Spud shows up 60 times in the registries at rank 1716, skewing male. It's a working-class British nickname: slang for potato, also a general term of endearment in UK and Irish culture, and in the pet context it reads as cheerfully unpretentious, the anti-fancy-name choice.
The Underdog Aesthetic
Spud is the kind of name that signals something about the owner: they're not trying to impress anyone. The name has a broad, lumpy, lovable quality that works best on stocky, good-natured breeds — Bulldogs, Pugs, Staffordshire Bull Terriers. There's a reason it lands with British-heritage breeds; the language fit is genuine. Browse English Bulldog names for similar picks.
Pop-Culture Angle
Spud is one of the main characters in Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting — the gentle, hapless counterpart to Renton — which gave the name a specific cultural flavor in the 1990s. That association has softened but not disappeared. For owners of a certain age and literary inclination, naming a dog Spud is a small quiet reference. It also connects loosely to Spuds MacKenzie, the 1980s Bud Light mascot Bull Terrier, giving it two layers of pop history.
Counter-Reading
At its most literal, Spud is a root vegetable. If your goal is a name that sounds dignified at the vet's office, this isn't it. But dignity isn't always the point, and for the right dog and owner combination, Spud is perfect precisely because of that.