From Katherine Blocksdorf,
Your Guide to Horses.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Older horses often come with names. But you may not like the name, or sometimes you don't know what the horse's name is. A new foal will need a name. You'll probably need a registered name and a stable name. Here are some ideas, links and other resources for naming your new horse or foal.

I like two syllable stable names. I find these easier to say and I am less likely to shorten the name further. Before you decide try the horse name out a few times. How does it feel calling across the pasture? Does it sound funny with other words? Lots of horses are named Bo or Beau. But I think it would feel odd to say ‘whoa Beau’. My family once had a horse named Razz. We always felt that saying we were going to ‘ride Razz’ was a bit of tongue twister.

Of course you can have fun with registered and show horse names. Make your name as fun, elegant or descriptive as you like. Names like Goliath, Tiny, Mr. Handsome, or Beau describe the physcial attributes of your horse. Names like Patience, Casanova, or Flirt may describe other characteristics. Does your horse have an unusual marking? That could inspire horse names like Valentine, Star or Dot.

If you are choosing a horse’s registered name get all the details from the registry regarding the rules. Most registries don’t allow duplicate names so you may have to put together several and the registry will have final choice. Some breeds will have to use part of the sire and dam’s names; some will have to start with a particular letter. Most have a limit to the number of letters in a horse's name.

Pet Name Resources

About Guide to Exotic Pets has put together an extensive list of pet names.

Alphabetical Index of Exotic Pet Names

A team of horses may need appropriate names.

List of Pet Pair Names

Hyde Flippo About Guide to German Language maintains a list of German Pet Names

This site is dedicated to lists of pet names.

Pet Names

God and Goddess Names

I often look to Greek, Norse and other mythologies for inspiration. We have a Thor, and in the past a Freya, Era and Mya.

Mythological God and Goddess Names

Wikipedia List of Deities

Famous and Fictional Horses

You can’t have Seabiscuit or Pegasus in the back yard, but why not a namesake?

Wikipedia List of Fictional Horses

Wikipedia List of Famous Horses

Other Languages

When looking for names I’ve also looked to other languages. I named one rescue pony I brought home “Abrigo”, which is Portuguese for ‘shelter’. My daughter has named her project pony “Zarzamora”, Spanish for ‘blackberry’. While ‘Star’ or ‘Blaze’ are pretty names, they are also very common. Look these words up—or another common name with Interclad or Google Translators and see what comes up.

Interclad Translator

Google Translator

Human Names

Lists of baby names can be inspirational too. These are just a few of the internet resources for names of every origin.

Native American Names

Arabic Masculine Names

Arabic Feminine Names

About Guide to Pregnancy Baby Names List

About Guide to Baby Parenting offers this list of Baby Names

Behind the Name has lots of names and provides the meaning behind them. Try the random name generator.

Ask on the Forum

Still stumped about a name? Ask the folks on the About Horses and Ponies Forum. They are great at sorting out names to suit registry rules and suggesting stable names for a new horse. Sign up only takes a minute and it is free. Sign up now!