Would You Give Your Pet a Human Name? Over Half of People Say Yes
Dog names, cat names, human names—they’re all the same at the end of the day, right?
Like popular baby names, popular pet names can change year after year, though some tried and true names show up over and over again. In theory, people can—and do—get a little more creative with their dog names and cat names than they can with baby names, but there are still some consistent favorites: Spot and Fido, for example, have long been recognized as standard names for dogs for decades.
For anyone looking to keep track of what’s popular or trendy in the world of pet names in a given year, pet care site Rover has put together a guide of the top dog names and cat names of 2019. The annual report is based on an analysis of millions of user-submitted pet names on Rover’s site, along with a survey of 1,500 pet owners. The Top Pet Names 2019 report includes the most popular dog and cat names of the year, plus trending names and categories.
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If you want to go a more conventional route with your dog or cat name, read on for the most popular names of the year. If you think many of them seem like great names for people, too, you’re not crazy: According to Rover’s survey, 55 percent of pet parents said their pet either has a human name or they would consider giving their pet a human name, and 25 percent said they’d consider giving their pet a name they’d considered for their human child. Of the 14 most popular dog or cat names, six appear in the Social Security Administration’s list of the top 50 (human) baby names of 2018. So if you’re really stumped for a great name for your new four-legged friend, consider some popular baby names. Who says they can’t work for people and pets alike?
Top dog names in 2019
1. Bella
2. Luna
3. Charlie
4. Max
5. Lucy
6. Daisy
7. Lily
8. Zoe
9. Cooper
10. Buddy
Top cat names in 2019
1. Luna
2. Bella
3. Lucy
4. Oliver
5. Kitty
6. Charlie
7. Leo
8. Milo
9. Lily
10. Max
Even if commonly used pet names stay roughly the same each year, people pull inspiration from different sources for more unexpected names. For these trendy types, you’ll see pet names vary based on what’s popular in a given year: Remember when everyone was naming their dog Khaleesi, inspired by Game of Thrones? In 2019, according to Rover’s data, royal names were trending: Meghan, after Meghan Markle, has grown 42 percent in popularity, and Diana and Queen Elizabeth have grown 200 and 150 percent in popularity as pet names, respectively.
Other trending ideas for pet names include celebrity and pop culture names: Crew (after Chip and Joanna Gaines’s son), Stormi (after Kylie Jenner’s daughter), and Saint (after Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s son) are all increasingly popular monikers for dogs and cats, as are Lizzo, Beyoncé, Maisel (from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), and Arya (another Game of Thrones character).
Another top area of inspiration for new pet parents? Food and drink. Pet names after foods and beverages grew in popularity over the last year, with Rosé, Cake, Croissant, Cupcake, Mocha, Kona, Latte, Kale, and Keto all appearing on pet tags around the country.
