“Straight to Jail” — Woman Learns That There Are Special Rules for Naming Your Dog in France

France has a lot of strange laws. Being allowed to marry the dead, suing your parents for financial support, and kissing people in train stations can technically land you in legal trouble.

And apparently, there are even rules when it comes to what you can name your dog.

Roya Fox posted a viral Instagram clip detailing the particulars of this practice in a viral Instagram clip. And while this isn't a law per se, her clip delineates that it's a normal practice to pick a name that starts with a specific letter based on the year that you get and name your canine.

Fox begins her video by recording herself speaking on camera with a backdrop of what appears to be a European city behind her. She says into the camera, "Really exciting news, I'm getting a puppy next week," she says to someone off-screen.

Next, Fox appears again, facing the opposite direction and wearing a different shirt, intoning that she's playing two different roles in the same sketch. This character in the striped shirt speaks with a French accent. "Oh, that's great. Have you decided its name?"

Then, Black-shirt Fox tells French Fox, "Not yet so I'm open to suggestions." And French Fox is happy to oblige, saying, "Oh sure, it's 2025, so maybe for a boy it could be Axel or Apollo. Or for a girl, Alexa or Alizee or maybe something neutral like Ananas or Andouille."

When the camera cuts to Black-shirt Fox, her eyes are widened. It appears that she really isn't a fan of the names French Fox suggested to her. "You must really love names that start with the letter A, huh?"

However, French Fox goes on to explain that her nomenclature selection isn't simply rooted in personal preference.

"No, not particularly," she tells Black-shirt Fox, which confounds the non-French character in the TikToker's sketch. "But every name you've suggested started with the letter A?"

French Fox appears to be confused by Black-shirt Fox's statement. According to her, the year dictates what type of name you append to a pet. "Yes of course, because it's 2025."

Following this, Black-shirt Fox inquires as to why this has any bearing on what name she decides to give the puppy she plans on purchasing. "And what does that have to do with anything?"

French Fox breaks it down: "Because A it's the dog name letter of the year in France."

This revelation astounds Black-shirt Fox. "Wait are you saying in France that you name your dog based on what year it is?"

French Fox is quick to forgive her friend rocking a black shirt for not being privy to this information. "Ahh you didn't know. Yes we've been doing this in France since 1926," she says.

Furthermore, the Frenchwoman adds, "And actually you can usually guess a dog's age by its name."

Black-shirt Fox replies to this new bit of knowledge, "Wow, that is so cool. So does that mean that last year was Z and all the dogs were like Zelda or Zorro or something?"

French Fox clarifies that the previous year, 2024, was actually dedicated to the 22nd letter of the Alphabet. Moreover, she added that because finding names that start with certain letters are too much of a pain, French dog owners have collectively agreed to just gloss over specific letters.

"Last year was V actually. And we decided some letters are too difficult so we skip K, Q, W, X, Y, and Z," she says.

Black-shirt Fox agrees with this logic, "Oh yeah, that makes sense. But what if I wanna name my dog like Milo or something?"

According to French Fox, not obeying the naming system is not optional.

"Wait until 2037 or straight to jail," she quips.

And in case you're squinting your eyes at Fox's video in disbelief, wondering if she's shilling you a load of fake-dog-naming news, it turns out that this is actually a widely spread practice in La République.

The dog-centric website Vaillant Feu Beaucerons does indeed refer to this naming convention. In fact, the outlet writes that the French registry for dogs (Société Centrale Canine​) "has followed a system for naming that makes it easy to determine the age of a dog by its registered name."

Furthermore, the site also corroborates French Fox's assertion that "K, Q, W, X, Y, and Z were eliminated because it was too difficult to find French names beginning with them."

Which means that there are 20 letters that reset every 20 years, folks utilize to name their pets.

The upcoming years and corresponding beginning letters for names are as follows:

• 2025 - A
• 2026 - B
• 2027 - C
• 2028 - D
• 2029 - E
• 2030 - F
• 2031 - G
• 2032 - H
• 2033 - I
• 2034 - J
• 2035 - L
• 2036 - M
• 2037 - N
• 2038 - O
• 2039 - P
• 2040 - R
• 2041 - S
• 2042 - T
• 2043 - U
• 2044 - V

And while the final comment made by French Fox in the video is certainly a joke, there doesn't seem to be any laws that indicate someone will be incarcerated for not following this nomenclature rule.