Donkey Name Generator

Donkey names tend to fall into a few families, and most owners mix them. The first is the old-fashioned farmhand name: Wilbur, Clarence, Mabel, Gertrude, Otis. Donkeys are patient, slightly stubborn and a little comical, and a name that sounds like somebody's great-uncle suits that personality better than anything flashy. The second is the snack name, which fits the round belly and the fuzzy ears: Biscuit, Waffles, Peanut, Churro, Butterscotch. Nut names in particular are a donkey tradition because of the coat color, so Hazelnut, Pecan and Walnut turn up in pastures everywhere.

The third family is Spanish and Southwestern. The word burro is Spanish, donkeys carried the whole history of the American West on their backs, and names like Pancho, Paloma, Lupita, Durango and Laredo sound right on a grey jack with a dorsal cross. A few literary donkeys also get borrowed constantly: Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh, Platero from Juan Ramón Jiménez, Benjamin from Animal Farm, and Sancho's Dapple from Don Quixote.

If you are naming a jack, a jenny or a miniature, the practical advice is the same: choose something you can call across a field without embarrassment, with one or two syllables that do not sound like a command. The list below covers all of these styles, plus coat-color names for spotted, roan and dun donkeys.