Salty ranks 1930 in the pet registry with 52 male animals. In modern American slang, salty means bitter or resentful — holding a grudge with a certain theatrical flair. In older usage it meant tough, rough-hewn, like a salty sea dog. Both meanings are excellent for a pet name, and both imply an animal with opinions.
The Slang Reading
A pet named Salty is being given a specific personality expectation: this animal has views and will share them. It suits cats with strong opinions about food schedules, small dogs with oversized attitudes, and any animal that communicates displeasure through pointed body language. The internet's embrace of "salty" as a descriptor for petty grievance has given the word a warmth that the older "bitter" never quite had. Scottish Folds and cats generally suit the salty temperament attribution with statistical regularity.
The Maritime Root
"Old salt" as a term for an experienced sailor has been in English since at least the 18th century. Salty as a nautical descriptor implies weathered competence and a tolerance for difficulty. Portuguese Water Dogs and other maritime breeds carry the sea-salt meaning with geographic coherence. Browse personality-descriptor pet names for related choices.
The Counter-Reading: Mood Implications
Naming an animal Salty means committing to the joke that your pet is perpetually aggrieved. Most owners find this funny for the full duration of the animal's life. For an animal with a genuinely sweet, mild temperament, the irony is the whole point. Pepper is the natural seasoning-pair companion name in the registry.