Thursday 8 January 2009

What's in a name? The most popular cat and dog names in 2008

K9 magazine had a fun feature up yesterday about the most popular pet names in 2008. Most pet owners would consider their charges one of the family, and as a result more and more "human" names are taking over the lists, which were compiled from the records of 466,000 pets kept by a US insurer.

Funnily enough, the same name topped the list for both cats and dogs! It seems Max is too tempting a name to resist for owners of four-legged furries but my cat need not worry about a sudden name change - I used to have a boss called Max so it would be altogether too weird...

Here's how it stacked up in 2008:

Dogs

1. Max
2. Bailey
3. Bella
4. Molly
5. Lucy
6. Buddy
7. Maggie
8. Daisy
9. Sophie
10. Chloe

Cats

1. Max
2. Chloe
3. Tigger
4. Tiger
5. Lucy
6. Smokey
7. Oliver
8. Bella
9. Shadow
10. Charlie

Seems Chloe, Bella and Lucy are also irresistible names for both cat and dog people!

Would you choose one of these names for a new pet? Are you surprised to find your cat's or dog's name is so popular? Do you hear one name around a lot that you're surprised isn't on the list? From adding dogs for rehoming to our website I wonder if a UK list would feature Jake and Bertie (not just given to Bassetts!) in high positions.

Of course, sometimes the more unusual names come with some back story. Our cat is called Snaffle because he's an inveterate thief of unguarded food, drink and things he can chew on (for his own safety, elastic bands are banished from all but the most secure drawers). What are the stories behind your pet names?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our dog is called Riley, after the car marque, as we are both car fans and my husband refuses to give animals human names.

Plenty of our fellow dog owners in Glasgow have Westies, all with comic names; Haggis, Angus, Bert and so on.

Anonymous said...

my dogs name is puppy ( i know no imagination lol) because when she was little me and my family didnt know what to name her so untill we found a name for her we called her puppy *sigh* well it stuck but then again it was a great name for her she's the sweetest dog ever. i named my cat loki because hes sneaky and evil lmao

Unknown said...

my dog max is the most greatest dog I ever had.He likes to play all the time!!!