(Pictured: Sharon, a previous resident of BCHS)

For many people, pets are family and as a result a lot of thought goes into the perfect name for their new furry family member. Should you go with something traditional like Sparky or Buddy?  Maybe name them after a celebrity, favorite athlete or team? Perhaps a book character, or something truly unique and personal?   So many possibilities to consider and finding what fits the personality of the animal is also a big part of finding the perfect name for your new pet.

Wondering how the pet name you chose stacks up with others? Well, it turns out that there is actually an annual list of most popular pet names for dogs and cats that is published each year by an online pet services site called Rover.com.  According to the online network of pet sitters and dog walkers, Max and Bella are the most popular dog names while Luna and Oliver top the list for cats. 

Some of the other names making the top ten cut for dogs are Daisy, Molly, Bailey, Teddy, Cooper, Buddy, Rocky and Charlie to name a few.  For cats, Milo, Simba, Loki, Stella, Nala, Lucy, and Chloe are some of the top ten cat names.  The annual list is broken down into male and female cat and dog names and ranked in order of popularity as polled by the company. A trend that was noticed when polling people is that more and more pet owners tend to be giving their pets human names as opposed to the Fido’s of the past.

Interestingly enough, much like how a new pet owner puts a lot of thought into naming their new pet, so do we at the shelter.  When we get new animals at the shelter, we try to come up with names that are a good fit for our new friends. Studies have shown that creative name for shelter pets help them to get adopted. Recently a shelter in Virginia named a one of their cats Dennis Quaid after the actor and posted about the cat online to try and get it adopted. The actual Dennis Quaid found out about the cat and ended up adopting it! While stories like this are actually quite rare, it goes to show that names do matter. 

So the next time someone tells you that it’s odd to give your pet a human name or mocks your Harry Potter themed cat names let them know that you are not alone!