Since you mainly see dolphins in the zoo or aquarium, it is not very likely that you will have one as a pet. There have been many famous dolphin names throughout history and in the movies. Flipper is the one that comes to mind from the television series. Other dolphins usually have place names attached to them because they always appear in the same places year after year. Some of these are:

- Dingle Dolphin - this is the dolphin that appears in the harbor of Dingle, Ireland. Some of the names people have given this dolphin are Fungie, Dorad, Tarquin, and Fungi.

- Dusty - this is the dolphin that has been a regular visitor to Doolin and Dereen, also in Ireland. It has been called by different names, such as Orb, Mushroom, Molly, Dolly and Fainne.

- Sandy - this dolphin likes the waters off the Aran Islands. It has been simply named Aran.

- Dony - this dolphin appears in the vicinity of the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland.

Many are wondering if the dolphins seem to be attracted by place names starting with the letter "D" because of the areas in which they seem to return to year after year.

When zoos or aquariums receive a new dolphin or one is born in captivity, they usually have a dolphin naming competition. In such a competition, people from all over submit a name for the dolphin either electronically or by mail. The staff or committee responsible for choosing a name will then sort through the extensive list of names they receive to decide on a suitable one. Quite often, they will simply make a random draw and use the name that is selected. Some of the commonly submitted names in such a competition Flipper always seems to find its way into such a naming competition, but other commonly submitted names include:

- Squeal

- Squeak

- Blue

- Splash

- Jumper

- Flippy

- Echo

- Freedom

Dolphins seem to choose their own names by their whistle. Experts who study dolphins have determined that each one has a distinctive whistle and those in captivity have a repertoire of whistles. They think that these whistles may actually be the way in which they call one another.

When you choose a name for a dolphin, it is important to know the kind of dolphin that it is so you can choose something that really suits. There are nine different kinds of dolphins:

- Bottlenose dolphin, which has a cut off face

- Striped dolphin, which is narrow and skyblue and white in color

- Risso's dolphin, which is gray

- Dusky dolphin, which has dark beak

- Atlantic White Sided dolphin, which has a pointed beak

- White-beaked dolphin - aptly named because of its white beak

- Hourglass dolphin, which has a crossed beak

- Northern Right Whale dolphin, which is very smooth and found only in northern waters

- Peale's Dolphin, which is generally found around Australia

When you do your research on the type of dolphin, then you may be able to come up with a suitable name.