Jones is a surname deployed as a pet name with the casual confidence of someone who thinks about naming conventions and then deliberately ignores them. At rank 1304, it's an example of the last-name-as-first-name move applied to one of the most common English surnames, producing a name that sounds both completely normal and slightly unexpected on a dog.
The Surname-Name Category
Jones on a pet isn't about the Jones family. It's about the sound and the gestural quality of the move itself. It sits alongside Brooks, Hayes, and Banks in the surname-as-name category, but Jones has the added quality of being so common as a surname that it becomes slightly distinctive as a standalone first name. Border terriers and Wire Fox terriers, small confident dogs that seem to have opinions, often carry names in this understated register.
Indiana Jones and the Pop Culture Layer
Indiana Jones is one of cinema's most iconic characters, and that association is available for any pet owner who wants it. A dog named Jones who is adventurous, slightly impulsive, and very difficult to call back from something interesting has a complete Spielberg reference available. The connection can be worn lightly or made explicit depending on the owner's preference. The human name is at /names/jones.
The Counter-Reading
Jones is so common as a surname that some listeners initially hear it as a last name accidentally applied to the front position. That cognitive micro-delay is the price of the unconventional choice. Most owners who use it find it resolves quickly once people meet the dog; the name fits the animal in a way that makes the unusual placement immediately clear.