The term relates to baseball, referencing a ball hit along the ground, suggesting athleticism and energy.
Gunner
The name suggests action, strength and agility, often associated with athletic or outdoor activities.
Homer
The name is associated with baseball terminology, referencing a home run.
Hoops
The name references basketball, a popular sport, suggesting an active, energetic canine.
Jumbo
The name suggests strength and size, often associated with athletic prowess and physical activities.
Junior
The name is often associated with athleticism and youthful energy, common traits in sporty dogs.
Kayo
Derived from "K.O.", a boxing term for knockout, suggesting strength and athleticism.
Kicker
The name relates to activities like football or soccer where kicking is a primary action.
Maddux
The name references Greg Maddux, a renowned professional baseball player.
Meatball
The name suggests energy and playfulness, often associated with active, athletic dogs.
Mitt
The name is associated with baseball gloves, suggesting an active, athletic lifestyle.
Mulligan
The term originates from golf, referring to a do-over or second chance, associating it with sports.
Pecota
Pecota is named after a baseball statistic system, linking it to sports.
Pepper
The name connotes energy and spiciness, often associated with active, athletic dogs.
Pickle
Associations with agility, quickness, and the game pickleball make this a sporty choice.
Pitcher
The name references a baseball position, associating the dog with athleticism and outdoor activity.
Racket
The name reflects energy and activity, often associated with the sports equipment, enhancing its sporty appeal.
Rally
Rally refers to a fast-paced, competitive car racing event, suggesting energy and athleticism.
Relay
Relay refers to a fast-paced, team-based race, often associated with athleticism and energy.
Ribbie
The name references "ribbie," a baseball term for runs batted in, connecting it to sports.
Rookie
The term often refers to a new player in sports, suggesting athleticism and energy.
Runner
The name implies speed, agility, and physical activity, traits often associated with athletic dogs.
Salami
The name reflects energy and zest, often associated with active, playful dogs.
Screwball
The term references a wild, unpredictable pitch in baseball, suggesting energy and athleticism.
Shortstop
Shortstop is a position in baseball, linking the name to sports.
Slider
The term relates to fast movement and agility, often associated with athletic activities.
Slugger
The name references a baseball term, associating it with athleticism and sports.
Southpaw
Southpaw refers to a left-handed pitcher in baseball, associating the name with sports.
Stretch
The name implies agility and flexibility, traits often associated with athleticism and sports.
Striker
The term implies action, strength and precision, qualities often associated with athleticism and sports.
Sweeper
Sweeper implies action, agility and speed, qualities often associated with athletic or sporty dogs.
Swish
The term is often used in basketball, referring to a perfect shot.
Tackle
Tackle relates to a physical action often used in sports like football and rugby.
Tag
The name reflects the active, playful nature of the game "tag," often associated with energetic dogs.
Tater
The name suggests energy and playfulness, often associated with active, athletic dogs.
Whiff
The term relates to baseball, suggesting a swing and miss, often associated with athleticism and sports.
Windup
The name suggests energy and movement, often associated with sports and active play.
Zip
The name suggests speed, energy, and agility, traits often associated with athletic dogs.

Planning to raise a lean machine? If you have an active breed, these athletic dog names will help to represent their speed, agility and zest for life.

If you’re a big sports fan, getting a dog can be a great opportunity to express your superfan identity. And choosing a sporty dog name can be an excellent way to celebrate the athleticism and energy associated with many dog breeds. Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, and Siberian Huskies, are some of the many working dog breeds well-suited to sporty names that represent their impressive abilities and relentless determination.

Whether you’re craziest about football, ice hockey, baseball or soccer, being a sports fan means you appreciate competition, teamwork and ambition. If you’ve ever seen a group of Borders Collies carrying wood, or even just a Golden Retriever chasing a stick, you’ll see some of sport’s most admirable traits on display. And that’s what makes sporty dog names so appropriate for energetic pups.

For male dogs, there are so many classic sporty dog names to choose from that it’s hard to pick a favorite. Ace, meaning “expert”, is a firm favorite with dog owners everywhere. It’s such a positive, timeless and recognizable name to give to pups of all shapes and sizes.

We also adore the name Junior. It’s incredibly cute for young puppies, for obvious reasons, and we don’t consider dogs to ever necessarily outgrow this name, because it will always represent their place in the pack! And if those options don’t appeal to you, you could consider Striker instead. The name represents a goalscorer and pack leader, and is guaranteed to resonate with soccer and ice hockey fans.

For female dogs, we’re going to pitch a couple of golf names first. Birdie is a cute option for girls, and it lets people know that your pup is indisputably better than average! And along similar lines, we love the name Caddy for girls – because it represents the partnership and companionship that we love to share with our dogs.

And if tennis is more your thing, why not name your pup Rally? To us, it expresses consistency, determination and resilience – all traits that we love to associate with our furry companions.

Sporty Dog Names currently rank in 40th place out of all PupNames.com categories.

As of July 2025, sporty dog names are trending down with new puppy owners. Our stats suggest that they are less fashionable than they were at this time last year.

We've seen quite a lot of variation for this category, which suggests its popularity could be seasonal or based on cultural events.

Which are the cutest and most unique Sporty Dog Names?

These sporty dog names range from cute to badass, and from traditional to unique. Click each circle to see the name.

Birdie is among the cutest of these. If you prefer tougher, edgier dog names, the one considered the most badass is Blitz.

Relay scored high for its uniqueness, which would help your dog to stand out. But if you prefer more common, old-fashioned names, the more traditional option here is Homer.

How does interest compare across the United States for Sporty Dog Names?

The map below compares each state by the number of people browsing Sporty Dog Names.

The states that love sporty dog names the most are Maine, New Jersey and South Carolina.

The least amount of interest in this category was registered in California, Alaska and Mississippi.

Which countries have the most love for Sporty Dog Names?

Here's a world map showing the popularity in each country of sporty dog names.

Who'd have thought?! Some of the countries you might not have thought about that LOVE sporty dog names are Botswana, Haiti and Armenia.

On the flip, PupNames data shows there's not much interest in Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Iran.