A Nominal Phrase

[Linus2005]

Could anyone please tell me the meaning of this nominal phrase,

"an ugly dog of a name", in the sentence

" I grew up with an ugly dog of a name, one i love because i thought it was weird and unlovable" ?

[Tdol]

A dog is something unpleasant or ugly, so the name was an ugly one.

[Linus2005]

Thanks, tdol.

I just don't understand why "an ugly dog" is a modifier in this nominal phrase instead of a stem part.

It is different from other phrases, like " the legs of the table", where "legs" is the centre of the phrase, "table", modifier.

Are there any grammatical explanations on this?

[Tdol]

'Dog' modifies because it changes the meaning, so it is closer to adjectival in function:
A manager
A dog of a manager = the type of manager