Big as a standalone pet name is almost certainly a data artifact — the kind of entry that appears on a licensing form when someone describes their pet rather than names it. Most of the 123 recorded instances in this dataset are plausibly size-descriptions that got logged as names. That said, intentional use exists and has its own logic.
The Descriptor-as-Name Pattern
Urban pet licensing systems consistently capture physical descriptors as names. Big, Small, Black, White, and similar words appear across city databases wherever registration is mandatory. The person who wrote "Big" on the form was probably indicating that they hadn't thought much about naming — or that they had a very large animal and wrote the obvious thing. This is a data artifact category, not a naming trend.
The Deliberate Irony Case
For the rare owner who names a pet Big intentionally, the irony play is obvious: a very small animal named Big. A chihuahua named Big has a complete personality before it opens its mouth. It sits alongside naming a tiny cat Kaiser or a miniature dog Grizzly — the comedy is in the scale mismatch. This works for exactly as long as it stays funny, which is a variable timeline.
The Practical Verdict
Big is not a functional call name — it's a single syllable with a soft consonant that doesn't project well. If you want the ironic-size angle for a small animal, Titan, Goliath, or Grizzly make the same joke more memorably. Browse all pet names for better options.