Ghostbusters Dog Names

Introduction

If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, (it’s probably you and your dog). Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters! If you need a name, because your choices aren’t so good, who you gonna call? Ghostbusters! Ok, really though, you’re not calling anyone. You’re looking on the Internet, which is probably why you’re here — it’s also why we’re here: to help! As far as cult classic comedies go, there are few held in higher regard than the Ghostbusters series and for good reason (although do you really need any more than Murray, Aykroyd, and Moranis all in one place?). On top of that, there is a considerable wealth of fantastic names that will undoubtedly help your dog stand out but also make you easily identifiable as a fellow Ghostbusters fan.

Ghostbusters Dog Names in Pop Culture

Featured Famous Ghostbusters Dog

Zuul and Vinz

To be fair, Zuul the Gatekeeper and Vinz Clortho the Keymaster aren’t technically dogs, they’re demons, but that doesn’t mean that the bodies they possess for most of the first Ghostbusters film aren’t creepy as all get-out. Next to the likes of Cujo, the Zombie Doberman Pinschers of Resident Evil fame, and the infected dogs of I Am Legend, they likely rank near the top in terms of spine-chilling canines in modern cinema.

While neither Zuul or Vinz Clortho resemble real breeds outside of maybe Pit Bull hellhounds on steroids, they also didn’t have the advantage of a real dog like Cujo had, nor did they have the benefit of modern special effects like in I Am Legend or Resident Evil — they achieved their unsettling status with technology of the mid ‘80s, which means stop motion and puppets.

For their use in the original Ghostbusters film, sculptor and special effects wizard Randy Cook had to develop two separate sets of terror dogs, one set of full-sized puppets, the other set a series of maquettes for their use in stop motion. The puppets themselves were as big and life-like and they seem in the movie. One puppet had an almost fully-controllable body with actors having to move the arms, legs, and head (in which it still took another nearly 20 animators to pull levers to get the full effect of coordinated movement), while the other was considerably more focused on articulating facial motions — creating the fantastically creepy moments when the door in Dana’s apartment opens and Zuul growls at her with glowing red eyes and incisors like steak knives before dragging her through the threshold and when Louis Tully is pinned against the glass of the upscale restaurant window and is forced to look Vinz Clortho in his toothy, glistening face before being possessed.

The maquettes, on the other hand, were just as life-like, but were created to be around 1/4 scale to allow the animators to easily manipulate them and create the illusion of movement. Notable scenes they were used in was when Clortho the Terror Dog burst through Tully’s apartment door on his way in, crashing into the hallway wall on the way out, and the chase scene that ensues up to the point of possession, as well as the fantastic rooftop scenes.

All in all, Cook and the special effects team not only did a fantastic job of creating a real, supernatural creep to crawl up the spines of the audience, but in the process cemented some of the most unsettling dog-like creatures of the era and beyond.

Ghostbusters Dog Name Considerations

Unless you have a Chinese Crested and want to name it Zuul or a Corgie you want to name Twinkie, chances are you’ll likely be basing your dog’s name more off of their personality than their looks, but that’s OK, because quirks and personality are excellent starting points.

For instance, if your dog is a troublemaker and tends to slobber a lot, Slimer would be a perfect fit, even more so if they also frequently end up green with grass stains. If they’re a bit destructive or are prone to terrorizing other people or dogs, then Zuul, Vinz, Clortho, and Terror would all make appropriate names. If your dog happens to be a jokester or a womanizer, Venkman would be a great choice. If they’re awkward and skittish, then Louis and Tully would be excellent choices. If they’re supremely evil like Vigo, well, you should probably worry about calling an exorcist before giving them a name.

Whatever you decide to go with, spend some time re-watching the films (and TV series or reading the comics if you like additional backstory) and see if anything in particular jumps out to you about a character, event, or even a line of dialogue. If you’ve still got nothing, then maybe it IS time to call the Ghostbusters. Or maybe a friend for some ideas.

Male Ghostbusters Dog Names

Votes	Name	Vote
0	Egon After Egon Spengler, PhD, one of the original Ghostbusters
0	Peter After Peter Venkman, a fan favorite, played by Bill Murray
0	Venkman After parapsychologist Peter Venkman, one of the original Ghostbusters
0	Stantz After Ray Stantz, the parapsychologist and one of the original Ghostbusters
0	Winston After Winston Zeddemore, the late addition to the Ghostbusters quad of characters
0	Zeddemore Winston's last name; the hired gun often maligned for being the only one without a degree
0	Gozer After Gozer the Gozerian, the shapeshifting demon/god
0	Terror After the aptly-named Terror Dogs, who terrorize the city
0	Louis After Louis Tully, played by Rick Moranis
0	Yeager After Dean Yeager, the administrator at Columbia who kicks Spengler, Stantz and Venkman out
0	Fleming After Ted and Annette Fleming, clients of Louis Tully before the Terror Dog broke in
0	Vinz After Vinz Clortho, the Keymaster of Gozer, the demigod
0	Clortho The Terror Dog that possesses Louis Tully
0	Volguus Another name of Gozer, Volguus Zildrohar
0	Zildrohar After Volguus Zildrohar, aka Gozer the Gozerian, the first film's prime evil
0	Staypuft After the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, who eventually storms the city
0	Hoover After Edmund Hoover, the philologist who murders Eleanor Twitty
0	Vigo After Vigo the Carpathian, aka Vigo Von Homburg Deutschendorf, the ultimate evil brought back from the painting in Ghostbusters II
0	Janosz After Janosz Poha, the Manhattan Museum of Art's curator
0	Alderidge After ghost Gertrude Alderidge, the disturbed daughter of an aristocrat who murdered her family's servants
0	Sparky After Sparky, the electrocuted ghost, the second seen in the reboot
0	Gilbert After Dr. Erin Gilbert, played by Kristen Wiig
0	Tolan After Patty Tolan, historian and subway booth attendant
0	Griffin After Kylie Griffin, the female Ghostbuster from Extreme Ghostbusters
0	Proton After the Ghostbusters' proton packs
0	Ghost After the title, Ghostbusters
0	Buster The second half of Ghostbusters, also a great dog name
0	Sedgewick After the Sedgewick Hotel, a haunted hotel originally cleared in 1986 but re-investigated in the video game
0	Ramis After Harold Ramis, who played Egon
0	Ivan After Ivan Reitman, who directed the first two films
0	Reitman After Ivan Reitman, who produced all three of the Ghostbusters films

Female Ghostbusters Dog Names

Votes	Name	Vote
0	Slimer The green, quintessential trouble-making ghost who shoots ectoplasm/slime on people
0	Spengler The last name of Egon Spengler, the parapsychologist and one of the series' protagonists
0	Ray After Ray Stantz, played by Dan Aykroyd
0	Janine After Janine Melnitz, the receptionist at the Ghostbusters' fire station
0	Melnitz After receptionist Janine Melnitz, who eventually actually does some ghost-busting
0	Zuul After Zuul the Gatekeeper, a demigod and slave to Gozer
0	Dana After Dana Barrett, the Ghostbusters' first true customer
0	Barrett After musician Dana Barrett, played by Sigourney Weaver
0	Peck After Walter Peck, the EPA agent from the first film
0	Tully After character Louis Tully, who lived down the hall from Dana Barrett; eventually becomes the Ghostbusters' accountant
0	Gozerian After Gozer the Gozerian, the main antagonist of the first film
0	Ivo After Ivo Shandor, the cult leader that summons Gozer
0	Shandor After character Ivo Shandor, the mad doctor who determines humanity too sick to survive, thus summoning Gozer
0	Eleanor After Eleanor Twitty, aka the Library Ghost
0	Twitty After character Eleanor Twitty, the ghost in the library, the very first the Ghostbusters encounter in the first film
0	Poha After character Janosz Poha, head of the restoration department whom Vigo possesses
0	Gertrude After Gertrude Alderidge, the first ghost seen in the 2016 reboot
0	Jilian After Jilian Holtzmann, played by Kate McKinnon
0	Patty After Patty Tolan, played by Leslie Jones
0	Abby After Dr. Abigail Yates, played by Melissa McCarthy
0	Yates After Abby Yates, the lead Ghostbuster in the reboot
0	Kylie After Kylie Griffin, the first full-time female Ghostbuster
0	Ecto After Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters vehicle
0	Spook Another word used in the films and series to describe ghosts
0	Spirit Another name for a ghost referred to in several iterations of Ghostbusters
0	Twinkie What Egon uses to explain the analogy of psychokinetic energy
0	Waconda After Camp Waconda, a camp from Ray's childhood mentioned in the first film
0	Manhattan Where much of the Ghostbusters' stories take place
0	Parker After Ray Parker Jr., who wrote and performed the iconic theme song