Meaning and background
The story behind Cruella
Cruella is a literary and screen name with a deliberately severe word connection. Behind the Name traces it through English cruel to Latin vocabulary for harshness and identifies Cruella de Vil in Disney’s 101 Dalmatians, based on Dodie Smith’s novel. For a dog, the Dalmatian-story association is immediate. The character connection explains the name’s cultural use without suggesting that the animal bearing it shares the antagonist’s behaviour.
- Origin
- Popular-culture name formed from cruel, ultimately Latin crudelis; associated with Cruella de Vil in the Dalmatian story. Source
Try Cruella out loud
Everyday moments“Cruella, come here!”
Say it as you would on a walk or at home. Does it feel natural alongside your usual commands and other pets’ names?
About Cruella
Recorded as a dog’s name
Cruella appears in 4 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Compare your favourites
Put Cruella beside another name before you decide.
Explore names like Cruella
Narrow the finder by the features you want to keep.
Sources and research notes (1)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.