Meghan Markle & Prince Harry Gave Their Adopted Black Lab An Adorably Creative Name

It's been a question that has remained unanswered among royal watchers for too long, but finally Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's dog's name has been revealed. And no big surprise here, it's cute and full of meaning.

Back in 2018, when Prince Harry and Markle were first married, the couple adopted a black Labrador rescue dog, as The Sun reported. Since the, news outlets have been sidetracked with bigger news from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, like when they welcomed baby boy Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in May 2019 or when they made history by stepping away from their senior royal roles in January 2020, moving to Los Angeles to start their new lives.

Still, the name of their pup has alluded us all. Until now. According to royal journalists Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand's reporting in their new book Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, the couple's dog's name is Pula.

The name Pula has a particularly personal meaning for the couple; as Scobie and Durand reported, it is the official currency of Botswana, the country in Africa where the two shared a very special holiday at the outset of their romance. Not long after they started dating in 2016, according to Town & Country, Prince Harry invited Markle to camp in Botswana with him for a week, and their romance got serious pretty quickly afterwards. The word Pula is also is the word for rain in Setswana, by the way, which is considered a blessing in dry Botswana.

Certainly the couple's dogs have reportedly been a blessing for 15-month-old Archie. Back in May, People reported that a source close to the Sussex family said that Archie's two "best friends" are his dogs. Pula along with Markle's rescue beagle Guy — who has been in her life since she adopted him from a high-kill shelter in 2015, according to The Dodo — are said to "make him laugh and are very gentle with him."

Of course, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have not confirmed this is their lab's name, but it sure does make sense that Prince Harry and Markle would choose a name with a link to their time in Africa. Not only did the couple go on a romantic camping outing there, they also went back to help out with Elephants Without Borders in 2017. Africa clearly means a lot to Pula's parents.