What were the most popular dog names of 2019?
What were the most popular dog names of 2019?
For the seventh year in a row, the dog-walking and pet-sitting company Rover tabulated the 100 most popular dog names of 2019, separated by male and female names.
Human names took up most of the top spots, which has been the case in the recent past, while traditional dog names like Shadow, Copper and Bandit all ranked in the middle at best.
As word nerds, we here at Dog O’Day take naming our pets very seriously, and so we will presently break down the 2019 results with etymology and everything. But first, please check out our breakdowns of the 2017 and 2018 rankings.
“The names we give our pets provide a peek into our passions, aspirations, happy places, and guilty pleasures, reinforcing what we at Rover know to be true: our pets are as unique as the names we lovingly bestow upon them,” Kate Jaffe, Rover trend expert, said in a press release.
For male dogs, Star Wars and Greek and Norse mythologies provided lots of inspiration within the Top 100, while for female dogs, food names and flowers seemed to be very popular sources of inspiration, though mythology and Disney names also ranked very highly.
This year Rover also ranked the top cat names for the first time ever, with the rather unimaginative Kitty being one of the top names, along with Luna and Bella.
What are the most popular dog names of 2019 for female dogs?
What are the most popular dog names of 2019 for female dogs? There was a little bit of change this year as compared to last, though mostly names just shuffled positions.
Still, two new names cracked the Top 10, which meant that Stella (2018 No. 10) and Maggie (2018 No. 9) got pushed out.
Unless otherwise stated, all etymology comes from the 1998 book The Very Best Baby Name Book in the Whole Wide World, by Bruce Lansky.
No. 10 – Bailey
2018 ranking: No. 8
Down a little from last year, Bailey comes from French and means “steward.” Though it’s a unisex name (for male dogs it ranked No. ), it tends to be thought of as more of a feminine name.
No. 9 – Sadie
2018 ranking: No. 6
Though losing popularity this year, Sadie is a good general dog name, possibly helped by Duck Dynasty’s Sadie Robertson. According to the website BabyCenter, it started as a English nickname for Sarah, which means “princess,” before becoming a name in its own right.
No. 8 – Molly
2018 ranking: No. 7
Down a bit, Molly is an Irish derivative for Mary, which means “bitter” in Hebrew.
No. 7 – Lola
2018 ranking: No. 5
Down several spots this year, the name Lola could be a shortened version of the Spanish Carlotta, Dolores or Louise, though we always leap to Lola Bunny from Space Jam or Phil Coulson’s car in Agents of SHIELD.
No. 6 – Zoe/Zoey
2018 ranking: No. 14
Skyrocketing up from No. 14 in 2018, Zoe (also sometimes spelled Zoey) is Greek for “life,” which seems like a great name for a dog (or a daughter). It’s also the name of the dog of The Gifted actress Emma Dumont, and Denny’s daughter in both the novel and the movie versions of The Art of Racing in the Rain.
No. 5 – Lily
2018 ranking: No. 15
Also sailing up the list like wildfire, Lily is a common flower, and is possibly influenced by the popularity of actress Lily James (2015 Cinderella, Baby Driver, Yesterday). Also, it could have risen in popularity due to Lily and Teddy, a pair of British Golden Retrievers who are well-known among the Dogs of Twitter (their handle is @GoldenLily2017).
No. 4 – Daisy
2018 ranking: No. 4
Another flower name, Daisy is a good general all-purpose name for dogs, possibly helped by Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley.
No. 3 – Lucy
2018 ranking: No. 2
Down a bit this year, Lucy comes from Latin and can mean “light” or “bringer of light.” It’s possible that its popularity has spiked due to Pretty Little Liars actress Lucy Hale, though we prefer to think it’s because of Lucy Van Pelt from Peanuts.
No. 2 – Luna
2018 ranking: No. 3
Up slightly this year, Luna is Latin for “moon,” which is also where we get the word “lunatic.” Hopefully your Luna isn’t one.
No. 1 – Bella
2018 ranking: No. 1
For at least the third year in a row, Bella reigns supreme as the top choice among the most popular dog names of 2019. It’s a shortened form of Isabella, which is the Spanish form of Elizabeth. It might also be a reference to Phineas and Ferb’s Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, who owns a vvery shaky Chihuahua named Pinky.
What are the most popular dog names of 2019 for male dogs?
What are the most popular dog names of 2019 for male dogs? There was some movement this year as compared to last, and two names fell out of the Top 10 entirely in Oliver (No. 10) and Tucker (No. 9).
Unless otherwise stated, all etymology comes from the 1998 book The Very Best Baby Name Book in the Whole Wide World, by Bruce Lansky.
No. 10 – Teddy
2018 ranking: No. 15
A new name in the Top 10 this year, Teddy is short for Theodore, which is Greek in origin and means “gift of God.” Everyone immediately thinks of Theodore Roosevelt, either the historical version or Robin Williams’ character in the underrated and immensely-quotable, though sadly dogless, Night at the Museum trilogy.
No. 9 – Duke
2018 ranking: No. 7
Duke falls from No. 7 down to No. 9 this year. We instantly think of the Bush’s Beans mascot of the same name, or the Duke University Canine Cognition Center, though others may think of legendary Western actor John Wayne.
No. 8 – Bear
2018 ranking: No. 8
Some dogs do look like bears, so this makes sense, although it’s also a little boring. It could also be a reference to adventurer Bear Grylls, however, whose personality would fit most dogs.
No. 7 – Jack
2018 ranking: No. 5
Jack falls a bit this year, it’s a nickname form of John, which means “God is gracious” in Hebrew. Though it could be a reference to a pioneer of dog literature in author Jack London, it’s more likely a reference to the patriarch of the clan on the NBC drama This is Us.
No. 6 – Milo
2018 ranking: No. 11
Skyrocketing from No. 11 to No. 6, Milo is probably up this year due to actor Milo Ventimiglia starring as Jack in This is Us and as Denny Swift in The Art of Racing in the Rain.
Milo is also the name of the cat in the quirky and beloved film Milo and Otis. According to the website Baby Name Wizard, its origins and meaning are unknown, though it could come from a German word that means “calm” or “merciful.”
No. 5 – Rocky
2018 ranking: No. 6
Cracking the Top Five is Rocky, which is a solid general name, particularly if you’re a fan of boxing movies.
No. 4 – Buddy
2018 ranking: No. 4
Buddy is one of the grand classics of basic dog names, so even though it’s a little overused, it never goes out of style, either. Works particularly well for sporty Golden Retrievers.
(See our movie reviews of the Air Bud movies World Pup, Seventh-Inning Fetch, and Spikes Back, in addition to the spinoff sequels Air Buddies, The Search for Santa Paws, and Santa Paws 2.)
No. 3 – Cooper
2018 ranking: No. 3
In exactly the same place as last year, Cooper stays steady at the third-most popular of the male dog names. A cooper is someone who makes barrels, so it seems a little odd that the name is so common, given that barrels are rarely used in our society nowadays.
No. 2 – Charlie
2018 ranking: No. 2
For the third year in a row, Charlie comes as the runner-up. It’s short for Charles, which means “farmer” in German and “strong and manly” in English. These are good qualities for a dog to have, particularly if it’s part of the Working Group, though it’s a little on the plain side.
When we hear the name Charlie we think of Charlie Conway from The Mighty Ducks trilogy, Charlie Brown from Peanuts, and Charles Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie.
No. 1 – Max
2018 ranking: No. 1
For at least the fourth year in a row, Max reigns as the top choice when it comes to most popular dog names of 2019, which could either be a shortened form of the Latin Maximilian, which means “greatest” (that makes sense), or the English Maxwell, which means “great spring” (much less interesting, though also less pretentious).
What were the most popular cat names of 2019?
For the first time in the history of the survey, the most popular cat names of 2019 were also tabulated by Rover, and the top five are going to be recapped here.
Again, unless otherwise noted, we’re using the etymology from Bruce Lansky’s 1998 book The Very Best Baby Name Book in the Whole Wide World.
The top 10 most popular cat names of 2019 (male and female)
No. 10 – Stella and Jasper
These have fallen out of fashion for human names, both popular in the mid-nineteenth century, but they’re both good names. Stella is Latin for “star,” and Jasper is French for a “green ornamental stone,” or an English form of Casper.
Jasper is also one of Cruella De Vil‘s henchmen in Dodie Smith’s novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians and its various film adaptations.
No. 9 – Daisy and Oscar
Daisy’s popularity has already been covered here, though we’ve had two farm cats with that name, and Oscar is Scandinavian for a ‘divine spearman.” That fits a cat well, though we immediately think of hot dogs when we hear the name.
No. 8 – Sophie and Loki
These are both purrfect cat names. Sophie is a nickname form of Sophia, which is Greek for “wise.” Loki, of course, is the Norse god of mischief, played by Tom Hiddleston in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
No. 7 – Chloe and Simba
These both come from movies – Chloe (which means “blooming” or “verdant” in Greek) is Lake Bell’s character in the Secret Life of Pets movies, while Simba is the lion from The Lion King, which was unnecessarily remade in a live-action format earlier this summer.
No. 6 – Nala and Jack
Nala is, of course, the female lion from The Lion King (voiced by Beyonce in the remake), while Jack’s popularity was discussed earlier.
No. 5 -Lily and Max
Lily and Max were both covered earlier, though it should be noted that one of the cats in Alice and Martin Provensen’s wonderful picture book The Animals of Maple Hill Farm is named Max.
No. 4 – Kitty and Charlie
These are honestly incredibly boring names, though one of Wesley’s sisters has a cat named Kitty. Charlie was been covered above.
No. 3 -Lucy and Milo
Fine names, covered above. Milo fits a cat much better, particularly if he’s orange, considering he was the cat in Milo and Otis.
No. 2 – Bella and Leo
These go well on cats. Bella has been covered above, and is the name of the cat of one of Wesley’s friends.
Leo is Latin for “lion,” which house cats often act like their much larger, wilder cousins, so it works. It. It could also be a reference to Leonardo Da Vinci, actor Leonardo DiCaprio (The Quick and the Dead, Titanic, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
No. 1 – Luna and Oliver
Luna has been covered above, and seems to fit cats better than it does dogs, while Oliver, coming from Latin, straighforwardly means “olive tree,” though Lansky also lists a Scandinavian origin meaning “kind and affectionate.”
It could also be a reference to Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) of the Arrowverse, also known as the Green Arrow, which seems very appropriate, given the stealthy and solitary nature of both cats in general and Queen.
For the full report of the most popular dog names of 2019, see here.