Dante

Dante is an Italian name, a short form of Durante from the Latin Durans meaning "enduring" or "steadfast." It is overwhelmingly associated with Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), the Italian poet whose Divine Comedy is one of the greatest works in Western literature. The name carries a certain brooding, intellectual depth — Dante's journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise is the defining image of a soul seeking meaning. For pets, Dante suits a companion with a deep, watchful quality and an interior life that seems richer than the surface suggests.

Dante holds #305 on the pet name charts and carries more literary gravitas than almost any other name in the catalog. Its association with the author of the Divine Comedy gives it a depth and seriousness that owners who love literature tend to find genuinely appealing. Dante suits a companion who is watchful and thoughtful — one who observes everything carefully, who has definite preferences and a certain dark, beautiful intensity about them. The name also gained additional pop culture resonance as the name of Miguel's beloved companion in Pixar's Coco (2017).