Naming a pet is a lot more fun than naming a human because names like Tofu, Princess, and Waffles are fair game. Even with the wide array of food-themed and kitschy names available, you'll be surprised to learn that the most popular pet names for cats and dogs this year are surprisingly mild.
Rover, an online marketplace for pet services like dog walking, released its seventh annual report revealing the most popular names for dogs and cats of the year. To develop the ranking, the company analyzed millions of user-submitted pet names provided by pet owners, then it collected additional data through a survey of 1,500 US adult pet owners this fall.
“The names we give our pets provide a peek into our passions, aspirations, happy places, and guilty pleasures, reinforcing what we at Rover know to be true: our pets are as unique as the names we lovingly bestow upon them,” Kate Jaffe, trend expert for Rover, said in a press release.
Though this may be true for some dogs and cats, I wonder what the name "Buddy" or "Bella" signifies about our passions. A trend that Rover did pick up on is that more and more pet owners are humanizing their cats and dogs with "human" names, which makes sense because millennials are too scared to have children of our own thanks to our anxieties about the climate crisis... so we'll treat our pets like our babies instead.
Nevertheless, here are the most popular pet names, per the Rover report:
Most Popular Names for Female Dogs
10. Bailey9. Sadie
8. Molly
7. Lola
6. Zoe
5. Lily
4. Daisy
3. Lucy
2. Luna
1. Bella
Most Popular Names for Male Dogs
10. Teddy9. Duke
8. Bear
7. Jack
6. Milo
5. Rocky
4. Buddy
3. Cooper
2. Charlie
1. Max
Most Popular Names for Female Cats
10. Stella9. Daisy
8. Sophie
7. Chloe
6. Nala
5. Lily
4. Kitty
3. Lucy
2. Bella
1. Luna
Most Popular Names for Male Cats
10. Jasper9. Oscar
8. Loki
7. Simba
6. Jack
5. Max
4. Charlie
3. Milo
2. Leo
1. Oliver
These are just the top 10 in each category, so check out Rover's full report for the complete ranking.
There's definitely some crossover of popular dog and cat names, including Bella which takes the top spot for female dogs and the second best for female cats. Jack, Charlie, and Max also appear for both male dogs and cats.
If you're thinking of getting a pet sometime soon, maybe try for something more original than Lucy and Charlie? At this point, it seems like Fido, Fluffy, and Lucky might be rare names.
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