The American Kennel Club has just released its list of most “pup-ular” names for dogs. (That’s their bad pun, not Pop Omnivore's!). Leading the list for male dogs:

1.    Bear
2.    Blue
3.    Max/Maximums/Maxwell
4.    Duke
5.    Buddy

And for female dogs:
1.    Lady
2.    Belle/Bell/Bella
3.    Princess
4.    Mae/May
5.    Rose

Americans, you need to think of better names!

For inspiration, we polled our National Geographic colleagues. Here are some of their waggish dog name tales. We'd also love to hear from our readers -- have far beyond Rover and Fido have you gone in coining canine names?

ARGOS

Argos was named long before he was ever born. In Homer's The Odyssey, only his loyal and faithful dog Argos recognizes King Odysseus when he returns after 20 years. That story always stuck with me, so when I decided to get a dog I knew I would name him Argos. What I didn't know was just how apt the name is. Modern-day Argos is as loyal, faithful, and noble as his ancient namesake.
-David Brindley

DESI "BABALU" ARNAZ JR.

My chihuahua surely has the best name out there. I was going to name him "My Name.. is … Inigo Montoya .. You Killed My Father, Prepare to Die"  as an homage to the movie Princess Bride. But it was a bit of a mouthful so Desi won out. 
-Liz Grady

HENRY ROLLINS

Henry Rollins the man is the muscular and heavily tattooed former frontman of a favorite hardcore punk band from my youth, Black Flag.
Henry Rollins the dog is an apricot toy poodle.
An apricot toy poodle needs all the help he can get.
-Margaret Zackowitz

LAZZIE

A dog’s life isn’t easy in Pakistan. They’re considered unclean according to Islamic tradition and are kept more often as house guards, not pampered pets. Islamabad, where I was based for six years as a reporter, is full of skinny, stressed-out strays dodging rocks and other projectiles—or worse. As I was driving home one Friday evening, I watched in horror as the car in front of me hit a white puppy trying to cross a four-lane road to reach its mother. The driver didn’t even stop. I slammed on my brakes, ran out into the middle of the road and scooped up the puppy as its mother darted back and forth whimpering on the far side, too frightened by the traffic to venture out. I rushed the puppy, unconscious and bleeding from the mouth, to a nearby vet, who was just packing up for the day as I clattered down the steps to his clinic, cradling this bloody little bundle of fur. The vet told me it didn’t look good, but he’d take the puppy home with him and see what he could do. I promised myself that if the puppy lived, I’d name it Lazarus.

The puppy—a female—did live, and I did name her Lazarus. She became known to one and all as Lazzie. She grew into a bouncy, boisterous, super-smart 60-lb pooch who knew how to shell pistachios, leapt onto the dining table with the surefootedness of a mountain goat, and aimed split-second ambush-kisses at the lips of everyone she liked. Shortly after her second birthday, she flew halfway around the world on Swissair (almost getting offloaded by mistake in Dubai) and emigrated to the U.S. Unlike most Pakistani street dogs, Lazzie lived many lives, and I'd like to think that her name gave her some protection along the way.
-Hannah Bloch

-Photo by Phil Goodwin

MICK ...

We have five dogs named Jon Jon, Millie, Mick, Tico, and Tucker.  For 
the sake of simplicity, I'll address my two favorite dogs (please 
don't tell the other pups). We have a neurotic border collie (he 
literally tries to herd flying birds and the odd bat) we got from 
border collie rescue. His name was Yurgi, which seemed entirely 
unfitting for a border collie and I believe contributed to his 
bizarre behavior. After a few days with the "nut case" I was 
inspired to give him a proper name that reflected his border collie 
roots. I named him Mick and our family, after a heated debate, 
finally agreed with me. He seems to like his new name, but still 
tries to herd birds and anything else that comes his way. Mick 
likes and needs projects. An idle Mick is not pretty.

AND TICO

Perhaps my favorite dog is a border terrier we named Tico. He is 
named after one of my best friends, Dr. John McNutt, better known as 
Tico. Tico is a wildlife biologist who has studied wild dogs in 
Botswana's Okavango Delta for years. Without his help I could not 
have done the wild dog cover story. Tico is from the Pacific 
Northwest, and our families share mutual friends. His wildlife 
research camp is one of my favorite places on earth and every year or 
two I take one of my children to his camp for a blissful recharge.   

Of course I contacted Tico to see if he minded that a border terrier 
shared his name and he was honored. Man and dog have since met and 
immediately hit if off.  My little Tico is occasionally wild, often 
courageous, and always smart, affectionate, and full of beans.  I wish 
I could bring him to work.  He is the kind of pup that brightens 
everyone's day.  If I meet the odd someone who doesn't like Tico, I 
usually don't much care for them.  That goes for both Ticos.
-Chris Johns

-Photos by Timothy Johns

TRAVIS

I adopted Travis when he was about a year old. His first owner was a woman who had studied at the University of Texas at Austin. In honor of her time spent in Texas, she named her dog after Gen.William Travis, commander at the Battle of the Alamo.  Travis sounded like a down-home name to me; I would have never come up with it on my own, but I thought it best not to change it. When I lived in Georgetown, a popular address with foreigners and movers and shakers, I would be asked his name and would say Travis, but several times his name was remembered as "Trevor" instead. So over the years that Travis and I would walk around Georgetown, there were several anglophile women who would see him and greet him as Trevor. On the other hand, I went hiking once in West Virginia and got lost on a mountain with my husband and Travis. Some good-old-boys on mules and horses came to our rescue. They got the dog's name right from the start.
-Victoria Pope

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