General is a rank-as-name choice with a long history in American dog naming — the kind of title that signals the owner sees their dog as the one running the household. It's also a registry artifact worth flagging: at this rank in the NYC and Seattle licensing data, "General" likely appears on several licenses where the owner wrote a nickname or a household title that was interpreted as a proper name.
The Title-Name Tradition
Dogs named after military ranks — General, Colonel, Major, Captain — represent a distinct naming tradition that peaked in the mid-twentieth century and never entirely disappeared. General carries the most authority of the group. It suits large, commanding breeds: German Shepherds and Rottweilers wear it without irony.
The Registry Artifact Question
At rank 2635, with only 34 total records across both city datasets, General sits in territory where some entries likely reflect owners who wrote "The General" or "General (no last name)" and had the article stripped. The name as an intentional pet name is real but rarer than the count suggests. Compare similarly titled names like Major and Duke for the broader rank-name picture.
The Counter-Reading: Who's Actually in Charge
Any owner who has lived with a dog understands the irony of the title. The dog is always the general. Naming them that is simply acknowledging the truth of the domestic arrangement.