Border Collie Names: 400+ Ideas for Boys and Girls

The best Border Collie names are short and easy to shout across a field, like Moss, Fly, Cap, Nell, Glen and Gyp. One or two syllables works best, and a name that ends in a vowel sound carries further when your dog is busy. Below are more than 400 Border Collie names for boys and girls, with traditional working names, Scottish and Welsh names, names by coat color, and the stories behind the most famous collies.

Naming My First Border Collie

I remember when I first got my border collie Moby, I spent days before I had a new name for him. His name from the shelter was Kramer, and of course, I couldn’t let him live with a silly name like that one.

I remember going through page after page, list after list, website after website, trying to find the name that suited him best. I even resorted to scrolling through my large collection of music on iTunes (Yes, iTunes was still a thing back then), when I found the perfect name for him, Moby.

Yes, he is named after the famed musician and animal lover, Moby. The name Moby is short and sweet, easy to say, ends in the high-pitched “e” sound, and suited him perfectly.

What Makes a Good Border Collie Name?

A good Border Collie name has one or two syllables, sounds different from every command you plan to teach, and is easy to say loudly in public. Shepherds have used short names like Cap and Meg for over a century because a dog working 200 yards away needs to hear its name clearly over the wind.

A few rules make the choice easier:

• Keep it short. You will say it dozens of times a day, and your dog learns a short sound faster.
• Stay away from names that sound like commands. “Bo” sounds like “no,” “Kit” sounds like “sit,” and “Ray” sounds like “stay,” which confuses your dog and weakens both words.
• End on a bright sound. Names ending in “ee,” “oh” or “ah” (Millie, Milo, Luna) cut through background noise.
• Pick something you will happily yell at the dog park.
• Say the nickname out loud too, because every dog name gets shortened and rhymed eventually.
• Go less common if you visit busy parks. When five dogs answer to Max, recall gets messy.

If you adopted an older dog with a name already, you can still change it. Most dogs pick up a new name within a couple of weeks of steady use with treats. Our guide on what to do after adopting a Border Collie covers the first few weeks.

Traditional Border Collie Names

Traditional Border Collie names come from the farms and sheepdog trials of Scotland, northern England and Wales. They are almost always one syllable so a handler can call them quickly between whistle commands. Scroll through the International Sheep Dog Society stud book and the same names show up generation after generation.

• Cap: after Wiston Cap, one of the most famous trial dogs ever
• Moss: a sheepdog trial favorite for over a century
• Fly: short, quick and easy to call across a field
• Gyp: an old working name you still hear at trials
• Nell: a classic name for a female working dog
• Meg: short for Margaret, common on Scottish farms
• Glen: Scottish for a narrow valley
• Sweep: for a dog that sweeps wide around the flock
• Roy: from the Gaelic for red
• Hemp: after Old Hemp, the father of the breed
• Jed: after Jedburgh, a Scottish Borders town
• Bess: an old farm name for a steady female dog
• Floss: soft, short and a trial regular
• Lad: Scots for boy
• Mirk: Scots for dark, good for a mostly black dog
• Spot: a plain farm name that never goes out of style
• Ben: from the Gaelic for mountain
• Nan: a two-letter shout that carries well
• Jess: one of the most common working-dog names in Britain
• Tweed: after the river that runs along the Scottish border

Famous Border Collie Names

Naming your dog after a famous collie gives the name a story. These are the dogs Border Collie people still talk about.

Old Hemp

Born in Northumberland in 1893 and bred by Adam Telfer, Old Hemp is the dog most Border Collies trace back to. He worked sheep quietly and with a strong eye, and shepherds bred to him so often that he is said to have sired around 200 pups. Read more in our Border Collie history.

Wiston Cap

Wiston Cap won the International Supreme Championship in 1965 and became one of the most used sires in the breed. His likeness is on the badge of the International Sheep Dog Society.

Chaser

Chaser lived in South Carolina with psychology professor John Pilley and learned the names of 1,022 toys, more words than any other dog on record. If your dog loves toys too, see our best toys for Border Collies.

Fly and Rex

The two sheepdogs in the 1995 film Babe were both Border Collies. Fly raises the pig, and Rex is the grumpy one.

Shep

Shep was a sheepdog who waited at the train station in Fort Benton, Montana, for nearly six years after his owner’s coffin was sent away on a train in 1936.

Bob

Owd Bob, the “Grey Dog of Kenmuir,” is the hero of Alfred Ollivant’s 1898 novel about sheepdogs in the hills of northern England.

Male Border Collie Names

These boy names are short, friendly and easy to call. Many fit a herding dog’s energy, like Ranger, Scout and Chase.

Female Border Collie Names

These girl names work for a sweet house dog or a fast little herder. Most are two syllables and end on a bright vowel sound.

Unique Border Collie Names

If you want a name nobody else at the park has, try one of these. Many come from British birds, plants and old words, which suits a breed from the hill farms of the border.

• Briar: a wild thorny rose, for a tough little girl
• Bramble: the blackberry bush that grows along farm walls
• Cinder: for a dog with gray or smoky markings
• Ember: a glowing coal, nice for a red Border Collie
• Fable: a short story with a lesson
• Gemma: Italian for gem
• Juniper: the evergreen shrub that grows on Scottish hills
• Kestrel: a small falcon that hovers over open fields
• Linnet: a small brown songbird of British farmland
• Marlowe: an old English place name with a soft sound
• Merlin: the wizard, or a small fast falcon
• Nyx: the Greek goddess of night, for a black dog
• Pippin: an old English apple
• Quill: short, sharp and easy to say
• Rhiannon: a figure from Welsh legend who rides a white horse
• Saffron: the gold spice, for a red or gold dog
• Sorrel: a reddish-brown horse color
• Thistle: the national flower of Scotland
• Tinsel: for a bright, sparkly personality
• Wynn: Old English for joy
• Zephyr: the Greek west wind
• Fennel: a green herb with a soft sound
• Pike: a fast, lean fish and an old word for a pointed hill
• Ripley: from Old English for strip of land
• Fitz: short for any Fitzwilliam or Fitzgerald

Scottish Border Collie Names

The Border Collie comes from the hills on both sides of the border between Scotland and England, so Scottish and Gaelic names are a natural fit. The word “collie” itself is Scots and most likely comes from an old word for black, the color of most early sheepdogs.

• Angus: one strength
• Bruce: after Robert the Bruce, king of Scots
• Callum: dove
• Duncan: dark warrior
• Fergus: man of strength
• Hamish: the Scottish form of James
• Lachlan: from the land of lochs
• Murdo: sea warrior
• Rory: red king
• Ross: headland
• Dubh: black, said “doo”
• Rua: red, from the Gaelic ruadh
• Ailsa: after Ailsa Craig, an island in the Firth of Clyde
• Bonnie: Scots for pretty
• Eilidh: the Gaelic form of Helen, said “AY-lee”
• Elspeth: the Scottish form of Elizabeth
• Fiona: white or fair, from the Gaelic fionn
• Iona: a small island in the Inner Hebrides
• Isla: after the island of Islay
• Kirsty: a Scottish short form of Christine
• Mhairi: the Gaelic form of Mary, said “VAH-ree”
• Morag: great, from the Gaelic mòr
• Skye: after the Isle of Skye
• Heather: the purple flower that covers the Highlands
• Lassie: Scots for girl, and the most famous collie name of all

Welsh Border Collie Names

Wales has huge numbers of working sheepdogs and a long history of trials, so Welsh names suit the breed well. Most are short and easy to say once you know the sound.

• Bryn: hill
• Dylan: sea
• Emrys: the Welsh name for Merlin
• Glyn: valley
• Idris: ardent lord
• Llew: light or lion
• Owain: an old Welsh name for a prince
• Rhys: enthusiasm
• Carys: love
• Eira: snow, good for a white-faced dog
• Gwen: white or blessed
• Mared: pearl
• Mel: honey
• Nia: bright
• Seren: star
• Tegan: pretty

Names From the Border Country

The breed name refers to the Anglo-Scottish border, and it was first used by James Reid of the International Sheep Dog Society in 1915. These names come from the rivers, hills and towns of that region.

• Cheviot: the hills along the border, and a breed of sheep
• Coquet: a river in Northumberland
• Esk: a river that flows across the border
• Ettrick: a forest and valley in the Scottish Borders
• Hadrian: after Hadrian’s Wall
• Kelso: a market town on the Tweed
• Kielder: a huge forest in Northumberland
• Teviot: a river in the Scottish Borders
• Tyne: the river through Newcastle
• Yarrow: a Borders river, and a wildflower

Border Collie Names by Coat Color

Black and white is the most familiar Border Collie look, but the breed also comes in red, blue merle, chocolate, lilac and more. A color name is easy to remember and fits your dog for life. Darker and lighter coats shed differently too, so read our Border Collie shedding guide before the first big blowout.

Names for black and white Border Collies

Oreo, Domino, Panda, Magpie, Tux, Sooty, Ink, Jet, Pinto, Piano, Checkers, Puffin, Raven, Salt, Zorro.

Names for red and red merle Border Collies

Copper, Ginger, Cinnamon, Rowan, Maple, Paprika, Fox, Ruby, Russet, Clay, Amber, Sedona, Autumn, Rooibos.

Names for blue merle and gray Border Collies

Storm, Slate, Smokey, Misty, Indigo, Pebble, Ash, Flint, Dusty, Granite, Mist, Nimbus, Liath (Gaelic for gray-blue).

Names for chocolate and brown Border Collies

Cocoa, Mocha, Hershey, Fudge, Bourbon, Hazelnut, Truffle, Java, Kona, Nutmeg.

Names for white and lilac Border Collies

Ghost, Lilac, Pearl, Snow, Frost, Lavender, Sugar, Cotton, Blanca, Opal.

Smart Names for Border Collies

Psychologist Stanley Coren ranked the Border Collie number one in his 1994 book The Intelligence of Dogs, so a clever name fits. These come from scientists, detectives and thinkers.

Names for Fast, High-Energy Border Collies

A Border Collie can run for hours and still want more. These names suit a dog that never stops. If yours lives up to the name, see how much exercise a Border Collie needs.

Portuguese Border Collie Names (Nomes Para Border Collie)

Border Collies are popular in Brazil and Portugal. These are common Portuguese names for male and female dogs, plus a few for black and white coats.

Nomes Para Border Collie Macho

Nomes Para Border Collie Fêmea

Nomes Para Border Collie Preto e Branco

Oreo, Panda, Dominó, Xadrez, Pinguim, Nanquim, Sombra, Noite, Neve, Café com Leite.

Spanish Border Collie Names (Nombres Para Border Collie)

These Spanish names work for a Border Collie in any Spanish-speaking home, from Mexico to Spain.

Nombres Para Border Collie Machos

Nombres Para Border Collie Hembras

Border Collie Names FAQ

What is a traditional name for a Border Collie?

Traditional Border Collie names are short working names from British sheep farms, such as Cap, Moss, Fly, Gyp, Nell, Meg and Glen. One syllable lets a handler call the dog quickly between whistle commands.

Should a Border Collie name be one or two syllables?

Yes. One or two syllables is easiest for your dog to recognize and easiest for you to call. Longer names usually get shortened anyway.

Can you rename a rescue Border Collie?

Yes. Say the new name in a happy voice and reward your dog every time it looks at you. Most dogs learn a new name within a week or two.

What does “collie” mean?

Collie is a Scots word for a sheepdog. It most likely comes from an old word for black, after the dark coats of early working collies.

What was the smartest Border Collie’s name?

Chaser, a Border Collie from South Carolina, learned the names of 1,022 toys. She is often called the smartest dog in the world.