Wellington is the kind of name a dog earns by looking vaguely distinguished and sitting with perfect posture on a patterned sofa. It's a formal place-name — the capital of New Zealand, and the British duke who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo — worn by pets whose owners had grand ambitions for a puppy who turned out to be entirely chaotic.
The Aristocratic Aesthetic
Wellington fits the butler-name school of pet naming: long, vaguely British, impossible to shorten without producing something undignified. Owners who land here often want something that sounds ceremonious at the dog park. Golden retrievers and basset hounds are natural fits, breeds that carry an air of unhurried dignity.
Human-Pet Crossover
Wellington occasionally appears on human birth certificates but has always felt more comfortable as a surname. On a dog, it has permission to be the slightly absurd formal name the pet will ignore entirely. The human version Wellington is mostly a heritage nod. For pets, it's a character statement.
Counter-Reading: Pretension Risk
Wellington codes very specifically. It can read as self-aware irony or genuine pretension depending on context. If you want formal without the weight, Winston covers the same territory with one fewer syllable and significantly less Wellington boot confusion.