The words Bichon Frise actually mean "fluffy little dog". This was the name given to the breed in 1933 by the European Kennel club (Federation Cynologique Internationale) when there was a huge discussion as to what to name the breed, which had applied for registration in the stud book. There had existed since before the time of Christ several varieties of the small white fluffy dog, throughout Europe and South America. The little dog had been called by many names, including the Dog of Havana, the Dog of Holland, the Dog of Bologna and others. Actually it is most likely that these original names represented variations of this breed and later these variations did receive their own designations of the Bolognese and Havanese. At any rate, the "fluffy little dog" that was always white became known as the Bichon Frise, usually just designated the "Bichon" .