392 horse names and where they come from

We read the horse name lists that rank on Google before writing this one. None of them links a meaning to a source, and the one list that explains every name gets many of them wrong. We checked 23 of its meanings and 12 didn't hold up. Marshall is described as "love of horses", when it comes from old Germanic words for horse and servant (Behind the Name). Jorunn is offered as "lover of horses", and it's built from the Old Norse words for boar and love (Behind the Name). Another list files Secretariat and Seabiscuit under female names. Both were male (National Museum of Racing).

So every name here links to where it comes from: Behind the Name for given names, Wiktionary and Jisho for words, Theoi for Greek myth, Project Gutenberg for the sagas and old books, and museums, breed registries and George Washington's own papers for real horses. Every coat fact links to the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, another university, a published study or a breed registry. We left out film, TV, toy and game horses on purpose. Those belong to someone else, and you'll find them on plenty of other lists.

What's a good name for a horse?

A good horse name has a reason behind it and is short enough to call across a field. The reason can be the coat, the horse's character or a horse that came before it. If the horse will be registered, its papers will also need a name that passes the registry's rules, so think of the barn name first and the registered name separately.

Here are three names to start with for each kind of horse. Every one is explained further down.

Barn name or registered name?

Most horses have both. The registered name goes on the papers and is used in racing and competition, and the barn name is what the horse is called at home (Horse & Hound). Barn names have no rules, so some owners take one word from the registered name and others pick something unrelated (Saddle & Bridle). Even Olympic champions have one: the dressage horse Valegro was Blueberry at home. Horse & Hound adds that changing a horse's stable name is generally considered bad luck, so pick carefully.

At an event, use the registered name. The National Barrel Horse Association warns that money won under a barn name, like Dasher for a horse registered as Dashing French Fame, wouldn't be recorded as that horse's earnings (NBHA).

What are the rules for naming a racehorse?

In North America, The Jockey Club registers Thoroughbreds, and its rule book is strict (The Jockey Club):

• 18 characters at most, and spaces and punctuation count.
• No famous names. Hall of Fame horses, Horses of the Year, Eclipse Award winners, winners of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, and horses that earned $2 million or more are on a permanent list. Grade one stakes winners from the past 50 years are protected too, and so are names that sound like any of them.
• No horse that's currently racing or breeding, since active horses' names are taken.
• No living person without that person's written permission on file.
• No name that's only initials, and no name that's only numbers unless the number is above 30 and spelled out.
• No ending in filly, colt, stud, mare or stallion.
• Made-up names are fine, but the club asks what they mean, and a name in another language needs an English translation.

An ordinary name can come back into use once its horse is over 10 and hasn't raced or been bred for five years. A horse's name can be changed, for a fee, any time before its first race as long as it hasn't been bred; after that, only for good cause. In 2017 The Jockey Club said owners naming through its online system got their first choice about 75 percent of the time (EquiManagement).

Do other registries have different naming rules?

Yes, and they count differently. The American Quarter Horse Association allows 20 characters, counting spaces and numbers, with no punctuation, and it wants a celebrity's written permission before a horse is registered under that celebrity's name (AQHA). The American Saddlebred Registry allows 35 characters (Saddle & Bridle). The American Miniature Horse Association also allows 35, with no punctuation, and a miniature's name can never be changed once it's registered (AMHA). Britain caps racehorse names at 18 characters too and won't reuse a great one, so there will never be another Red Rum or Frankel on the track (Horse & Hound).

What do people actually name their horses?

Ordinary people's names, mostly. When the UK equestrian brand and insurer Harry Hall ranked more than 15,000 horse names from its One Club members, Charlie came first, followed by Rosie, Tilly, Jack and Bonnie (Harry Hall). Those horses shared almost 10,000 different names between them (BBP Media), so most owners went their own way.

Racehorses lean royal. The Racing Post's yearly count found King was the word used most in the names of 2-year-old colts and geldings that ran in Britain in 2024, in 31 names, and Lady topped the list for fillies for the fourth year running, ahead of Star, Dream, Love and Miss (Racing Post).

Horse names by coat color

Start with the coat. The middle column below is the short reason a horse is that color, and each coat section explains it properly. If you have a dog or a cat too, we've done the same for dog names by color and cat names by color.

Bay horse names

A bay is the brown horse with black points: a reddish-brown body with a black mane and tail, and black on the lower legs and the rims of the ears. In at least one big stud book it's the commonest coat by far. Of 16,042 horses in Spain's Thoroughbred stud book from 1944 to 1988, 68.7 percent were bay, 26.6 percent chestnut and 3.8 percent gray (Anales de Veterinaria de Murcia).

Famous bays include Seabiscuit (Claiborne Farm), Arkle (Wikipedia) and Red Rum, who was a bay despite his name, and the mare Zenyatta. You'll find them with the racehorses and the mares who made history.

What makes a horse bay?

A bay can make black pigment, but its agouti (ASIP) gene keeps the black on the points (UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory). That's the test: a red horse whose mane looks nearly black but whose lower legs aren't is a chestnut. Two bays can have a black foal, too. If both carry one hidden copy of the recessive agouti allele and neither carries red, each foal has a one-in-four chance of being black. The word itself came into English through Old French bai, from Latin badius, "reddish brown" (Wiktionary).

What should you name a bay horse?

Brown things, mostly: wood, coffee, cocoa and sugar. Mahogany bay is one of the shades UC Davis names.

• Bay. The horse word itself: a reddish-brown coat with a black mane and tail, from Latin badius, 'reddish brown'. Wiktionary
• Mahogany. A dark reddish-brown, like mahogany wood; 'mahogany bay' is one of the bay shades UC Davis lists. Wiktionary · UC Davis
• Cocoa. A light to medium brown, like cocoa powder. Wiktionary
• Mocha. A dark brown like mocha coffee, named after Mocha, the Red Sea port in Yemen that traded coffee. Wiktionary
• Walnut. The dark brown of walnut wood; the Old English word literally meant 'foreign nut'. Wiktionary
• Umber. A brown earth pigment whose name goes back to Latin umbra, 'shade'; as a color it means reddish brown. Wiktionary
• Caramel. A yellow-brown like cooked sugar, a fit for a light, golden bay. Wiktionary

Bay in other languages

Many languages have a word just for a bay horse. Watch out for castaño, which means chestnut-colored but is what Spanish breeders call a bay.

• Bai. French for bay, from the same Latin root (badius) as the English word. Wiktionary
• Baio. Italian for a bay horse, also from Latin badius. Wiktionary
• Doru. Turkish for a bay horse, from an old Turkic word for bay. Wiktionary
• Kage. Japanese 鹿毛 (kage), a bay horse; the two characters mean 'deer' and 'hair'. Jisho
• Gwinau. Welsh for a bay horse; the word is related to gwin, 'wine', and also means reddish-brown or auburn. Wiktionary
• Kumait. Arabic kumayt, a dark bay horse; the same word also described dark red wine. Wiktionary
• Castaño. What Spanish breeders call a bay, though it literally means chestnut-colored; a chestnut horse is alazán in Spanish. Anales de Veterinaria de Murcia · Wiktionary
• Donn. Irish for brown; a separate literary Irish word donn means a noble or a prince. Wiktionary

Given names that mean brown

Duncan and Dunstan carry the old Celtic and English words for brown and dark. Bruno's meaning is split between brown and armor.

• Bruno. From an Old German element, either brun, 'brown', or brunna, 'armor'; Saint Bruno founded the Carthusian order. Behind the Name
• Bruna. The feminine form of Bruno, so it shares his meaning: 'brown' or 'armor'. Behind the Name
• Duncan. Scottish Gaelic Donnchadh, from Old Irish donn, 'brown', and cath, 'battle'. Behind the Name
• Hazel. From the hazel tree and its light brown color; it reached 18th place for US girls by 1897. Behind the Name
• Dunstan. Old English dunn, 'dark', and stan, 'stone'; a 10th-century archbishop of Canterbury bore it. Behind the Name

Real and legendary bays

George Washington's diary for 1785 lists his horses by shade, which gives you three names at once. Bayard, from medieval French legend, is also an old word for a bay horse.

• Ajax. One of George Washington's carriage horses, listed in his 1785 diary as a 'lighter bay'. Founders Online
• Valiant. Another of Washington's 1785 carriage horses, recorded as a 'yellowish bay' aged 16. Founders Online
• Chevalier. A riding hack in George Washington's 1785 list of his Mount Vernon horses, described as a 'dull bay'. Founders Online
• Bayard. Magic horse of the four sons of Aymon in medieval French legend, shown carrying all four brothers at once; bayard also means a bay horse. Wikisource · Wiktionary · Office de Tourisme Vallées et Plateau d'Ardenne
• Lizzie. In Black Beauty (1877), Lizzie is 'a bright bay mare, almost thoroughbred', a favorite of the gentlemen riders. Project Gutenberg

Chestnut and sorrel horse names

A chestnut is a red horse with no black on it anywhere. Its mane and tail can be red, flaxen or a darker red, but never truly black, and sorrel is the same color under a Western name. Famous chestnuts include Secretariat and Man o' War, who were both nicknamed Big Red (Encyclopedia Virginia, Kentucky Horse Park), along with Phar Lap, Copenhagen and the Marine Corps mare Reckless (US Army MWR). Reckless is with the mares who made history, and the rest are with the famous horses further down.

Is a sorrel the same as a chestnut?

Yes, genetically. A chestnut carries two recessive red alleles of the extension (MC1R) gene, so it makes red pigment and no black (UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory). The American Quarter Horse Association uses chestnut for the browner shades and sorrel for the redder, coppery ones (AQHA). The Jockey Club's list of Thoroughbred colors includes chestnut but not sorrel, so a Thoroughbred a Western rider would call sorrel is registered as a chestnut (UC Davis, archived). And since chestnut is recessive, two chestnut parents can only pass on red, so a foal with any black in its coat points to a parentage mistake.

What's a good name for a chestnut?

Spices, metals and red-brown things. Paprika suits a bright sorrel, and Auburn once meant something closer to blond.

• Sorrel. A brown with a tint of red; in the US it is the stock-horse name for a redder, copper chestnut. Wiktionary · AQHA
• Copper. The reddish-brown of copper metal, the shade AQHA uses to describe a sorrel. Wiktionary · AQHA
• Cinnamon. A warm yellowish-brown, the color of the spice. Wiktionary
• Auburn. A dark reddish-brown; in Middle English the word meant light or yellowish brown, even blond. Wiktionary
• Russet. A reddish-brown, also the name of a coarse homespun cloth and a rough-skinned apple. Wiktionary
• Paprika. The bright reddish orange of the ground pepper spice, for a bright sorrel. Wiktionary
• Rusty. Began as a nickname for someone with rusty, reddish-brown hair. Behind the Name
• Sienna. An orange-red named for the colored clay of Siena, Italy. Behind the Name

Chestnut in other languages

French and Spanish each have a word just for a chestnut horse, alezan and alazán, from an Arabic word for reddish.

• Alazán. Spanish for a sorrel or chestnut horse, from an Arabic word for 'reddish'; French says alezan. Wiktionary
• Sauro. Italian for a sorrel or chestnut horse, borrowed from Old French saur; an unrelated Italian sauro means lizard. Wiktionary
• Rua. Irish for red-haired, and for a reddish-brown, russet or copper-brown color. Wiktionary
• Kurige. Japanese 栗毛 (kurige), a chestnut horse; the characters mean 'chestnut' and 'hair'. Jisho
• Marron. French for chestnut brown (and, in France, plain brown); it also names the horse chestnut. Wiktionary

Given names that mean red

They come from old words for red: Latin rufus and rubeus, Old French rous, Gaelic ruadh and Irish flann. Rowan is under roan, for a reason you'll see there.

• Rufus. A Roman name meaning 'red-haired' in Latin; England's King William II was called Rufus for his red hair. Behind the Name
• Russell. A Norman surname meaning 'little red one', from Old French rous, 'red'. Behind the Name
• Rory. From the Irish Ruaidhrí, 'red king', the name of Ireland's last high king in the 12th century. Behind the Name
• Roy. From the Gaelic ruadh, 'red', the nickname of the Scottish outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor. Behind the Name
• Flynn. From the Irish surname Ó Floinn, built on the name Flann, which means 'blood red'. Behind the Name
• Clancy. An Irish surname from the given name Flannchadh, 'red warrior'. Behind the Name
• Ruby. From the red gemstone, whose name goes back to Latin rubeus, 'red'. Behind the Name

Chestnuts from history and myth

Washington owned a chestnut Arabian, too. Pyrois and Aethon are two of the four fiery horses that pull the sun's chariot in Ovid.

• Magnolia. George Washington's Arabian, advertised in 1785 as 'a chesnut colour, near sixteen hands high'. Founders Online · Journal of the American Revolution
• Pyrois. Means 'fire': one of the four horses that pull the sun's chariot in Ovid's Metamorphoses, though the sun's horses are usually pictured white. Theoi · Project Gutenberg
• Aethon. Means 'blaze': another of the sun's four fire-breathing horses in Ovid, alongside Pyrois and Phlegon. Theoi

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Black horse names

A true black is black all over, points included. It's less common than you'd think, because the recessive agouti allele that makes it is rare in most breeds (UC Davis, archived). The Friesian is the exception: a studbook Friesian can only be black, and the only white marking allowed is a small star (Friesian Horse Association of North America).

Bucephalus, Alexander the Great's horse, and Winchester, General Sheridan's jet-black Civil War horse, are with the war horses.

What makes a horse black?

Two things together. The horse needs a black-capable extension (E) allele, and it needs two copies of the recessive agouti allele, a small deletion in the ASIP gene that lets black cover the whole body instead of only the points (UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory).

Why do black horses turn brown in summer?

Sun. Many black horses fade to a brownish tint, especially around the muzzle and flanks, and stay genetically black (AQHA). A horse that fades isn't a brown or a bay in disguise.

What should you call a black horse?

Night, birds, stones and coal.

• Midnight. The middle of the night; used poetically for utterly dark or black. Wiktionary
• Raven. From the bird, Old English hræfn; the raven is linked with the Norse god Odin. Behind the Name
• Onyx. A banded gemstone whose name is also a color: glossy jet-black. Wiktionary
• Jet. A hard black form of coal polished for jewelry; as a color, very dark black. Wiktionary
• Sable. An English word meaning black, taken from the dark-furred sable of northern Asia. Behind the Name

Black in other languages

Japanese has a horse word for it, aoge, written with the characters for blue and hair. German Rappe goes back to the word for raven.

• Kuro. Japanese 黒 (kuro), black. Jisho
• Aoge. Japanese 青毛 (aoge), a black horse; the characters literally read 'blue hair'. Jisho
• Noir. French for black, from Latin niger. Wiktionary
• Nero. Italian for black, also from Latin niger. Wiktionary
• Kara. Turkish for black or dark; Ottoman officials used it as a byname meaning courageous. Behind the Name · Wiktionary
• Rappe. German for a black horse; Wiktionary traces the word to Rabe, 'raven'. Wiktionary

Given names that mean dark or black

Gaelic dubh, "dark", sits inside Douglas and Duff, and Irish ciar, "black", inside Kieran. Blake can mean black or pale, so it suits any horse.

• Melanie. From Greek melaina, 'black, dark', through the Latin Melania, the name of a 5th-century Roman saint. Behind the Name
• Kieran. From Irish Ciarán, a diminutive of Ciar, from ciar, 'black'; two 6th-century Irish saints bore it. Behind the Name
• Blake. From Old English blæc, 'black', or blac, 'pale', so the name can mean opposites. Behind the Name
• Douglas. Scottish 'dark river', from Gaelic dubh, 'dark', and glais, 'water, river'. Behind the Name
• Duff. From Gaelic dubh, 'dark'. Behind the Name · Wiktionary
• Layla. Arabic for 'night', the heroine of the old romance Layla and Majnun. Behind the Name
• Bran. Irish for 'raven'; in Irish legend Bran mac Febail sailed in search of the Otherworld. Behind the Name

Real black horses, and black horses from books and legend

Black Beauty was nearly called something else: his mistress suggested Ebony and Blackbird first (Project Gutenberg). Handle Black Bess with care. Dick Turpin never owned a horse by that name, and the famous ride to York was first told about another highwayman (History of York).

• Black Jack. Jet-black Morgan and Quarter Horse cross who walked riderless in the funerals of Presidents Hoover, Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. White House Historical Association · U.S. Army
• Black Gold. Jet-black colt named for Oklahoma's oil boom who won the 1924 Kentucky Derby for Rosa Hoots, an Osage Nation member. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture · National Museum of Racing
• Dragon. A six-year-old black wagon horse in George Washington's 1785 list of his Mount Vernon horses. Founders Online
• Black Beauty. Anna Sewell's 1877 narrator, 'bright black' with one white foot and a white star on his forehead. Project Gutenberg
• Rob Roy. Black Beauty's black half-brother, so alike that the groom James wished he could give Beauty the same name. Project Gutenberg
• Black Bess. Dick Turpin's legendary black mare, made famous by an 1834 novel; historians say the real Turpin never owned a horse called Black Bess. The Victorian Web · History of York · Ripon Museums
• Melanippe. Greek for 'black mare': a nymph, daughter of the centaur Chiron, who was turned into a horse and set among the stars. Theoi
• Sainglain. Cú Chulainn's black chariot horse in Irish legend, paired with the gray of Macha 'like night and day'. Project Gutenberg
• Shabdiz. Persian for 'night-colored': the famous black horse of the Persian king Khusrau Parwez (Khosrow II). Platts Dictionary, Digital Dictionaries of South Asia · Wikipedia

Gray and white horse names

Most white horses are grays. A gray is born fully colored, usually starts graying in its first year and often ends up completely white, while its skin stays dark (Rubin et al., Nature Communications). Lipizzaners, famous as white horses, are born black-brown, brown or mouse-gray and turn white between about 6 and 10 years old (Oklahoma State University).

Marengo, Napoleon's small gray Arab, and Traveller, Robert E. Lee's gray, are with the war horses. Sleipnir and Grani, the gray horses of Norse myth, are under myth and legend, and Native Dancer, the "Gray Ghost", is with the racehorses.

Are white horses really gray?

Usually. Graying comes from a duplicated stretch of the STX17 gene, and because gray is dominant, one copy is enough (UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory). That also means every gray has at least one gray parent. A true white is a different horse. Dominant white comes from many different KIT gene mutations, ranges from large white patches to an all-white coat, and shows from birth on pink skin (Haase et al., PLoS Genetics). One note for owners of grays: UC Davis says over 70 percent of grays older than 15 develop melanoma, commonly as skin tumors around the tail and head.

What suits a gray or white horse?

Snow suits a gray twice over, because it can also mean the white hair of age, and a gray whitens as it grows older.

• Silver. The shiny gray of the metal; as a verb it means to make hoary, or white, like silver. Wiktionary
• Pewter. A dark, dull gray, like the metal pewter. Wiktionary
• Ash. The gray of what is left after a fire. Wiktionary
• Frost. A shade of white, like frost. Wiktionary
• Snow. The white of snow; poetically, the white hair of age, which suits a horse that grays as it grows older. Wiktionary

Gray and white in other languages

German Schimmel grew out of the word for mold, because of the color. Irish liath can mean gray or a gray horse.

• Blanca. The Spanish form of Blanche, from a word meaning 'white, fair-colored'. Behind the Name
• Shiro. Japanese 白 (shiro), white. Jisho
• Yuki. A Japanese name that can mean 'snow' (雪) or 'happiness' (幸). Behind the Name
• Liath. Irish for gray; used as a noun it can also mean a gray horse. Wiktionary · Project Gutenberg
• Ashige. Japanese 芦毛 (ashige), a dapple-gray horse; the first character means 'reed'. Jisho
• Schimmel. German for a gray or white horse; it grew out of the word for mold, because of the similar color. Wiktionary
• Tordo. Spanish for a horse with black and white hairs mixed, named for the speckled thrush. Real Academia Española

Given names that mean white or gray

Irish fionn and Welsh gwyn both mean white, and both also mean blessed.

• Fiona. Feminine of Fionn, Irish for 'white, blessed'; the poet James Macpherson used it in 1761, possibly for the first time. Behind the Name
• Finn. Irish Fionn, 'white, blessed', the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill, nicknamed for his fair hair. Behind the Name
• Gwen. Welsh for 'white, blessed', the feminine of gwyn. Behind the Name
• Olwen. Welsh for 'white footprint': in the old tale, four white trefoils sprang up wherever Olwen walked. Behind the Name · Project Gutenberg
• Bianca. The Italian form of Blanche, 'white'; Shakespeare gave it to characters in two plays. Behind the Name
• Lloyd. From the Welsh llwyd, 'gray'. Behind the Name

Real and legendary grays

Blueskin was Washington's other war horse, a gray whose dark skin showed faintly blue through his white hair.

• Jock. A five-year-old gray in George Washington's 1785 list of his Mount Vernon horses. Founders Online
• Blueskin. George Washington's other Revolutionary War horse, described as a gray whose dark skin showed faintly blue through his white hair. Journal of the American Revolution · Founders Online
• Macha. Cú Chulainn's beloved gray, the Grey of Macha, named for Macha, the Irish goddess of war and combat. Project Gutenberg
• Rhiannon. Welsh legend's otherworldly lady, who first appears in the Mabinogion riding 'a pure white horse of large size'. Project Gutenberg · Behind the Name
• Surrey. King Richard's horse in Shakespeare's Richard III: 'Saddle white Surrey for the field to-morrow.' Project Gutenberg

Palomino and buckskin horse names

Both colors come from one gene, cream, which lightens red pigment to yellow with one copy and to pale cream with two (UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory). One copy on a chestnut makes a palomino. One copy on a bay makes a buckskin, which keeps the bay's black points. Two copies make a cremello from a chestnut or a perlino from a bay. The Palomino Horse Breeders of America sets the ideal palomino's body at roughly the color of a US gold coin, with a mane and tail at least 75 percent white (PHBA).

Is palomino a breed?

No, it's a color. The Palomino Horse Breeders of America is a color registry, and palominos turn up across many breeds (Oklahoma State University). The word is Spanish, from paloma, "dove" (Wiktionary).

What's a good palomino name?

Honey, butterscotch and gold, for the palomino the PHBA would approve of.

• Goldie. An English nickname for a person with blond hair, taken from the word gold. Behind the Name
• Honey. From the English word honey (Old English hunig), first used as a nickname for a sweet person. Behind the Name
• Butterscotch. A light brown color, named after the hard candy boiled from butter and brown sugar. Wiktionary
• Marigold. From the flower name, which combines Mary with the English word gold. Behind the Name

Gold in other languages

Latin aurum and aureus sit behind Oro and Aurelia, and Irish ór behind Orla.

• Oro. Spanish for gold, from Latin aurum; Italian uses the same word. Wiktionary
• Kin. Japanese 金 (kin) means gold, both the metal and the color. Jisho
• Dorado. Spanish for golden; as a noun it also means gold plating. Wiktionary
• Aurelia. Feminine of Aurelius, a Roman family name from Latin aureus, 'golden, gilded'. Behind the Name
• Zlata. Feminine form of Zlatan, from South Slavic zlato, 'gold'. Behind the Name
• Orla. Anglicized form of the Irish Órlaith, 'golden ruler', from ór, gold, and flaith, ruler or princess. Behind the Name
• Flavia. Feminine of Flavius, a Roman family name from Latin flavus, 'yellow, golden, blond'. Behind the Name

Buckskin names: deer, leather and tan

Buckskin was first the skin of a buck, then a yellowish leather, then the horse color.

• Buck. An English nickname meaning 'male deer'; buckskin was first the skin of a buck, then a yellowish leather and a horse color. Behind the Name · Wiktionary
• Fawn. From the English word fawn, a young deer. Behind the Name
• Doe. A female deer, from Old English dā. Wiktionary
• Tawny. Light brown tinged with gold, from Old French tané, the color of hide tanned into leather. Wiktionary
• Suede. Soft brushed leather; the word comes from French gants de Suède, 'gloves from Sweden'. Wiktionary

Cremello and perlino names

For the double-cream horses, pale as ivory.

• Pearl. From the English word pearl, ultimately Medieval Latin perla; used as a given name since the 19th century. Behind the Name
• Perla. The Italian and Spanish form of Pearl. Behind the Name
• Ivory. From the English word for the hard, creamy-white substance of elephant tusks, once used for piano keys. Behind the Name
• Isabella. Besides the royal name, isabella is an old color word for pale gray-yellow, fawn or cream, recorded from 1600; its origin is unknown. Wiktionary · Behind the Name

Golden horses of myth and the record books

Gullfaxi means golden mane. Xanthos, one of Achilles' two immortal horses, is Greek for yellow.

• Gullfaxi. The giant Hrungnir's horse in the Prose Edda, which Thor gave to his son Magni; the Old Norse name means 'golden mane'. Project Gutenberg · Wiktionary
• Skinfaxi. The horse of Day in Norse myth: 'with his mane he lights up all the sky and the earth.' Project Gutenberg · Wiktionary
• Xanthos. One of Achilles' two immortal horses; Greek xanthos means 'yellow, blond, fair-haired'. Theoi · Behind the Name
• Plaudit. A palomino Quarter Horse stallion foaled in 1930, golden with a white mane and tail, in the AQHA Hall of Fame; a plaudit is praise. AQHA · Wiktionary
• Harlan. A buckskin Quarter Horse stallion foaled in 1951, in the AQHA Hall of Fame; the name means 'hare land' in Old English. AQHA · Behind the Name

Dun and grullo horse names

A dun's body is lighter than its head, lower legs, mane and tail, and it often wears what are called primitive markings: a stripe down the back, bars on the legs, stripes over the shoulders and cobwebbing on the forehead (UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory). Dun with those markings is considered the wild-type coat, the one found in Przewalski's horses, zebras and wild asses. On a black horse, dun makes a grullo or grulla; on a chestnut, a red or claybank dun; on a bay, a yellow dun (Gluck Equine Research Center).

What does the dun gene do?

It lightens the coat by laying pigment down on only one side of each growing hair, a process controlled by the TBX3 gene (UC Davis). A stripe down the back isn't proof on its own. Horses with a variant called nd1 aren't dun but can still show primitive markings, and a buckskin can carry it too, so only a DNA test settles whether a horse is a dun or a buckskin.

Dun names: dust, smoke and stone

Dusty can simply mean grayish, and Claybank is the old US word for a yellowish dun. Dustin, despite the sound, has nothing to do with dust.

• Dusty. From Old English dūstiġ; besides 'covered with dust', it can simply mean gray or grayish. Wiktionary
• Mouse. The dun gene turns a black horse's body mouse gray, which is why a grullo is also called a mouse dun. Wiktionary · UC Davis VGL coat color page, archived 2008
• Slate. The bluish-gray color of slate rock. Wiktionary
• Khaki. From Hindi-Urdu khaki, from a Persian word meaning 'dusty, earth-colored'; in English, the color of dust. Wiktionary
• Taupe. French for mole (the animal), from Latin talpa; in English, the brownish gray of moleskin. Wiktionary
• Claybank. A US word for a dun-colored, brownish-yellow horse, built from clay and bank; Clay for short. Wiktionary · Gluck Equine Research Center
• Donovan. From an Irish surname based on the old name Donndubán, built from donn, 'brown', and dub, 'dark', with a diminutive ending. Behind the Name
• Dustin. Not 'dusty' at all: it comes from an English surname that grew out of the Old Norse name Þórsteinn, 'Thor's stone'. Behind the Name

Grullo in other languages

Grullo comes from grulla, the Spanish word for the gray crane.

• Grulla. Spanish for crane, the bird; grullo, the horse word made from it, means ash-colored in Mexican Spanish. Wiktionary · Gluck Equine Research Center
• Nezumi. Japanese 鼠 (nezumi) means mouse, and also the color dark gray or slate gray. Jisho
• Gris. Spanish for gray, from an old Germanic word for gray. Wiktionary
• Ceniza. Spanish for ash, from Latin cinis. Wiktionary

Stripes, wild horses and famous duns

For the markings, for the wild horses that share the coat, for a champion dun reiner and for the mouse-colored cow horse of a 1926 novel.

• Stripe. For the dark dorsal stripe down a dun's back, the most consistent and visible of the primitive markings. UC Davis
• Cobweb. Duns can show 'cobwebbing' on the forehead; Cobweb is also one of the fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. UC Davis · Project Gutenberg
• Zebra. Dun with primitive markings, leg barring included, is the wild-type coat, also found in zebras, Przewalski's horses and wild asses. UC Davis
• Takhi. The Mongolian name for Przewalski's horse, a dun wild horse with a dark stripe down its back; it means 'spirit'. Smithsonian's National Zoo · Smithsonian Magazine
• Dun It. The nickname of Hollywood Dun It, a dun reining stallion (1983 to 2005) inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame in 2012. AQHA
• Smoky. Will James's mouse-colored cow horse in Smoky, the Cowhorse (1926), which won the 1927 Newbery Medal. Project Gutenberg · American Library Association: 1927 John Newbery Medal

Roan horse names

A roan has white hairs mixed through the body, often evenly, while the head, lower legs, mane and tail stay fully colored (UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory). Roan on a black horse is called blue roan, and on a chestnut, strawberry roan. Foals are born with the pattern, though it may not be obvious until the foal coat sheds. The roan marker turns up in Quarter Horses, Paints, Paso Finos and Welsh ponies, but it hasn't been detected in Thoroughbreds or Arabians.

Is a roan a horse going gray?

No. Roan is its own gene and leaves the head and legs dark. Gray is a different gene that keeps whitening the hair as the horse ages (UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory).

Strawberry roan and blue roan names

Rosie and Strawberry for a strawberry roan, Blue and the wildflowers for a blue one.

• Rosie. Diminutive of Rose, a name tied from early on to the flower (Latin rosa); a natural pick for a strawberry roan. Behind the Name
• Strawberry. Roan on a chestnut base is called a strawberry roan. UC Davis · Wiktionary
• Blue. Roan on a black base is called a blue roan; as a given name, Blue comes straight from the color word. UC Davis · Behind the Name
• Bluebell. Blue plus bell: the name for various plants with hanging blue flowers. Wiktionary
• Bluebonnet. A blue lupine wildflower of the southwestern US, and earlier a flat blue Scottish wool cap. Wiktionary

Frost, rime and a roan from Shakespeare

A roan can look frosted, which is where these come from.

• Frosty. Having frost on it, from Old English forstiġ. Wiktionary
• Rime. White frost on cold surfaces, from Old English hrīm; its Old Norse cousin, hrím, is the first half of the Norse horse name Hrímfaxi. Wiktionary
• Hrimfaxi. The horse of Night in Norse myth, who 'bedews the earth with the foam from his bit'; the name means rime-mane. Project Gutenberg · Wiktionary
• Blue Valentine. A blue roan Quarter Horse stallion foaled in 1956, a famed ranch and rodeo sire, inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame in 2024. AQHA · Behind the Name
• Barbary. King Richard's 'roan Barbary' in Shakespeare's Richard II, the horse Bolingbroke rode on his coronation day. Project Gutenberg

Roan in other languages

Japanese ichigo is strawberry, and Spanish ruano is the roan horse itself.

• Shimo. Japanese 霜 (shimo) means frost, and also white or gray hair. Jisho
• Escarcha. Spanish for frost, hoarfrost or rime. Wiktionary
• Ichigo. Japanese 苺 (ichigo) means strawberry. Jisho
• Azul. Spanish for blue, from Arabic and Persian words for lapis lazuli; a cousin of English azure. Wiktionary
• Ruano. Spanish for a roan horse (also spelled roano); the blue roan Blue Valentine sired a horse named Ruano Rojo, 'red roan'. Wiktionary · AQHA

Names with roan roots

The horse word roan may come from an old Germanic word for red, which is why Rowan is here.

• Rowan. From the Irish Ruadhán, 'little red one'; the horse word roan may itself come from an old Germanic word for red. Behind the Name · Wiktionary
• Griselda. Possibly from Old German gris, 'gray', and hilt, 'battle'; grizzle, an old word for gray hair, comes from the same Germanic word for gray. Behind the Name · Wiktionary
• Indigo. From the purplish-blue dye, ultimately Greek Indikon, 'from India'; for a deep blue roan. Behind the Name

Paint and pinto horse names

Pinto describes a coat, white patches on a colored horse, and it can turn up in any breed from Thoroughbreds to Miniatures (Oklahoma State University). Paint is a breed. A registered American Paint Horse needs both parents registered with the American Paint Horse Association, the American Quarter Horse Association or The Jockey Club (APHA). On a tobiano, the white often crosses the back between the withers and tail, all four legs are usually white below the knees and hocks, and the tail is often two colors.

What is a lethal white foal?

When two horses that each carry one copy of the frame overo gene are bred, each foal has a 25 percent chance of being born all white with intestinal defects that cause death soon after birth (UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory). The cause, a mutation in the EDNRB gene, was reported in 1998, which made frame overo the first white spotting pattern in horses to have its genetic cause found.

Paint horse names: patches and pieces

Piebald is a pinto whose dark color is black. Skewbald is white plus any other color.

• Patches. A patch is a small part that stands out from what surrounds it; the word's origin is uncertain. Wiktionary
• Domino. First a hooded masquerade robe (from Latin dominus, 'lord'), later the dotted game tile. Wiktionary
• Calico. Bright patterned cotton cloth named after Calicut (Kozhikode), the Indian port it was first exported from. Wiktionary
• Piebald. Pie, an old word for magpie, plus bald, meaning white-patched: a pinto whose dark color is black. Wiktionary · Oklahoma State University
• Skewbald. A pinto whose patches are white plus any color other than black, such as bay or chestnut. Wiktionary · Oklahoma State University
• Splash. For the splashed white pattern; the APHA says these horses often look like they were dipped in white paint. APHA
• Tuxedo. The black dinner jacket, named after Tuxedo Park, New York, where the fashion is often said to have started. Wiktionary

Pied birds and beasts

Pie is the old name for the magpie, which is why a black-and-white horse is piebald.

• Magpie. The pied black-and-white bird; Mag is an old nickname for Margaret, and pie was the bird's older name. Wiktionary
• Pica. Latin for magpie, kept in the bird's scientific name, Pica pica. Wiktionary
• Urraca. Spanish for magpie, a bird name apparently taken from the old given name Urraca, borne by the queen who ruled León and Castile from 1109 to 1126. Wiktionary · Britannica
• Panda. First the name of the red panda, probably from a Nepali local name; now usually the black-and-white giant panda. Wiktionary

Spanish words for a painted horse

Pinto itself is Spanish for painted or mottled.

• Pinto. Borrowed from Spanish pinto, 'painted, mottled'. Wiktionary
• Overo. Latin American Spanish for piebald or mottled; it grew from the same old Germanic root as English fallow. Wiktionary · APHA
• Tobias. Greek form of Hebrew Tobiah, 'Yahweh is good'; the tobiano pattern is said to be named after a 19th-century South American general, Tobías. Behind the Name · University of Kentucky
• Mancha. Spanish for spot, stain or patch. Wiktionary

Jesters, myths and famous Paints

Harlequin and Motley come from clowns' costumes. Balios, Achilles' second immortal horse, has a name Theoi translates as "piebald".

• Harlequin. The commedia dell'arte clown in bright checkered clothes; as an adjective, brightly patterned like his costume. Wiktionary
• Motley. A jester's many-colored clothes, from an Anglo-Norman word meaning 'parti-colored'. Wiktionary
• Piper. A surname for someone who played the pipe; Browning's Pied Piper wore a coat 'half of yellow and half of red'. Project Gutenberg · Behind the Name
• Balios. Achilles' second immortal horse in Greek myth, a wedding gift to his father Peleus; Theoi translates the name as 'Piebald'. Theoi
• Color. The barn name of Color Me Smart, a bay tobiano Paint stallion and APHA Hall of Famer who died in January 2026, aged 35. APHA

Appaloosa horse names

Appaloosa spotting comes from the leopard complex variant, an extra stretch of DNA inserted in the TRPM1 gene, and horses with two copies can't see well in low light (UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory). Besides the coat, Appaloosas often have mottled skin, white around the eyes and striped hooves, and some show no coat pattern at all (Appaloosa Horse Club).

Where does the name Appaloosa come from?

From the Palouse country of eastern Washington and northern Idaho. The Nez Perce never called their spotted horses Appaloosas. Settlers' phrase "a Palouse horse" became "Appalousey", and Appaloosa was the name adopted when the Appaloosa Horse Club formed in 1938 (ApHC history). In February 1806, Meriwether Lewis wrote that some horses of the Columbia Plains nations were "pided with large spots of white irregularly scattered" (Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition). Since 1998 the Nez Perce Tribe's own registry has crossed Appaloosas with Akhal-Teke horses to create a new breed, the Nez Perce Horse (University of Idaho).

Spotted horses are far older than any of that. A 2011 DNA study found the leopard spotting variant in Ice Age horses from Western Europe, which suggests the spotted horses painted at Pech-Merle cave in France about 25,000 years ago were pictures of real animals (Pruvost et al., PNAS).

Spots, dots and speckles

For a horse that looks sprinkled.

• Freckles. A freckle is any small spot of a different color from its background. Wiktionary
• Speckles. A speckle is a small spot or speck on skin, feathers or leaves. Wiktionary
• Pepper. As a verb, to pepper is to cover with lots of small things, a fair picture of dark spots on a white coat. Wiktionary
• Polka Dot. Round dots repeated in a regular pattern on fabric. Wiktionary
• Confetti. Italian confetti were sugar-coated almonds; the name passed to the bits of colored paper thrown at celebrations. Wiktionary
• Stipple. Shading made of small dots, probably from Dutch stippel, 'small dot'; Hopkins praised 'rose-moles all in stipple upon trout'. Wiktionary · Project Gutenberg
• Leopard. Leopard is the Appaloosa pattern of dark spots over a mostly white horse; leopard complex (LP) is the genetic variant behind Appaloosa spotting. UC Davis · Appaloosa Horse Club UK
• Cheetah. From Hindi cītā, ultimately from Sanskrit citra, 'multicolored, speckled'. Wiktionary

Appaloosa pattern names

Snowflake, blanket, snowcap and varnish are the registries' own words for the patterns.

• Snowflake. An Appaloosa pattern: a dark base coat with white spots and freckles over the body. Appaloosa Horse Club UK
• Snowcap. An Appaloosa blanket of solid white over the hips and loin, with no spots inside it. Australian Appaloosa Association
• Blanket. An Appaloosa pattern: a white area over the loins and hips, either plain or filled with spots. Appaloosa Horse Club UK · Australian Appaloosa Association
• Varnish. Varnish roan is an Appaloosa pattern that lightens over the face and back while bony points stay dark, the 'varnish marks'. Australian Appaloosa Association · UC Davis

Spots in other languages

Tigre was the old French name for a spotted horse.

• Tigre. French for tiger, and the old French name for a spotted horse. Appaloosa Museum · Wiktionary
• Pardus. Latin for leopard, also used for other mottled or spotted animals. Wiktionary
• Mizutama. Japanese 水玉 (mizutama) means a drop of water, and also polka dots. Jisho

Appaloosa names with a story

Merle points at the cave. Leopold sounds right and has nothing to do with leopards.

• Dottie. A pet form of Dorothy, from the Greek Dorothea, 'gift of god'; the dots are a bonus. Behind the Name
• Leopold. Not 'leopard': from Old German liut, 'people', and bald, 'bold, brave', respelled under the influence of Latin leo, 'lion'. Behind the Name
• Merle. French for blackbird; Pech-Merle cave in France holds 'The Dappled Horses', spotted horses painted about 25,000 years ago. Behind the Name · Pruvost et al. 2011, PNAS
• Palouse. The Palouse country of eastern Washington and northern Idaho gave the breed its name, from settlers' phrase 'a Palouse horse'. Appaloosa Horse Club
• Joker. Joker B. was a legendary Appaloosa stallion foaled in 1941; the name Joker was taken, so his owner's initial B. was added. Appaloosa Horse Club · Appaloosa Territory

Mare names

A mare is a female horse aged five or older. Before that she's a filly, and a horse of either sex in its first year is a foal (The Jockey Club, UK). Two of these names have a horse inside them: Philippa is Greek for "friend of horses", and Rosalind starts with Old German hros, "horse".

What do you call a female horse, and a male one?

The words change with age and sex. These are the racing definitions.

Classic mare names

Flowers, trees and old-fashioned given names, plus a few titles for a mare who runs the field.

• Bella. Short form of Isabella, and linked to the Italian word bella, "beautiful". Behind the Name
• Daisy. From the white flower, whose Old English name dægeseage means "day eye". Behind the Name
• Willow. From the willow tree, Old English welig. Behind the Name
• Clover. From the wild flower, Old English clafre. Behind the Name
• Maple. From the maple tree, Old English mapul; Robert Frost's 1923 poem "Maple" is about a girl puzzling over her name. Behind the Name
• Juniper. From the juniper tree, from Latin iuniperus. Behind the Name
• Rosalind. From Old German hros, "horse", and lind, "soft, tender"; Shakespeare gave it to the heroine of As You Like It. Behind the Name
• Philippa. The feminine form of Philip, Greek for "friend of horses". Behind the Name
• Penelope. Probably from Greek penelops, a kind of duck; in Homer's Odyssey she is the wife of Odysseus, fending off suitors while he is away. Behind the Name
• Matilda. From the Germanic Mahthilt, "strength in battle"; William the Conqueror's wife bore it. Behind the Name
• Bonnie. The Scottish word for "pretty", itself from Middle French bon, "good". Behind the Name
• Mabel. A medieval form of the Roman name Amabilis, Latin for "lovable". Behind the Name
• Grace. From Latin gratia; one of the virtue names the Puritans created in the 17th century. Behind the Name
• Lady. From Old English hlæfdige, which originally meant "bread kneader". Behind the Name
• Queenie. A pet form of Queen, from Old English cwen, "woman, wife". Behind the Name
• Hilda. From the Old English element hild, "battle"; Saint Hilda was the 7th-century abbess of Whitby. Behind the Name

Real mares who made history

All of these are mares or fillies. Winning Brew, a 2-year-old filly, holds the Guinness record for the fastest race speed over two furlongs.

• Reckless. A Korean racetrack mare the U.S. Marines bought in 1952 to carry ammunition for their recoilless ("reckless") rifles; she rose to staff sergeant. Camp Pendleton Historical Society · 1st Marine Division, U.S. Marine Corps
• Ruffian. A brilliant filly who won her first 10 races and two Eclipse Awards before breaking down in a 1975 match race. National Museum of Racing
• Zenyatta. Fans called her "The Queen": she won 19 of 20 races and was the first filly or mare to win the Breeders' Cup Classic. National Museum of Racing
• Winx. This bay mare won 33 races in a row and became the only four-time winner of Australia's W.S. Cox Plate. Moonee Valley Racing Club
• Black Caviar. Australia's champion sprinting mare, who won all 25 of her races, including the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2012. Australian Racing Museum · Victoria Racing Club
• Kincsem. A Hungarian mare who won all 54 of her races in the 1870s; her name means "my treasure," and a cat was her best friend. Magyar Posta · Thoroughbred Heritage
• Winning Brew. Holds the Guinness record for the highest race speed over two furlongs, 43.71 mph, set at Penn National, Pennsylvania, in 2008 when she was a 2-year-old filly. Guinness World Records

Gelding and stallion names

A gelding is a castrated male and a stallion is a male used for breeding. These names run from gods and Titans to ranks and titles. Canterbury is the one with a horse story: canter is short for "Canterbury pace", the easy gait medieval pilgrims were said to ride to Canterbury.

• Apollo. The Greek god of music, poetry, prophecy, archery and healing, pictured as a handsome youth with long hair. Theoi
• Atlas. The Titan condemned to carry the heavens on his shoulders; Greek myth made him the personification of endurance. Theoi
• Titan. The Titans were the elder Greek gods who ruled the cosmos before the Olympians took power. Theoi
• Duke. From the noble title, which comes from Latin dux, "leader". Behind the Name
• Ace. The playing card with a single pip, often the highest; from Latin as, a unit and a copper coin. Wiktionary
• Major. From Latin maior, "greater"; also a military rank. Wiktionary
• Baron. The lowest rank of English nobility; via Old French from Latin baro, "man". Wiktionary
• Archer. From an English surname meaning "bowman, archer", of Old French origin. Behind the Name
• Jasper. From Gaspar, perhaps Hebrew for "treasurer", the name tradition gives one of the three wise men; also a gemstone. Behind the Name
• Hector. Greek for "holding fast"; one of the Trojan champions of Greek legend. Behind the Name
• Felix. A Roman name meaning "lucky, successful" in Latin. Behind the Name
• Leo. Latin for "lion"; also a constellation and a sign of the zodiac. Behind the Name
• Oscar. Possibly Old Irish for "deer friend"; in Irish legend Oscar is the grandson of the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill. Behind the Name
• Winston. An English surname from the Old English name Wynnstan, "joy stone", or from places named "town belonging to Wine". Behind the Name
• Murphy. A common Irish surname from the given name Murchadh, "sea battle". Behind the Name
• Samson. From Hebrew shemesh, "sun"; the Old Testament hero granted exceptional strength. Behind the Name
• Gus. Short for Augustus (or Angus); Augustus is Latin for "exalted, venerable", the title Rome gave its first emperor. Behind the Name
• George. From Greek georgos, "farmer, earthworker": a good name for a horse that works. Behind the Name
• Henry. From the Germanic Heimirich, "home ruler". Behind the Name
• Canterbury. Canter is short for "Canterbury pace", the easy gait medieval pilgrims were said to ride to Canterbury. Wiktionary

Western and ranch horse names

A lot of cowboy English is borrowed Spanish. Lariat is la reata, buckaroo is vaquero, and a rodeo was first a roundup of cattle for branding. Steel Dust and Poco Bueno are real Quarter Horse legends, and Maverick has a better story than most lists give it: Samuel Maverick was a San Antonio lawyer and land speculator, not a cowboy, and his unbranded calves gave us the word (Handbook of Texas).

• Maverick. Texan Samuel Maverick left a herd on Matagorda Peninsula that wandered unbranded, so an unbranded calf became a maverick. Handbook of Texas
• Ranger. A keeper or guardian who ranges over wild country to protect it or enforce the law. Wiktionary
• Rodeo. From Spanish rodeo, from rodear, "to surround"; a rodeo was first a roundup of cattle for branding. Wiktionary
• Lariat. From Spanish la reata, "the lasso": the rope a cowboy throws. Wiktionary
• Lasso. From Spanish lazo, a cousin of the English word lace: a long rope with a sliding loop for catching cattle and horses. Wiktionary
• Buckaroo. A working cowboy; reshaped from Spanish vaquero, "cowboy", with the spelling pulled toward "buck". Wiktionary
• Chaps. Protective leather leggings, short for Spanish chaparreras. Wiktionary
• Mesa. Spanish for "table": a flat-topped hill with cliff-like edges. Wiktionary
• Cactus. From Greek kaktos, the cardoon; in 1752 Linnaeus gave the name to a genus of cacti. Wiktionary
• Sage. From the English word sage, meaning either the herb or a wise person. Behind the Name
• Bandit. From Italian bandito, "outlawed", from bandire, "to ban". Wiktionary
• Outlaw. From Old Norse útlagi, someone literally put outside the law. Wiktionary
• Tumbleweed. A plant that snaps off its roots when dry and rolls away in the wind. Wiktionary
• Remuda. A ranch's herd of horses from which the riders choose their mounts, from Spanish remuda. Wiktionary
• Stampede. A wild, headlong rush of a herd, from Mexican Spanish estampida. Wiktionary
• Cody. An Irish surname, partly from Ó Cuidighthigh, "descendant of the helpful one"; borne by frontiersman Buffalo Bill Cody. Behind the Name
• Wyatt. From the Old English name Wigheard, "battle" plus "brave, hardy"; Wyatt Earp was the lawman of the OK Corral. Behind the Name
• Belle. Short for Isabella and linked to French belle, "beautiful"; Belle Starr, the Old West "Bandit Queen", served time for horse stealing. Behind the Name · Handbook of Texas: Belle Starr
• Annie. A pet form of Anne, which goes back to Hebrew Hannah, "favor, grace"; sharpshooter Annie Oakley starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Behind the Name · National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
• Abilene. Kansas' first railroad cow town, where Texas herds were driven to the railhead; settlers took the name from the Bible, believing it meant "city of the plains". Kansas Historical Society
• Steel Dust. A legendary Texas sprinter foaled around 1843, named for an iron powder used in old medicines; Quarter Horses were often just called "Steeldusts". AQHA · Handbook of Texas: Quarter Horses
• Poco Bueno. Spanish for "pretty good", a modest name for a cutting-horse star foaled in 1944 and now in the AQHA Hall of Fame. AQHA · Wikipedia

Pony names

A pony isn't a young horse. Under US Equestrian rules it's an animal that doesn't exceed 14.2 hands, which is 14 hands 2 inches or 58 inches, measured from the highest point of the withers to the ground (US Equestrian). Small names suit small horses, and the British and Irish native breeds give you four more. Merrylegs, the "little fat gray pony" in Black Beauty, is with the horses from old books.

How small is a Shetland?

The UK's Shetland Pony Stud-Book Society caps registered Shetlands at 42 inches at the withers, and US Equestrian's Shetland show classes allow up to 46 inches (Shetland Pony Stud-Book Society). The Exmoor nearly vanished: at the end of the Second World War only about 50 Exmoor ponies were left on the moor (Exmoor Pony Society).

• Pip. A pet form of Philip, "friend of horses"; also the hero of Dickens' Great Expectations (1860). Behind the Name
• Button. From Old French boton, from bouter, "to push": something small, round and useful. Wiktionary
• Pebble. A small stone rounded by water, from Old English papolstān. Wiktionary
• Peanut. Pea plus nut; in the plural, peanuts means a very small amount. Wiktionary
• Bramble. A thorny blackberry bush, from Old English bræmbel. Wiktionary
• Thistle. The prickly plant that is Scotland's national emblem, a fit name for a pony from Shetland. Wiktionary
• Biscuit. From Old French bescuit, Medieval Latin biscoctus, "twice baked". Wiktionary
• Tilly. A pet form of Matilda, "strength in battle": a big name for a small pony. Behind the Name
• Acorn. The fruit of the oak, from Old English æcern. Wiktionary
• Nutmeg. From Medieval Latin nux muscata, "musky nut", the warm brown spice. Wiktionary
• Pickle. From Middle Low German pekel, "brine", the salty bath that turns a cucumber into a pickle. Wiktionary
• Muffin. Probably from Low German Muffe, "small cake"; also a term of endearment. Wiktionary
• Thimble. The little cap worn on a fingertip to push the needle when sewing, for a pony you could almost fit in your pocket. Wiktionary
• Pixie. A playful sprite from the folklore of southwest England, the moorland home of Dartmoor and Exmoor ponies. Wiktionary · RBST: Dartmoor Pony
• Dumpling. A ball of cooked dough, and a term of endearment. Wiktionary
• Fudge. The sweet butter-and-sugar candy; the word also means light, frothy nonsense. Wiktionary
• Poppy. From the red flower, Old English popæg. Behind the Name
• Shetland. From the Shetland Isles, where small ponies have lived for over 2,000 years; the UK stud book caps registered Shetlands at 42 inches. Shetland Pony Stud-Book Society · US Equestrian
• Connemara. An Irish native pony breed from Connemara, the part of County Galway that borders the Atlantic. Irish Horse Board · Connemara Pony Breeders' Society history
• Dartmoor. After Dartmoor in Devon, where the breed began; farmers once used these ponies for small-scale farming. Rare Breeds Survival Trust
• Exmoor. One of Britain's oldest native ponies, still running in herds on the Exmoor moors. Rare Breeds Survival Trust · Exmoor Pony Society

Names horse-mad kids pick

When the horse belongs to a child, or lives only in a child's head for now, the name tends to sparkle. Comet is a good one for a horse with a long mane, because Greek kometes means "long-haired". Stella was coined as a name by the poet Philip Sidney.

• Starlight. Simply the light that comes from the stars. Wiktionary
• Moonbeam. A ray of moonlight, and also a word for a dreamy, romantic person. Wiktionary
• Sparkle. A little spark, and by extension liveliness and brilliance. Wiktionary
• Comet. From Greek kometes, "long-haired", for a star with a flowing tail: made for a horse with a long mane. Wiktionary
• Blossom. From Old English blóstm; a rare given name since the 19th century. Behind the Name
• Stardust. Real space dust: tiny grains formed in ancient stars, from which our solar system grew. Wiktionary
• Twinkle. To shine with a flickering light, from Old English twinclian. Wiktionary
• Aurora. Latin for "dawn"; Aurora was the Roman goddess of the morning. Behind the Name
• Nova. From Latin novus, "new"; first used as a name in the 19th century. Behind the Name
• Stella. Latin for "star", coined as a name by the poet Philip Sidney for his sonnets. Behind the Name
• Firefly. Fire plus fly, because the beetles glow; also called lightning bugs. Wiktionary
• Sunny. From the English word meaning sunny and cheerful. Behind the Name
• Breeze. A light, gentle wind; figuratively, anything that is easy. Wiktionary
• Jubilee. First a special Jewish year of freedom; now a grand anniversary celebration. Wiktionary
• Wren. From the small songbird, Old English wrenna. Behind the Name
• Meadow. A grassy field, from an Old English word tied to an ancient root meaning "to mow". Wiktionary
• Galaxy. From Greek galaxias (kyklos), "milky (circle)", the Greek name for the Milky Way, from gala, "milk". Wiktionary
• Daydream. A drifting string of thoughts while you are wide awake. Wiktionary

Funny horse names

Clean puns first, then real racehorses with funny names. We left out the puns on living celebrities and the rude ones.

Puns for the barn

• Neigh Sayer. A naysayer always doubts or says no; this one says it the horse way. Wiktionary
• Hay Girl. "Hey, girl", said by someone who mostly thinks about hay. Wiktionary
• Mane Event. The main event is the headline bout; the mane is the long hair on a horse's neck. Wiktionary
• Oat Couture. Haute couture is French for high fashion (literally "high sewing"); this horse dresses for dinner. Wiktionary
• Clip Clop. The word that imitates hooves on hard ground, two footsteps in a row. Wiktionary
• Whoa Nelly. A cry of surprise: whoa is the command to slow or stop, and Nelly was a common name for a horse or mule. Wiktionary
• Giddyup. The call that tells a horse to move on or go faster, from "get up". Wiktionary
• Rein Check. A rain check, first recorded in 1877 baseball, was a free reissued ticket for a rained-out game; reins are the straps a rider steers with. Wiktionary
• Halter Ego. Alter ego is Latin for "other me"; a halter is the bitless rope headpiece used to lead a horse. Wiktionary
• Stirrup Trouble. Stir up trouble, horse style: stirrup comes from the Old English words for "ascent" and "rope". Wiktionary
• Mane Squeeze. Your main squeeze is old-fashioned US slang for your sweetheart; this one has the better hair. Cambridge Dictionary
• Foal Proof. Foolproof means certain to work; a foal is a horse in its first year. Wiktionary
• Mare-athon. The marathon was named in 1894 for the Greek town of Marathon; this mare is in it for the distance. Wiktionary
• Bridle Party. A bridal party is the bride's attendants; a bridle is the headgear that carries a horse's bit and reins. Wiktionary
• Filly Cheesesteak. Philadelphia's famous sandwich, for a young female horse, a filly, with a big appetite. Wiktionary
• Fetlock Holmes. For a nosy horse: the fetlock is the joint just above the hoof, and the tuft of hair that grows there. Wiktionary
• Hay Diddle Diddle. From the nursery rhyme "Hey, diddle, diddle! The cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon." Project Gutenberg
• Dun Deal. A done deal is settled for good; dun is a brownish-gray horse color. Wiktionary
• Neighbor. It starts with a neigh, but the word goes back to an old Germanic word for "near-dweller". Wiktionary
• Hayseed. Seeds from grass that has become hay, and slang for a country bumpkin. Wiktionary
• Hoofer. US slang for a professional dancer, especially one who has paid their dues. Wiktionary
• Pony Tale. The ponytail hairstyle is named for a pony's tail; this pony has stories to tell. Wiktionary
• Oatis. Otis, an English surname from the medieval name Ode, with extra oats. Behind the Name
• Hayley. A real name that means "hay clearing", from Old English heg, "hay", and leah, "clearing". Behind the Name
• Hayden. A real name from English place names meaning "hay valley" or "hay hill". Behind the Name

Which real racehorses have funny names?

Each of these is a real racehorse, and the modern ones all slipped past a registry's naming rules (Horse & Hound).

• Potoooooooo. Said 'potatoes'. The best-known story is that a stable boy spelled Potato as Pot plus eight o's, and the owner kept it. A son of Eclipse, foaled 1773. Wikipedia
• ARRRRR. A racehorse whose name made every commentator sound like a pirate. Horse & Hound
• Ha Ha Ha. Another one that made commentators sound silly. In six races he finished last twice. Horse & Hound
• Waikikamukau. Said 'why kick a moo cow', a New Zealand expression for a very remote place. Horse & Hound
• Onoitsmymothernlaw. Won at Saratoga in just four career starts, with a race call of 'Onoitsmymothernlaw... won't go away!' Horse & Hound
• Mywifenosevrything. Beat a horse called Thewifedoesntknow at Monmouth Park, New Jersey, in 2010. Horse & Hound
• Horsey McHorseface. An American racehorse named after Boaty McBoatface, the name a UK public poll picked for a ship. Horse & Hound

Famous horse names from history, myth and old books

War horses first, then myth and old books, then racehorses. A few famous horses live in the coat sections above because their names are colors: Black Beauty, Bayard, Blueskin, and Achilles' horses Xanthos and Balios. You can't register a new Thoroughbred as Secretariat or Seabiscuit, but a barn name has no rules.

War horses and horses of leaders

Comanche is often called the only survivor of the Little Bighorn. He wasn't. The University of Kansas museum that displays him calls him one of "the few survivors of the U.S. Army" there (KU Biodiversity Institute). And Caligula never made Incitatus a consul: Cassius Dio says he only promised to (Cassius Dio, Roman History).

• Bucephalus. Alexander the Great's horse; Arrian says the name ("ox-head") came from an ox-head brand, or a white ox-head mark on his black head. Project Gutenberg · Wiktionary
• Marengo. Napoleon's small light-gray Arab horse, named after his 1800 victory at Marengo; his skeleton stands in London's National Army Museum. National Army Museum
• Copenhagen. The Duke of Wellington's chestnut stallion at Waterloo, named after the 1807 Copenhagen campaign; he was buried with full military honors. National Army Museum · Stratfield Saye
• Traveller. Robert E. Lee's gray Civil War horse, born in what is now West Virginia; Lee spelled the name with two l's, in the English tradition. e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia · National Park Service, Arlington House museum exhibit · Washington and Lee University
• Cincinnati. Ulysses S. Grant's favorite war horse, a son of the record-setting racehorse Lexington; President Lincoln rode him when visiting Grant near the war's end. American Battlefield Trust · Civil War Monitor
• Little Sorrel. Stonewall Jackson's small red war horse; his mounted hide is still on display at the Virginia Military Institute Museum. VMI Museum, Virginia Military Institute · Virginia Museum of History & Culture
• Winchester. General Sheridan's jet-black horse, first called Rienzi, renamed for their famous 1864 ride from Winchester, Virginia; he stands in the Smithsonian today. Smithsonian National Museum of American History · Smithsonian: Winchester, General Sheridan's horse
• Comanche. Captain Myles Keogh's cavalry horse, badly wounded at the Little Bighorn in 1876; his preserved body is displayed at the University of Kansas. KU History, University of Kansas · KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum · National Park Service, Little Bighorn Battlefield
• Babieca. El Cid's war horse in Spain's medieval chronicles, ridden by no one after the Cid died; "babieca" is Spanish for a simpleton. Project Gutenberg · Real Academia Española
• Kanthaka. In Buddhist tradition, the white horse born the same day as Prince Siddhartha, who carried him out of the palace on his journey to enlightenment. Dictionary of Pali Proper Names
• Incitatus. Emperor Caligula's pampered horse, given a marble stall and an ivory manger; the Latin name means "urged on" or "quickened." LacusCurtius · Wiktionary
• Warrior. General Jack Seely's Thoroughbred, "the horse the Germans couldn't kill," who survived all of World War I and received an honorary PDSA Dickin Medal in 2014. PDSA · BBC News
• Nelson. George Washington's chestnut war horse, named for the friend who gave him, Thomas Nelson; Washington rode him at the British surrender at Yorktown. George Washington's Mount Vernon · Founders Online
• Sefton. A Household Cavalry horse badly wounded in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing in London; he recovered, returned to duty and was named Horse of the Year. Household Cavalry Museum · National Army Museum
• Byerley Turk. Captain Robert Byerley's charger in Ireland around 1689-90 and the earliest of the three founding sires of the Thoroughbred breed. Cheiron · Thoroughbred Heritage

Horses from myth and legend

Pegasus as the horse of the Muses is, Theoi notes, "more celebrated in modern times than he ever was in antiquity" (Theoi). Several Norse horse names describe a mane or forelock: Gulltop and Silfrintopp here, and Gullfaxi, Skinfaxi and Hrimfaxi in the coat sections above.

• Pegasus. The winged horse of Greek myth, tamed by the hero Bellerophon; his name may come from the Greek pege, "spring," and he shines as a constellation. Theoi · Behind the Name
• Arion. A divine, black-maned horse famous for speed; Homer's Iliad calls him "the swift horse of Adrestos, whose birth is from the immortals." Theoi
• Lampos. One of the two young horses of Eos, goddess of the dawn; Homer's Odyssey calls them "the rapid horses that bring men light." Theoi
• Phaethon. The other dawn horse of Eos in Homer's Odyssey, partner to Lampos; the name means "shining" in Greek. Theoi · Behind the Name
• Sleipnir. Odin's gray, eight-legged horse in Norse myth, called "the best horse among gods and men" in the Prose Edda. Project Gutenberg
• Grani. The young gray horse the hero Sigurd chose in the Volsunga Saga; Odin, in disguise, told him Grani came from Sleipnir's line. Project Gutenberg
• Arvak. "Early Waker," one of the two horses that pull the sun across the sky in Norse myth. Project Gutenberg
• Alsvid. "All-Swift," the sun's second horse in Norse myth, running beside Arvak. Project Gutenberg
• Gulltop. "Gold-top," the horse of Heimdall, the watchman god who guards the rainbow bridge Bifrost in Norse myth. Project Gutenberg
• Silfrintopp. "Silver-Topped," one of the horses the Norse gods ride each day to their council. Project Gutenberg
• Uchchaihshravas. In the Hindu epic the Mahabharata, the divine horse, "white as the rays of the moon," that rose when the gods churned the ocean for nectar. Project Gutenberg
• Rakhsh. Hero Rustam's horse in Iran's epic the Shahnama, dappled "as though flecked with petals of red roses on saffron"; the Smithsonian translates Rakhsh as "thunder." Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art
• Gringolet. Sir Gawain's horse in the medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, his saddle gleaming with golden fringes for the quest. Project Gutenberg
• Llamrei. King Arthur's mare in the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen, strong enough to carry four of his men at once. Project Gutenberg
• Enbarr. The sea god Manannan's horse in Irish legend, "as swift as the naked cold wind of spring"; the sea was like dry land to her. Project Gutenberg
• Tianma. Chinese for "heavenly horses," the name Han dynasty China gave the prized horses of Ferghana in Central Asia. Hong Kong Government
• Veillantif. Roland's "good steed" in the medieval French epic The Song of Roland. Project Gutenberg

Horses from old books

All from books old enough to be in the public domain. The sheik in Ben-Hur names his four Arabians after stars.

• Ginger. Black Beauty's tall chestnut stablemate, nicknamed Ginger because she had a bad habit of biting and snapping. Project Gutenberg
• Merrylegs. The "little fat gray pony" in Black Beauty who carries the young ladies of the house on his back. Project Gutenberg
• Duchess. Black Beauty's wise mother, whose kind master often called her Pet. Project Gutenberg
• Captain. Jerry's noble old white cab horse in Black Beauty, who had carried a cavalry officer in the Crimean War as a young dappled gray. Project Gutenberg
• Hotspur. Jerry's new cab horse in Black Beauty, "a fine brown horse, without a white hair in him," just five years old. Project Gutenberg
• Rocinante. Don Quixote's bony old horse; the knight spent four days choosing a name that shows he was once a mere hack (rocin in Spanish). Project Gutenberg · SpanishDict: rocin = nag, hack
• Frou-Frou. Count Vronsky's racing mare in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina; "frou-frou" is the rustle of a silk dress. Project Gutenberg · Wiktionary
• Aldebaran. The youngest and swiftest of Sheik Ilderim's four star-named Arabian horses, whom Ben-Hur drives in Lew Wallace's novel Ben-Hur. Project Gutenberg
• Antares. Another of the star-named Arabians in Ben-Hur; the sheik explains, "We borrow their names in gratitude, and give them in love." Project Gutenberg
• Rigel. "Honest Rigel," one of the four star-named Arabians Ben-Hur races against his rival Messala in Lew Wallace's novel. Project Gutenberg
• Sirius. In Ben-Hur, the dark-brown sire of the four star-named Arabians; his owner says, "Sirius is my love, and I am his." Project Gutenberg
• Mira. In Ben-Hur, the treasured mother of the star-named Arabians, left safe at home because she was "too precious to be hazarded." Project Gutenberg
• Maltese Cat. Kipling's wise little flea-bitten gray polo pony, who "had done more to win the Cup than any man or horse on the ground." Project Gutenberg
• Roland. The "stout galloper" who carries the news to save Aix in Robert Browning's poem "How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix." Project Gutenberg

Racehorses and record setters

Red Rum wasn't named after a drink. His name joins the last three letters of his mother, Mared, and his father, Quorum (Liverpool Echo). Phar Lap, Australia's hero, was foaled in New Zealand.

• Eclipse. Foaled during the solar eclipse of April 1, 1764, and named for it; he won all 18 of his races, inspiring "Eclipse first, the rest nowhere." University of Cambridge
• Man o' War. Won 20 of his 21 races in 1919 and 1920; the National Museum of Racing calls him "an equine freight train." National Museum of Racing
• Seabiscuit. Lost his first 17 races, then became a Depression-era hero; his father was Hard Tack, and "sea biscuit" is another word for hardtack. National Museum of Racing · Wiktionary
• Secretariat. The chestnut colt who won the 1973 Triple Crown, setting records in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont, the first sweep since Citation in 1948. National Museum of Racing
• Native Dancer. The "Gray Ghost," who won 21 of his 22 races in the 1950s and became horse racing's first television superstar. National Museum of Racing
• Seattle Slew. Bought as a yearling for $17,500, he became the first horse to win the Triple Crown while still unbeaten, in 1977. National Museum of Racing
• Affirmed. The 1978 Triple Crown winner, who beat his great rival Alydar in all three races, with Alydar second every time. National Museum of Racing
• Phar Lap. His name means "lightning" in Thai; born in New Zealand, he became Australia's Depression-era hero, and his huge heart is kept in Canberra. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa · National Film and Sound Archive of Australia · Melbourne Museum
• Arkle. Ireland's beloved steeplechaser, named after a Scottish mountain facing his owner's house; he won three Cheltenham Gold Cups and fans called him "Himself." RTE Sport · Racing Post
• Red Rum. Won Aintree's Grand National three times; his name joins the last three letters of his mother, Mared, and his father, Quorum. Liverpool Echo · Horse & Hound
• Frankel. Unbeaten in all 14 of his races; he was named after the American trainer Bobby Frankel. BBC Sport

Horse facts the name lists get wrong

Most name lists repeat these. Each correction links to its source.

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