What’s in a Name?
I spent months dreaming up the names for my cats. No ordinary names would do. In the end, I kept the name Fox for my sneaky, pointy-nosed, red male. I did, however, rename my other chubby male from Winston, a regal deviation from his shelter name Cedar.
Many people name their pets using descriptive, cute names. These names, because of their mass appeal, result in names that are hackneyed. For example, I can’t come close to counting the number of Chocolate Labs I see in my practice named Hershey or Cocoa. Then you have the calico named Callie, the Jack Russell Terrier named Jack, and the ever clever Deeogee (sound it out). Over the years names like Max, Buddy, Fluffy, and Shadow have reigned supreme. While there will always be a place for those names, they have yielded to trendy names that sound more like a child’s name than a pet’s.
Perhaps the changing tide in pet names revolves around the changing perception of pet’s as family members. I’d never name a child based on his skin and hair color, but Pasty Toehead Koehl does have a ring to it. Perhaps popular pet names merely lag behind popular people names. As Chloe, Zoe, Molly, and Maggie’s pet name popularity rises, their prominence as new baby names wanes. Or perhaps, we just can’t resist a cute little tabby named Daisy and a lumbering Golden Retriever named Charlie.
Check out the list of names below!
Petfinder.com Top Pet Names for 2009
For the third year in a row, the No. 1 and No. 2 names for dogs are “Buddy” and “Max.” “Lucy” took the No. 1 spot for cats, and “Smokey” came in as the second most popular feline-forename. For the first-time in recent history, “Bella” made the list for both cats and dogs. After all, all pets are beautiful, right? (Check out 2008′s most popular pet name list.) Here’s the rest:
2009 Top 10 Most Popular Dog Names
1. Buddy
2. Max
3. Daisy
4. Lucy
5. Charlie
6. Bella
7. Molly
8. Jack
9. Sadie
10. Lady2009 Top 10 Most Popular Cat Names
1. Lucy
2. Smokey
3. Midnight
4. Bella
5. Molly
6. Daisy
7. Oreo
8. Shadow
9. Charlie
10. Angel
Have a cute and original pet name? Leave it below!
