Name That Dog!
Gisele and I have an ongoing thing about names. She prefers to name our dogs after people. I prefer to name them after food, places, feelings,… anything but people! One thing we do agree on is that we won’t use common names or repeat names. No Max, Buddy, Molly or Sadie!
When we get stumped I turn to one of my favorite name sites, PetNamesWorld.com . Here we can even search based on country of origin or meaning! Step aside Max, and make way for Sir Wiggle Woof!!!
It was fun to see the Veterinary Pet Insurance Company’s list of most popular names for 2010. From their website:
Call it the “Twilight Effect.” In 2010 “Bella” retained its position as the most popular dog name for the second year in a row, and surpassed “Chloe” to assume the second most popular name for cats. Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the nation’s oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance, sorted its database of more than 485,000 insured pets to determine last year’s most popular pet names. In addition to the Top 10 Dog and Cat Names, VPI for the first time has included the Top 10 Exotic Pet Names in its annual pet names analysis. Although “Charlie” may have ranked lower for dogs (No. 9) and cats (No. 10) last year, the name takes the top spot for birds, lizards, gerbils, rabbits and other assorted exotic pets.
| Dogs | Cats | Exotics | |
| 1. Bella | 1. Max | 1. Charlie | |
| 2. Bailey | 2. Bella | 2. Baby | |
| 3. Max | 3. Chloe | 3. Sunny | |
| 4. Lucy | 4. Oliver | 4. Jack | |
| 5. Molly | 5. Lucy | 5. Kiwi | |
| 6. Buddy | 6. Smokey | 6. Bandit | |
| 7. Maggie | 7. Shadow | 7. Bella | |
| 8. Daisy | 8. Tiger | 8. Max | |
| 9. Charlie | 9. Tigger | 9. Sammy | |
| 10. Sophie | 10. Charlie | 10. Gizmo | |
Of the nearly half a million pets insured by VPI, only 13 were named “Fido,” reflecting the current trend of owners giving their pets human names. Nearly every dog name on VPI’s Top Ten Pet Names list doubles as a popular human name, and several of the more traditional feline names—“Tiger” and “Tigger”—decreased in popularity between 2009 and 2010.
“We know that nearly half of pet owners today view their pets as a part of their family,” said Curtis Steinhoff, director of Corporate Communications at VPI. “Given that pets are considered family members, it makes sense that pet owners are selecting human-oriented names like ‘Max’ or ‘Charlie.’”
Not all the pet names in VPI’s database are as common as Bella and Max. Thousands of VPI policyholders have given their pets names not shared by any other pet on record, such as “Pickle Von Corndog” and “Admiral Pancake.” To see some of the more creative monikers selected for VPI’s Top 10 Most Unusual Pet Names of 2010, visit www.wackypetnames.com.
2 thoughts on “Name That Dog!”
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I agree with your details , excellent post.
I ALWAYS try and name my pets something unique, and special to their personality.
My Corgi is named Weezer (like the band!) and we joke that if he were AKC registered, we'd call him "Sir Rivers Maladoit the Red". All of which are Weezer albums! 🙂
My big dog's name is "Xander, Keeper of the Equinox" on account his father was a showdog, and had a swanky name. I feel Xan's at least HALF royalty, so he deserved a respectable title.
When naming a pet, I feel as if the name has to be a summation of personality. The name is the first thing you learn about a dog, and and an interesting name leads to a better–if not at the very least– a more interesting first impression.