Xena ranks #244 with 457 entries and is one of the most directly TV-anchored pet names in the chart. Xena: Warrior Princess ran from 1995 to 2001 and gave the name its full meaning in American culture — fierce, female, and unapologetically warrior-coded. Pet Xenas are almost always picked with the show in mind.
The Xena: Warrior Princess lineage
The show's run was long enough to embed Xena permanently in the female-warrior pop-culture vocabulary. Pet Xenas are disproportionately given to female dogs that owners want to signal as tough, protective, or athletically capable: German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois, pit-bull-type rescues, and large mixed breeds. The naming intent is explicit. "Xena" is not a sound choice; it is a personality choice.
One counter-reading: the show ended in 2001, which means the cohort of owners who watched it during its original run is now in their 40s and 50s. Younger owners sometimes encounter the name through reruns or streaming and pick it independently, but the demographic skew toward older female owners is real.
Sound and the X-opener
Two syllables (ZEE-nuh), front-stressed, with the unusual X (pronounced as Z) opener. Recall is strong. The X gives the name visual distinctiveness on the registration form even though it sounds like an ordinary Z. Few pet names in the top 250 start with X, which adds to the warrior-coded uniqueness.
Adjacent picks
Owners cross-shopping warrior-coded female pet names often consider Athena and Luna. The German Shepherd page shows the breed cluster. Gender skew is heavily female, and the name's specific TV-warrior register makes Xena one of the few picks where the dog's training and behavior are explicitly part of the naming intent.