Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff, it's Christians Zeger. Here. You may have met a furry ace, bandit, Jack or Sparky, but the chance of being introduced to a Fido are much much lower these days. Fido doesn't even make the top one hundred, but the once popular name for male dogs has become a generic shorthand for dog itself. So just why is the dog name Fido such a part of the American lexicon. Well, the credit
goes to Abraham Lincoln, America's sixteenth president. Before he was commander in chief and still lived in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln's household included several dogs and cats. One particularly therapeutic dog was Fido, a mixed breed dog of yellow hue whose name is Latin for faithful. Fido became Lincoln's near constant companion about five years for the then lawyer became president.
According to the Presidential Pet Museum, Fido enjoyed scraps from Lincoln's plate at meals, patiently waited outside the barbershop or any other establishment Lincoln patronized, and generally became well known as a good natured dog around town. In eighteen sixty three, as he prepared to move to the White House, it became apparent that Fido was a little too friendly and perhaps ill mannered for high office. In fact, a nineteen fifty four profile of Fido published in Life magazine called
him a frisky mongrel. To ensure Fido had a good life back in Springfield, Lincoln decided to have a local carpenter and his family take care of Fido, leaving them detailed instructions for the dog's proper care and spoiling. Fido was never to be chided for having muddy pause in the house, and he was to be given scraps from
the table at meal time. To help soothe the sense of loss, Lincoln had Fido's formal portrait taken with the relatively new photographic technology, or so the story goes, Regardless of its providence, the photo made its way into numerous newspapers, and shortly thereafter Fido, both the dog and the name skyrocketed in popularity. The name's meteoric rise continued during Lincoln's presidency and was further fueled by his assassination in eighteen
sixty five. As mourners flocked to Springfield for the President's funeral, the carpenter returned to Lincoln's home with Fido and let the morning public meet the dog. Justice Fido's master was killed by another man, so too did Fido meet an unfortunate end at the hands of another In eighteen sixty six, a year after Lincoln's assassination, Fido, ever the trusting and people loving dog, came across a man apparently sleeping on
a sidewalk. Fido started to lick the man's face, which prompted the man, who was drunk at the time, to awaken panic and pull a knife at the sight of the dog's mouth so close to his face, stabbing Fido in self defense. With the popularity of the name peeking in the late eighteen hundreds, Fido made its way into the public consciousness during an era when mass media was taking hold in the country, and remained there for years
to come. While Fido met a tragic end, his name lives on in popular culture, signifying the platonic ideal of a friendly, faithful hoop. Today's episode was written by Laurie L. Dove, produced by Dylan Fagan, and for more on this and other topics, please visit us at how Stuff works dot com,