Musical pet names in six kinds: tempo, mood and score words, forms and parts, instruments, composers, opera characters and rock and roll. Each card says what the word means or who the person was.
Read the full guide
Match the word to the temperament
After a press, a list appears under the button. Its last entry, More filters, opens a second row: For a loud pet keeps Forte, which means played loudly, Presto, Tuba and Crescendo. For a quiet pet keeps Dolce, which means sweet, Largo, Sordino, a mute, and Tacet, which tells a player to stay silent. Coda means a tail.
Rock and roll pet names without the stars
The Rock and roll kind is stage and gear words: Riff, Amp, Reverb, Roadie, Encore, Jukebox, and Woofer, a loudspeaker made for low sounds. No band, no living artist and no maker of instruments is on the list.
Questions and answers
What is a good musical name for a dog?
Woofer is a loudspeaker made for low sounds, and Banjo, Bugle, Tuba and Fiddle are instruments. Presto means very quickly and Forte means played loudly. Roadie, one of the crew who travel with a band, suits a dog who rides along.
What is a musical name for a cat?
Dolce means sweet, Adagio means slowly, slower than andante, and Sotto Voce means in an undertone. Mimi is a seamstress in Puccini's opera La boheme, and Tweeter is a loudspeaker made for high sounds.
Which composers are on the list?
Composers of history, by surname or first name: Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Haydn, Vivaldi, Verdi and Sousa, the composer of military marches, among them. Ludwig is Beethoven, and Clara is the pianist and composer Clara Schumann.
Are there pet names from musicals here?
No. The characters of stage and film musicals belong to their shows, and this site leaves them out. The stage names here come from operas first performed between 1607 and 1926, such as Figaro, Carmen, Papageno and Tosca.
AllegroCheerful or brisk: play it lively and fast.
AndanteAt walking speed.
CantabileIn a singing style.
CrescendoGrowing: getting louder bit by bit.
DolceSweet.
ForteStrong: played or sung loudly.
FuriosoFurious.
GlissandoA slide from one note to another.
LargoBroad, which in music means slow.
LegatoJoined: smooth and connected.
OstinatoObstinate, persistent: a figure repeated over and over.
PesanteHeavy, ponderous.
PianoGently: played or sung softly.
PizzicatoPinched or plucked.
PocoA little.
PrestoVery quickly.
ScherzoA light, joking, playful piece.
SordinoA mute.
Sotto VoceIn an undertone, quietly.
StaccatoEach note short and detached.
TacetSilent: do not play.
TempoTime: the overall speed of a piece.
TranquilloCalm, peaceful.
TuttiAll together.
VivaceLively.
Forms and parts 22
AriaA song for one voice in an opera.
ArpeggioA chord played one note at a time, like a harp.
BalladA song or poem that tells a story.
CadenceThe end of a phrase, where the music comes to rest.
CodaA tail: the closing section added to the end of a movement.
FugueA piece in which one theme is taken up by voice after voice.
JigA lively folk dance.
LullabyA soothing song for sending a child to sleep.
MelodyA line of notes that the ear hears as one thing: the tune.
MetronomeA device that marks time with a steady tick.
MinimThe British name for a half note.
MinuetA dance of French origin for two people, in three-four time.
OpusThe work number that a composer gives a piece, written Op. for short.
OvertureThe music played before an opera or a ballet begins.
PolkaA dance that began in nineteenth-century Bohemia.
QuaverThe British name for an eighth note.
RagtimeA style of music known for its syncopated, ragged rhythm.
RondoA form in which one main theme takes turns with contrasting ones.
SerenadeEvening music: the word was shaped by the Italian sera, evening.
SonataA piece written for instruments to play.
TangoA dance that began along the Rio de la Plata, between Argentina and Uruguay.
WaltzA ballroom dance in triple time.
Instruments 26
AccordionA box-shaped instrument with bellows.
BanjoA stringed instrument with a thin skin stretched over a round frame.
BongoBongos are a pair of small hand drums of different sizes.
BugleA simple brass instrument used for signals; it normally has no valves.
CalliopeAn instrument that plays by sending steam through large whistles.
CelestaA keyboard instrument with a sound like small bells.
CelloA bowed string instrument of the violin family.
DidgeridooA wind instrument developed by Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia.
DjembeA goblet drum from West Africa, played with bare hands.
FiddleA bowed string instrument, most often a violin.
GongA percussion instrument: a metal disc struck with a mallet.
HarmonicaA free reed wind instrument, played with the mouth.
HarpA stringed instrument plucked with the fingers.
KazooAn instrument that adds a buzz to your voice when you hum into it.
KotoA Japanese plucked zither, the national instrument of Japan.
LuteA plucked instrument with a neck and a deep, rounded back.
MaracaA rattle heard in Caribbean and Latin music.
OboeA woodwind instrument with a double reed.
OcarinaA wind instrument, a kind of vessel flute.
PiccoloA smaller version of the flute.
ThereminAn electronic instrument played without touching it.
TimpaniKettledrums.
TromboneA brass instrument played with a slide.
TubaA brass instrument, for a pet with a low voice and a lot of it.
UkeShort for ukulele, a stringed instrument of Portuguese origin that was made popular in Hawaii.
ViolaA bowed string instrument, slightly larger than the violin, with a lower sound.
Composers 23
BachJohann Sebastian Bach, the German composer of the late Baroque period.
BizetGeorges Bizet, the French composer of the opera Carmen.
BrahmsJohannes Brahms, the German composer and pianist.
ChopinFrederic Chopin, the Polish composer and pianist of the Romantic period.
ClaraClara Schumann, the German pianist and composer.
DebussyClaude Debussy, the French composer.
DvorakAntonin Dvorak, the Czech composer.
GershwinGeorge Gershwin, the American composer and pianist.
GriegEdvard Grieg, the Norwegian composer and pianist.
HandelGeorge Frideric Handel, the Baroque composer of operas and oratorios.
HaydnJoseph Haydn, the Austrian composer of the Classical period.
HolstGustav Holst, the English composer of The Planets.
LisztFranz Liszt, the Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist.
LudwigLudwig van Beethoven, the German composer.
MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a composer of the Classical period.
PucciniGiacomo Puccini, the Italian composer of operas.
RossiniGioachino Rossini, the Italian composer of operas.
SatieErik Satie, the French composer and pianist.
SchubertFranz Schubert, the Austrian composer.
SibeliusJean Sibelius, the Finnish composer.
SousaJohn Philip Sousa, the American composer of military marches.
VerdiGiuseppe Verdi, the Italian composer of operas.
VivaldiAntonio Vivaldi, the Italian composer of The Four Seasons.
Opera characters 24
AidaThe title role of an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, first staged in 1871.
CarmenThe title role of an opera by Georges Bizet, first staged in 1875.
CherubinoThe page in Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro.
DidoThe queen in Dido and Aeneas, an opera by Henry Purcell.
EscamilloThe bullfighter in Bizet's opera Carmen.
FidelioThe title of Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera.
FigaroThe barber of Gioachino Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville, first staged in 1816.
GildaThe daughter of the jester in Verdi's opera Rigoletto.
IsoldeOne of the two title roles of Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde.
LeporelloThe servant of the title character in Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, first staged in 1787.
MimiA seamstress in Puccini's opera La boheme, first staged in 1896.
MusettaA singer in Puccini's opera La boheme.
NormaThe title role of an opera by Vincenzo Bellini, first staged in 1831.
OrfeoThe title role of an opera by Claudio Monteverdi, first staged in 1607.
PaminaThe daughter of the Queen of the Night in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute.
PapagenoThe bird-catcher in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute, first staged in 1791.
RadamesThe captain of the guard in Verdi's opera Aida.
RigolettoThe title role of an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, first staged in 1851.
SiegfriedThe title role of an opera by Richard Wagner, first staged in 1876.
SusannaThe bride of Figaro in Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro, first staged in 1786.
ToscaThe title role of an opera by Giacomo Puccini, first staged in 1900.
TristanThe other title role of Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde, first staged in 1865.
TurandotThe title role of the opera Giacomo Puccini left unfinished, first staged in 1926.
ViolettaThe leading role of Verdi's opera La traviata, first staged in 1853.
Rock and roll 28
AmpShort for amplifier, the box that makes an electric guitar loud.
B-SideThe song on the back of the single, for the quiet one of two pets.
BackbeatBeats two and four, where the tail hits the door.
BoogieShort for boogie-woogie, a kind of blues that became popular in the late 1920s.
Doo-WopA style of rhythm and blues built on group harmony singing.
DrumrollWhat a tail does on the floor when you reach for the leash.
EncoreOne more piece played at the end of a show, after the applause.
FeedbackThe howl a speaker makes when a microphone hears it.
FuzzThe buzzy sound of an overdriven guitar, and the state of this coat.
GigA live show, for a pet who performs for visitors.
HeadlinerThe act everyone came to see.
Hi-HatTwo cymbals on a stand, worked with a pedal.
JukeboxA machine that plays the record you choose when you put a coin in.
MixtapeA bit of everything, for a pet of many breeds.
PlectrumA small flat tool for plucking or strumming strings: a guitar pick.
ReverbThe sound that hangs in a room after the note has stopped.
RiffA short figure repeated through a song.
RimshotA drum stroke that hits the rim and the head of the snare at once.
RoadieOne of the road crew who travel with a band on tour.
RockabillyOne of the earliest styles of rock and roll.
SetlistThe songs for tonight, in order.
SnareThe snare drum makes a sharp, short crack.
SoundcheckOne, two. One, two. Before every meal.
TwangThe sharp ring of a plucked string.
TweeterA loudspeaker made for high sounds.
VinylWhat records are pressed from.
Wah-WahA guitar pedal whose sound copies a voice saying wah-wah.
WooferA loudspeaker made for low sounds.
How this list was compiled
Own choice of 149 pet names from music, made for this page on 2026-10-02; the choice and the wording of every line are ours. Kinds: 26 tempo, mood and score words, 22 forms and parts, 26 instruments, 23 composers, 24 opera characters, 28 rock and roll words. Each name is also marked for a loud pet (105), for a quiet pet (88) or for both; for a tempo or mood word the mark follows the meaning of the word, and for the rest it is our own judgment. 139 cards state a fact. The meaning of each score term was read that day in its entry in Wikipedia's Glossary of music terminology; every other fact was read in the opening section of the English Wikipedia article on that form, instrument, composer or opera, or in the whole article of the opera for a character who is not its title role (CC BY-SA 4.0). The few lines with no fact are jokes of ours. A composer is listed only if he or she died before 1970, with the year checked in the article. The opera characters come from operas first performed between 1607 and 1926. Left out on purpose: bands, living artists, makers of instruments and amplifiers, and the characters of stage and film musicals. The fact lines were read again against the same sources on 2026-10-03. Licence: The choice of names, the groups and the wording of the lines are our own work. Meanings and facts on the cards draw on English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).