Naming your “baby” is a huge responsibility. This is the name you’re going to shout down the street. The name the doctor will read from their clipboard. Your little one’s identity for life. We are, of course, talking about your pet. Yeah, sure, your human kids too.
When it comes to naming our human babies, the first stop is the Social Security Administration‘s popular baby names website. Simply go there, see the top names. Maybe you want a trendy one, maybe you’re looking for something off the beaten path. We chose “Mario” for our second boy because it’s a well-known, but not very popular name anymore (348th most popular name, down from 167th). But when it comes to pet names, it can be a bit trickier.
Pet sitter website Rover.com has released its list of the most popular dog names and cat names. They used their own user database to come up with the list, so while this isn’t the end-all-be-all, we know that pet owners that have people look after their pets so they don’t get bored use these names.
Where do these names come from?
There are some “name of the moment” dog names on the list, like Mirabel which is definitely inspired by Disney’s Encanto. There’s also Fezco which is the name of the lead character in the hit HBO show Euphoria. Cats get their own trendy names like “Hella” (west coast cats only, we assume) and “Yoongi” which is the name of one of the guys from BTS. BTS Army doesn’t play, they even have cats fighting in it.
This year is the year of “Luna“. Sure, there have been a bunch of Luna pets out there for years. But this is the first year Luna topped the list of female dog names. It also tops the list of female cat names. So. Many. Lunas.
So whether you are looking for a name that is keeping up with the times, or looking to avoid the most popular names so your friends don’t think you’re “basic,” you’ve found the list to help you name your furry friend.