Buddha ranks at #754 with 156 entries, registered male. The name reads as religious-figure-as-pet-name, and on a pet registry it functions as a personality-descriptor pick: the dog as embodying calm, dignified, or contemplative energy. The cultural weight of the name is real, but pet Buddhas usually live in the warmly-comedic register.
The personality-as-name cohort
Buddha sits with Zen, Karma, and Yogi in the contemplative-personality pet pocket. The naming logic is almost always the same: the dog with the unusually still demeanor, the dog who sat watching the household for hours as a puppy, the dog who simply radiates calm. The household embraced the Buddha-energy register and committed the dog to it on the formal license.
The breed lean and visual register
The name lands disproportionately on dignified or chunky breeds where the visual matches the contemplative register: English Bulldogs, French Bulldogs, Pugs, Shar-Peis, and broad-faced rescue mixes. The visual joke (round Buddha-belly meets round-bodied dog) does work for these breeds. A smaller slice lands on serene Hounds and Mastiffs where the dignity register is the dominant note.
The counter-reading
The honest concern with Buddha is religious-cultural sensitivity. For Buddhist households the name carries genuine reverence and the pet-naming use can read as casual; for non-Buddhist households the religious register passes mostly unrecognized. Some neighborhoods and dog parks register the name as appropriative. Two syllables, front-stressed (BOO-dah), open vowels throughout. The human Buddha page shows minimal SSA presence; pet Buddha owns the call-name space.