Badger ranks 1789 in the pet name registry with 56 recorded animals, strongly male. It names an animal by naming a different animal — a move that lands differently depending on how much irony you want to build into a pet's identity before it has a personality.
The Cross-Animal Naming Tradition
Naming a dog or cat after another animal — Bear, Fox, Badger, Wolf — is a long-running tradition with a specific feel: rugged, slightly literary, more common in the Pacific Northwest and upper Midwest than in coastal urban registries. Badger in particular carries a stubbornness connotation (the verb means to pester relentlessly) that projects personality before you've observed any. Browse animal-name pet names to see the full cluster.
Hufflepuff and British Associations
In Harry Potter, the badger is the Hufflepuff symbol — patient, loyal, quietly hardworking. That association has given Badger a specific fandom resonance since the early 2000s. Dachshunds, bred specifically to hunt badgers, have an almost obligatory relationship with the name. It doesn't appear as a human name, which keeps its pet-name identity entirely clean.
The Counter-Reading: Stubborn by Default
The verb to badger means to harass persistently, so the name carries a pre-loaded behavioral prediction. If the pet turns out to be placid and easygoing, Badger reads as ironic. If the prediction comes true, the owner either looks prophetic or exhausted. Terrier owners seem most comfortable with that risk.