Conan ranks 1768 in the pet registry with 57 records, clearly male. The name is Old Irish and Gaelic, derived from conn meaning hound, chief, or high — a fitting etymology for a dog name, though the naming chain for most owners probably runs through Conan the Barbarian or Conan O'Brien rather than medieval Irish genealogy.
Two Pop Culture Pillars
Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian first appeared in Weird Tales magazine in 1932, went dormant, and was spectacularly revived by the 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger film — cementing the name as a marker of physical power and fantasy heroics for a generation. Separately, Conan O'Brien's long television career (Late Night 1993–2009, The Tonight Show, Conan, and the Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast) gave the name an entirely different association: tall, red-haired, self-deprecating wit. A dog named Conan could be honoring either, which is one of the name's charms. Large, powerful breeds naturally inhabit the Howard/Schwarzenegger register; Irish Setters and Red and White Setters suit the O'Brien connection. Irish Setter names have obvious overlap here.
Sound and the Gaelic Root
Two syllables, KOH-nan, with equal stress and a clean, open second vowel. The Gaelic meaning — hound — gives this name a genuinely recursive quality as a dog name: you are naming your dog Dog. That's either poetic or too obvious, depending on your sense of humor.
The Counter-Reading
Conan carries enough cultural weight that it reads as a deliberate choice rather than a neutral pick. Browse all male pet names if you want similar two-syllable energy with fewer pop-culture layers attached.