Homer ranks at #713 with 168 entries, registered male. The name carries two completely different cultural registers in pet households: the ancient Greek poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and Homer Simpson, the cartoon patriarch from the longest-running American sitcom. Owners pick one register; the dog usually leans toward the second.
The Simpsons overlay
For most American pet households, Homer is a Simpsons name. The Fox animated series (1989-present) made Homer Simpson the default cultural reference, and the naming logic on a Homer-the-dog tends to be comedic: a slightly bumbling, food-motivated, large or chunky dog whose personality matches the cartoon character. Owners often picked the name watching the dog do something endearingly clumsy as a puppy.
The classical-literature cohort
A smaller but real slice of Homer dogs come from owners reaching for the Greek poet directly: classics teachers, literature graduates, and households that pair Homer with siblings named Plato, Sappho, or Athena. The naming register in this slice is academic-warm rather than comedic, and the dogs tend toward dignified breeds.
Sound and breed lean
Two syllables, front-stressed (HO-mer), open opening vowel, clean trailing R. The shape recalls cleanly across voice ranges. The name lands disproportionately on amiable medium-to-large dogs: Labradors, Bulldogs, Beagles, Basset Hounds, and good-natured rescue mixes. The human Homer page shows strong early-20th-century SSA presence and a long decline; pet Homer has absorbed the name as the cartoon settles into permanence.