Rango Inspired Dog Names

Introduction

For anyone who loves animals, animated features or plain old creative stories, Rango is one of the most entertaining in recent memory. Headlined by the likes of Johnny Depp and Isla Fisher, the film follows the story of a pet chameleon who gets accidentally abandoned in the desert. Although the story is both fun and fantastic, the true highlight has to be the ultra-imaginative cast of characters, who, outside of being regular animals of the Mojave, have personalities that go far beyond your average desert dwellers. Best of all, for our purposes, they all come with names to match, making Rango the perfect place to derive a great dog name from.

Rango Inspired Dog Names in Pop Culture

Featured Famous Dog with a Rango Inspired Name

Waffles

If you’ve seen Rango, it’s hard to deny that the writers, animators and other creators had some pretty imaginative minds when approaching the film. Outside of writing a script appropriated for desert animals with numerous homages to western classics, they also assembled a unique cast of characters that were executed with exceptional detail.

However, even though Rango features a wide range of different desert animals, believe or it not, they never use one of the two the most popular animals in the United States: dogs. But thanks to the clever naming process the writers used for the film, there is a dog with a lot of character that shares the same name as one from the movie: Waffles.

Waffles may not be as famous or as recognizable worldwide as the ultra-excitable horned lizard found in the movie, but she is certainly famous in her hometown of Modesto, California, and for good reason.

Waffles became a local celebrity when her owner, Ryan Bauman, decided to start bringing her around town with him. Adopted as a puppy, she began riding around in Bauman’s truck but her owner soon realized that she was more happy and excited than nervous to be in a vehicle. And most of all, he noticed that she loved, like many other dogs, sticking her head out the window to feel the wind on her face, which wasn’t a difficult reach for the quickly growing Great Dane.

She got comfortable in no time, so Bauman decided to step it up for her by training her to ride in the sidecar of his motorcycle so she could enjoy being outside and feeling the breeze more often. He even customized her seat to make everything more safe and comfortable. With the help of a custom crafted double doggy seatbelt, a series of nylon bungees and a clip-in harness, Waffles is able to stay securely in place while still having the freedom to shift with the movement of the bike.

While Bauman had a good feeling that she would quickly adapt to her new ride, he never imagined the type of response he would get with her aboard. While riding around town, people wave, stop and take pictures, call out to them and say hello. She’s now become a local celebrity and isn’t particularly hard to spot sitting upright in a sidecar with her name printed on it and in her bright pink riding goggles.

Rango Inspired Dog Name Considerations

Finding a suitable Rango inspired dog name isn’t hard, but without some direction you may be left high and dry just like the chameleon himself. We suggest starting by putting together a list of your dog’s most defining traits, whether that’s their looks, quirks or overall personality, as it will be the easiest point of comparison to draw from.

For instance, if your dog happens to be the strong but silent type, then the names Spirit and West, after the Eastwood-inspired “the spirit of the west/man with no name” character, would be perfectly suitable. If your dog is always swooping in on toys, playmates or other animals, Hawk may be a better option. If their bodily functions are almost always apparent, then the name Spoons would be a solid option. If they have one bad ear, then maybe Doc would be appropriate. If they always act like they’re going crazy, then Lars (or Hunter) would be an ideal choice. If your dog is prone to random outbursts, then Waffles would be a fantastic fit.

There are plenty of directions you can go and given the number of characters that exist within the context of the film, you should have no shortage of naming options.

Male Rango Inspired Dog Names

Votes	Name	Vote
0	Rango The protagonist; a pet chameleon lost in the desert
0	Roadkill The armadillo searching for "the spirit of the west"
0	Rattlesnake After Rattlesnake Jake, the evil gunslinger
0	Jake After Rattlesnake Jake, the dangerous local troublemaker
0	Balthazar The bank robber mole
0	Bad Bill The outlaw Gila monster
0	West As in the old west, where the story takes place
0	Doc After the doctor who is a rabbit
0	Lucky Voiced by the timeless Maile Flanagan
0	Cletus After Boo Cletus, voiced by Alanna Ubach
0	Marrimack The town's banker
0	Gordy The spring chicken who lives in Dirt
0	Joad After Papa Joad, voiced by James Ward Byrkit
0	Murt After Cousin Murt, who is voiced by one of the film's writers
0	Buford The Sonoran desert toad
0	Elgin The lynx/bobcat of Dirt
0	Jedidiah Balthazar's son
0	Ezekiel The lasso rodent
0	Rockeye The rock-looking toad
0	Stump One of Bad Bill's gang members
0	Lenny Voiced by Chris Parson
0	Boseefus A minor character with a fantastic name
0	Hitch Voiced by Lew Temple
0	Crevice Voiced by Gore Verbinski, the mastermind behind the movie
0	Slim The turkey vulture
0	Mojave The desert the movie takes place in
0	Dirt The name of the town most of the film happens in
0	Drifter What Rango is labeled as
0	Hawk One of the film's first antagonists
0	Gore After Gore Verbinski, who voiced several characters

Female Rango Inspired Dog Names

Votes	Name	Vote
0	Beans A female desert iguana and Rango's love interest
0	Priscilla The "funny-looking" cactus mouse
0	Tortoise After Tortoise John, the conniving Mayor of Dirt
0	Spirit After the spirit of the west, aka "the man with no name"
0	Boo After Boo Cletus, the little raccoon boy
0	Fresca A minor character in Rango
0	Daisy After Miss Daisy, one of Alanna Ubach's many voices
0	Ambrose The burrowing owl
0	Bird After Wounded Bird, the Chihuahuan raven
0	Waffles The horned toad
0	Angelique The red fox and secretary of Dirt
0	Maybelle The gun-toting hillbilly rodent
0	Flan After Señor Flan, the accordion player
0	Owl One of the movie's many species, especially that of the Mariachis
0	Elbows The cat-like creature Rango brags to
0	Bonnie A minor character voiced by the famous Beth Grant
0	Lasso An important tool in the old west
0	Hazel After Hazel Moats, the prairie dog
0	Moats After Hazel Moats, who got her name from the western novel Wise Blood
0	Kinski The hunchback antelope jackrabbit
0	Chorizo Another member of Bad Bill's gang; a somewhat minor character with a great name
0	Furgus The aged old bird with the broom-style mustache
0	Turley After Sergeant Turley, the turkey
0	Lupe The violin player
0	Melonee A minor character voiced by Kym Whitley
0	Spoons The mouse prospector
0	Gila After the Gila monster character, a common desert lizard species
0	Yucca After the mystical moving yuccas, an important plot object
0	Verbinski After Gore Verbinski, the director, producer, and writer
0	Byrkit After James Ward Byrkit, who wrote and voiced many characters