White coats reach the dog via at least three unrelated genetic routes. As such, a Samoyed and a white Boxer are white for different reasons. I picked these by hand as well as with their meanings.
Cute White Dog Names for Female Dogs and Their Meanings:
Leukothea
Greek for white goddess and comes from leukos and thea. In the Odyssey Leukothea gives Odysseus her veil so the water cannot pull him under.
Chione
”Snow,” and is from chion.
Aneira
”Much snow.”
Blodwen
Blodwen is symbolizing ”white flower” in Welsh and has roots in blodyn and gwen.
Ricotta
”Recooked.”
Selene
”Moon” or ”light.”
Soufflé
”Puffed up”.
Pearl
”Precious gem”. Hester Prynne’s daughter in The Scarlet Letter.
Kuura
Hoarfrost.
Dolly
”Gift of God,” as well as a sheep that was the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.
Azucena
From Arabic as-sūsana, ”white lily.”
Mizore
”Sleet”.
Nives
Nives comes from the Marian title Our Lady of the Snows. Its feast is on 5 August.
Valkea
Finnish for ”white” or ”bright.”
Tuhina
In Sanskrit tuhina is meaning ”frost” or ”snow.”
Qanik
Inuktitut for falling snow.
Baiyunî
A panda called Bai Yun produced the first panda cub born in the US to survive. Baiyunî (白云) is white cloud in Chinese.
Subhra
White and unstained in Sanskrit.
Alyssum
Alyssum is “curing madness” in Greek. Doctors once prescribed the herb for rabies.
Kaolin
Kaolin is named after Gaoling mountain ridge that supplied white clay to the Jingdezhen kilns. I recommend this one for dogs whose coat is closer to chalk.
Kunda
It is Sanskrit for the white jasmine, Jasminum multiflorum.
Snegurochka
Snegurochka (”snow maiden”) melts when she jumps over a bonfire in Russian tales.
Panna
”Cream” in Italian, and ”young lady” in Polish.
Anana
In Hebrew, Anana is “cloud” and graceful in Hawaiian.
Argia
Argia has origins in argos (”shining white”).
Amaryllis
To sparkle.
Magnolia
”Magnol’s flower,” after French botanist Pierre Magnol.
Branwen
”White raven.”
Elaine
Elaine (”bright light”) of Astolat is Tennyson’s Lady of Shalott.
Olwen
”White footprint,” as well as white clover bloomed wherever she stepped.
Snaefrid
Snaefrid (”snow beautiful”) was a wife of Harald Fairhair, who watched over her body for three winters.
Drifa
Snowdrift.
Galatea
Root is gala, Greek for milk.
Helmi
Pearl in Finnish.
Bardha
Bardha has Albanian origins and is the feminine variation of bardhë and means ”white.”
Calla
”Beauty.”
Skadi
”Harm/shadow.” Skadi chose her husband by his feet alone.
Zima
Winter.
Lily
It has origins in Latin lilium.
Ecru
Raw, unbleached.
Neige
French for snow and comes from Latin nivem.
Gauri
Gauri is an epithet of Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva, and is meaning “the fair one” or ”shinning.”
Chandni
“Moonlit” or ”moonlight” and is from Hindi.
Fuyu
Winter in Japanese, written 冬.
Odette
Odette is a diminutive of Oda that comes from the Germanic word, ”wealth.”
Organza
“Thin, stiff, transparent dress fabric.” Organza is from the city of Urgench in Turkestan or the Italian organzino.
Tapioca
”Sediment.”
Phoebe
”Bright” or ”radiant”.
Swanhilda
Swanhilda (”swan battle”) is a village girl in Coppélia.
Daisy
”Day’s eye.”
Europa
”Wide face,” and Zeus came to her as a white bull.
Agnes
”Pure” or ”lamb.”
Barfi
”Snow” in Persian, as well as an Indian milk sweet.
Aput
Snow on the ground.
Chiffon
Rag.
Bronwen
It combines Welsh bron, ”breast,” and gwen, ”white.”
Spica
”Ear of wheat”.
Kasumi
In Japanese Kasumi is ”haze.”
Gypsum
Gypsos, chalk.
Calcite
Calcite comes from the Latin calx, ”lime.”
Niamh
Niamh Chinn Óir came from the sea and carried Oisín to Tír na nÓg. ”Radiance” in Old Irish and is pronounced as NEEV.
Eira
Welsh for snow. No mythology attached which is rare for a Welsh one.
Colombe
Colombe is ”dove” in French and has roots in the Latin columba. Colombine and Colombina are two diminutives that I like.
Mahina
Hawaiian for moon.
Candida
”White,” ”shining,” ”pure” and ”sincere.” Roman candidates wore chalk-whitened togas.
Lotus
”Rebirth” or ”purity.”
Tundra
Tundra comes from Russian Kildin Sami tūndâr and is symbolizing ”treeless high ground.”
Flurry
”A sudden burst of activity.”
Porcelain
Porcelain is from Italian porcellana, ”the cowrie shell.”
Freesia
Christian Ecklon named the genus after Friedrich Freese who was a German physician.
Edelweiss
Edelweiss is composed of the German elements edel and weiss, ”noble white.”
Coconut
Coconut is rooted in the Portuguese coco and is meaning ”skull” or ”a grinning face” after the three dark marks at the base of the shell.
Cotton
Arabic qutn.
Whitney
Mount Whitney has its origins in Josiah Whitney, California’s state geologist. It is from the Old English hwit and eg, ”the white island” or ”white water.”
Guinevere
White phantom.
Paloma
”Dove,” and Picasso named his daughter after his dove of peace poster.
Eirlys
Snowdrop.
Sugar
Sugar is from the Sanskrit sharkara, grit or gravel.
Crystal
”Ice,” and the Greeks thought quartz was ice frozen too hard to melt.
Muguet
”Lily of the valley”.
Brie
Hill.
Kea
”White,” as in Mauna Kea, a Hawaiian volcano with a snow cap.
Nephele
”Cloud.” Nephele is the mother of Phrixus and Helle, who fled on a golden ram.
Tsuru
”Crane.”
Aspen
”Shaking tree”.
Misty
From Old English mist, ”dimness.”
Diamond
Adamas, unbreakable.
Cloud
Cloud has origins in the Old English clud, ”rock” or ”hill.”
Akgül
White rose.
Marshmallow
It comes from marsh mallow, a plant whose root sap went into early sweets.
Shweta
Fair and white.
Icicle
From Old English īsgicel, ”ice spike.”
Chantilly
”Whipped cream.”
Blizzard
“Hail of gunfire” or “a violent blow”.
Alaska
Alaska comes from the Indigenous language Aleut and the term alaxsxaq (”mainland”)
Ivory
From Old French ivoire and Latin ebur.
Blanche
French for “white,” from the Germanic blank, “shining.”
Vanilla
From Spanish vainilla, ”little pod.”
Vega
”Swooping eagle.”
Rhiannon
”Great queen,” and no rider can catch her white horse.
Opal
”Jewel”.
Mallika
Jasmine.
Fionnuala
Irish fionn (“white, fair”) and guala (“shoulder”) and is pronounced fin-NOO-la.
Bayda
”White.”
Narcissa
”Sleep” or ”numbness.”
Ermine
”Armenian mouse.”
Yuki
Written 雪, Yuki is the Japanese word for snow.
Clara
”Clear/bright.”
Hedwig
”Battle”, and Harry Potter’s snowy owl.
Lulu
”Pearl.”
Giselle
”Pledge,” and a ballet where ghost brides dance in white.
Alba
”White” or ”dawn.”
Pavlova
”Small.” Pavlova is a meringue cake after ballerina Anna Pavlova.
Mjöll
”Fresh snow.”
Aphrodite
It comes from aphros, ”sea foam.”
Seol
Snow.
Yuri
”Lily” in Japanese, and ”farmer” in Russian.
Arare
”Hail,” or a tiny rice cracker in Japan.
White Dog Names for Male Dogs:
Leukos
”White and bright,” in Greek and is the root for leukocyte, the white blood cell.
Nanuq
Polar bear in Inuktitut.
Bijeli
White in Croatian and Serbian.
Belko
Belko is the short masculine variant of the Slavic bel (”white”). It is popular in Serbia and Bulgaria.
Siku
”Sea ice” in Inuktitut.
Boreas
Herodotus wrote that Athens prayed to him for aid against the Persian fleet. It means ”north wind.”
Slalom
From Norwegian sla, ”slope,” and låm, ”track.”
Everest
Pronounced as EEV-rest. ”Highest peak.”
Hrimfaxi
Hrimfaxi (”frost mane”) is Night’s horse.
Hamsa
”Swan.”
Mogul
Small hill.
Fionnbharr
Saint Fionnbharr was born in Connaught nd founded a monastery that would later become the city of Cork. It is made of the Irish fionn (”fair”) and barr (”crest”). It is pronounced FIN-var.
Ookpik
”Snowy owl.”
Aktan
White dawn.
Sefid
The Sefid Rud river is 670 kilometres (416 mi) long. ”White” in Persian.
Dhaval
The Dhavala Jain text is one of the surviving manuscripts from Karnataka. It means ”dazzling white.”
Himanshu
Himanshu is an epithet for the moon and is from the Sanskrit hima (”snow”) and anshu (”ray”). Short forms include Himu or Anshu.
Lumikko
Lumikko is Finnish for least weasel an elongated predator that turns white for winter.
Vetur
Icelandic for winter.
Snaer
King Snær the Old had four children (Thorri, Fönn, Drífa and Mjöll) and every one of them means a word for snow.
Albion
Albion is the oldest recorded name for Britain.
Alvis
Old Norse Alvíss, ”all wise.”
Haku
In Japanese Haku (白) means ”white.”
Mraz
”Frost” in Czech and Slovak and is cognate to Maroz (Belarusian).
Alvar
Old Norse alfr (”elf”) and herr (”warrior”).
Nevado
Nevado is Spanish for ”snow covered” and has roots in nieve.
Tofu
From the Chinese doufu, ”bean curd.”
Alabaster
Alabaster is from alabastros and is a jar for perfumed oil made from banded stone. It is also a fine-grained gypsum.
Sirius
”Scorching.” Sirius is the brightest star in our night sky, called the Dog Star.
Paneer
”Cheese.”
Kefir
Kefir is a fermented milk drink and means “good feeling” with Turkish roots.
Ghiocel
”Snowdrop” in Romanian.
Arjun
”White,” ”bright,” ”clear” and ”silvery.” Arjun is an archer in the Mahabharata.
Krypto
Krypto (”hidden”) is Superman’s white dog from Krypton.
Ayaz
”Frost” or ”clear cold night.”
Nougat
Nut cake.
Feta
Feta (”piece” or ”slice”) is a Greek cheese made from sheep’s milk and comes from the Italian fetta. Since 2002 the label is protected in the EU.
Kapok
From Malay kapuk, a silky tree fluff that fills life jackets.
Ullr
Glory.
Meringue
Meringue is a dessert that is made from sugar and whipped egg whites.
Koji
”Peace” or ”second son in Japanese. Koji is also a mold (Aspergillus oryzae) which breaks starch for sake and soy sauce.
Olaf
”Ancestor’s heir,” and Norway’s patron saint.
Bing
”Ice.”
Fionn
Irish for ”fair and white” and is cognate with Primitive Irish VENDO-. Fionn mac Cumhaill caught the Salmon of Knowledge in the River Slate.
Sterling
Sterling has origins in the Old English steorling that means “of high quality” or ”little star.” This was a mark stamped on early Norman pennies.
Jökull
Glacier.
Gandalf
Gandalf (”wand elf”) is a dwarf in Völuspá, before Tolkien used it.
Procyon
”Before the dog.”
Daikon
”Big root” or a mild-flavored winter radish in Japanese.
Finbar
Finbar is the Anglicized spelling form of Fionnbarra.
Sycamore
Sycamore is with Greek roots in sūkomoros (“fig-mulberry”).
Yukon
It is from a Gwich’in name for the great river.
Klondike
Klondike is the English form of the Hän word Tr’ondëk, ”hammer water.” It has its origins in the stakes that were hammered into the riverbed to anchor salmon nets.
Cirrus
Cirrus is Latin for a curl of hair.
Halo
The ring of light around the moon is called a halo as well as “divine aura” from halōs.
Domino
“Of the Lord.”
Chalk
Chalk is from the Old English cealc that comes from the Latin calx.
Snowball
A ball of packed snow.
Hvitserk
Hvitserk (”white shirt”) is a son of Ragnar Lodbrok.
Tushar
Frost, snow, mist and dew.
Ghost
”Disembodied soul of a dead being” and is from the Old English gast.
Nilas
“Victory of the people”) and a ”newly formed sea ice” in Russian.
Whitaker
“Wheat field”.
Cygnus
Latin for swan and the constellation on the plane of the Milky Way. Cygnus X-1 was the first object accepted as a black hole.
Iceberg
”Ice mountain.”
Casper
”Treasurer.”
Cauliflower
”Cabbage flower,” or as Mark Twain explained, cabbage with a college education.
Nandi
Nandi (”joyful”) is Shiva’s white bull.
Kori
Ice.
Baldur
”Lord” or ”prince.” A mistletoe dart killed him.
Avalanche
Avalanche is from the French avalance an the Old French phrase avaler that is symbolizing ”to go down to the valley.”
Hemant
Early winter.
Kailash
”Crystal.” Kailash is also a Tibetan peak no climber has ever summited.
Gelato
”Frozen.”
Snowy
”Covered in snow,” as well as Tintin’s white fox terrier.
Knut
”Knot.”
Taliesin
Pronounced as tal-YES-in. ”Shining brow.” A Welsh bard from sixth-century Britain.
Yogurt
To knead.
Sherpa
It combines Tibetan shar, ”east,” and pa, ”people.”
Dogmatix
Dogmatix, Idéfix in French (”fixed idea”), is Obelix’s tiny white dog.
Fannar
Snowdrifts.
Marble
”Shining stone”.
Ymir
”Twin” or ”groaner.”
Deneb
”Tail”.
Bolt
Old English bolt, the shaft fired from a crossbow. I think it is also good for a black dog.
Polar
“Of or pertaining to the poles”.
Yeti
It comes from Tibetan g.ya’ dred, rock bear.
Milky
Milky Way has origins in the Latin via lactea, itself a translation of Greek galaxias kyklos, ”milky circle.”
Frost
From Old English forst.
Comet
From komētēs, ”long-haired.” I like it for fluffy, long-coated dogs.
Shimo
Frost.
Albatross
It comes from Portuguese alcatraz, ”seabird.” Coleridge’s mariner shoots one.
Rigel
”Foot.”
Laban
”White,” and Jacob’s uncle, who tricked him into marrying Leah first.
Ukaliq
”Arctic hare.”
Bao
”Wrap/bun.”
Popcorn
It is one of the oldest snacks and the kernel pops only while it holds 14% moisture.
Wonton
From Cantonese wan tan, ”swallowing clouds.”
Shashi
”Hare-marked.”
Pegasus
From pēgē, ”spring,” and he was born from Medusa’s blood.
Puff
Puff comes from Old English pyffan and is an imitation of the sound of blowing air.
Marshall
It combines Frankish marah (”horse”) and skalk (”servant”).
Angelo
Italian from Greek angelos, messenger.
Nevis
Nevis is an island in the Caribbean Sea and was known as Nuestra Señora de las Nieves to the Spanish, Our Lady of the Snows.
Sushi
”Sour rice.”
Mochi
Mochi is Japanese for pounded rice cake.
Cashew
It comes from the Portuguese caju that has roots in the Tupi acajú (“nut that produces itself”).
Latte
Latte is Italian for milk.
Igloo
In Inuktitut, iglu is any house.
Gwyn
Welsh for “fair” or “blessed.”
Glacier
The word is French, from glace, “ice”.
Beluga
Beluga comes from the Russian belyy, “white.”
Birch
I like this one for dogs with a coat as clean as birch bark.
Ptarmigan
Pronounced as TAR-mih-gun. A grouse that is white in winter, from Scottish Gaelic tàrmachan. Its silent p came from a false link to Greek.
Narwhal
Old Norse nár is “corpse” and hvalr “whale.”
Regulus
Little king.
Heimdall
”World brightener,” and Snorri calls him the white god.
Cumulus
”Heap.”
Denali
”The high one.”
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