Watercolor illustration of a fluffy cream puppy sitting beside a giant blank pink heart-shaped name tag, with a toy box, collar and leash on a woven rug

50 Tiny Dog Names for Little Pups

Good things come in small, wiggly packages. Whether you’ve got a teacup chihuahua, a runt-of-the-litter dachshund, or a dog with a forever-puppy face, a tiny dog deserves a name as small and mighty as they are.

Fifty names for little pups — sorted from sweet, to mighty, to just plain snack-sized.

Watercolor illustration of a tiny Yorkshire terrier puppy with a pink bow sitting in a knitted tote bag on a floral armchair

Tiny & Cute

Maximum sweetness in minimum syllables.

Watercolor illustration of a tiny white puppy asleep in a cloud-shaped dog bed beside storybooks and a small succulent
  • Bitty — as in itty-bitty, and proud of it
  • Bitsy — tiny, with a bounce in her step
  • Button — cute as one, and about that size
  • Gidget — the original tiny beach-girl name
  • Itsy — made for an itsy bitsy spider-chaser
  • Lulu — small, sassy, and totally in charge
  • Mimi — tiny, chic, and a little bit dramatic
  • Nibbles — taste-tests everything in reach, including fingers
  • Peanut — the runt with the biggest personality
  • Pip — one small squeak of a name
  • Poppy — bright, bouncy, and pocket-sized
  • Thumbelina — the fairy-tale tiny girl herself
  • Tink — fairy dust and attitude in a four-pound package

Small but Mighty

For the four-pound dog who runs the whole household and most of the neighborhood.

Watercolor illustration of a tiny chihuahua wearing a blue superhero cape in a garden, casting the shadow of a lion on the fence
  • Acorn — small now; mighty oak energy
  • Chico — Spanish for “small,” big on charm
  • Cricket — tiny, bouncy, and chirpy at dawn
  • Half Pint — half the size, twice the opinions
  • Minnow — the smallest fish with the fastest zoomies
  • Mouse — quiet, quick, and braver than the cat
  • Nano — science’s tiniest unit, maximum settings
  • Nugget — small, golden, and precious
  • Pebble — small but solid; try moving her off the couch
  • Pippin — a little apple with a hero’s heart
  • Pixie — mischief in a very small package
  • Sprout — small now, growing (a little) fast
  • Tiny — wear it proudly: the smallest name on the biggest personality

Food Minis

Snack-sized names for snack-sized dogs.

Watercolor illustration of an apricot toy poodle puppy sitting on a kitchen counter next to a tray of muffins, cookies and a macaron
  • Bean — one tiny bean, endless attitude
  • Chip — one small chip off the old block
  • Coco — warm, chocolatey, and effortlessly chic
  • Crumb — the tiniest piece of the treat
  • Cupcake — frosted, sweet, and celebration-sized
  • Jellybean — colorful, wiggly, and sugar-powered
  • Morsel — a single, perfect bite of dog
  • Munchkin — a donut hole of a pup
  • Olive — small, sleek, and a little bit briny
  • Pickle — a tiny troublemaker in a perfectly small package
  • Shrimp — ironically perfect: small name, huge confidence
  • Tootsie — a sweet little roll of a dog

Little Words

Short words, small things, and names that fit in the palm of your hand.

Watercolor illustration of a tiny papillon puppy at a miniature writing desk with a quill, envelopes and a letter
  • Bunny — soft ears, happy hops
  • Daisy — a small flower for a small dog
  • Dot — one tiny spot of a pup
  • Kiki — two tiny syllables, endless energy
  • Midge — named for the tiniest of flies, cuter by far
  • Mini — she is, and she knows it
  • Pearl — small, round, and precious
  • Petal — light as one, soft as one
  • Pico — the tiniest prefix in science, sized for the tiniest pup
  • Plum — small, round, and sweet
  • Posy — a tiny bouquet of a name
  • Teacup — she could nearly fit in one, and would like to try

How to Choose the One

  • Test the irony level. A tiny name on a tiny dog is sweet; a tiny name on a dog who’ll hit 60 pounds is comedy. Decide now which joke you’re signing up for.
  • Keep it call-able. One or two syllables carry best — especially for a little dog with big, selective hearing.
  • Watch the park introduction. You’ll say “This is Shrimp” out loud, often. If that delights you every single time, it’s the one.
  • Let the name grow with them. Puppies are tiny; adults are just small. Names like Nugget and Pippin work at every size your dog will ever be.

Quick Questions

What are the most popular names for small dogs?

Peanut, Coco, Lulu, and Daisy top the small-dog charts. For something equally tiny but rarer, try Pico, Midge, or Half Pint.

Do tiny names work for boy dogs?

Absolutely — Bean, Chip, Chico, and Pippin are all boy-park favorites, and Nugget suits absolutely anyone.

My “tiny” dog grew bigger than expected. Now what?

Welcome to the club — ironic names are a beloved dog-park genre. A 70-pound dog named Tiny is never not funny.

Want the full menu? Our list of cute dog names for your new puppy covers every size, and these cute girl dog names are full of little ladies.

Still deciding? Try our free Dog Name Generator — tap to shuffle fresh names with their meanings and build your shortlist.

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