This past year has been an eventful one in the dog-naming world. After a decade, Max fell from the top spot on the male dog name list, and 1990s nostalgia dominated naming trends.
That’s all according to the 11th annual pet names report from Rover, an online pet care marketplace. Rover developed the report between September and October based on an analysis of millions of user-submitted pet names provided to Rover.com.
Here’s the list of top male dog names for 2023
1. Charlie
2. Max
3. Cooper
4. Milo
5. Buddy
6. Teddy
7. Rocky
8. Bear
9. Leo
10. Duke
Here’s the list of top female dog names for 2023
1. Luna
2. Bella
3. Daisy
4. Lucy
5. Lily
6. Lola
7. Zoe
8. Sadie
9. Stella
10. Bailey
These names aren’t the whole story. Rover found that 90s nostalgia was a big driver for names this year. Alanis, as in Alanis Morrissette, is up 547%, Ginger Spice is up 47%, and there are now dogs named after Shania Twain. Drew Barrymore was up 297% as a dog name, Halle Berry was up 97% and Winona (as in Winona Ryder) was up 19%. Kelly Kapowski from “Saved by the Bell” made the list too.
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“Friends” names like “Chanandler Bong” take on a bittersweet meaning this year after the loss of star Matthew Perry.
There was also a Leonardo Dogcaprio on the list, as well as Richard Gere, Special Agent Fox Mulder from the 90s science fiction favorite “The X-Files” and Brad Pitt.
Cornell – like Chris Cornell, lead singer of Soundgarden – was up 64%. Nirvana was up 56% and there was even a Dave Growl on the list. Tupac, Big Boi, Dre, Snoop, Missy, Biggie, and Pepa were all on the list as well, as well as boy band names like Hanson.
Along with music and pop culture nostalgia, 90s sports were also inspiring pet parents this year. Baseball names like Griffey, Sosa, Ripken, Jeter, and Piazza made the list, along with basketball names like Jordan, Shaquille, Ewing, and Rodman. Of course, Air Bud was on the list too amidst all the 90s names.
Even 1990s toy-inspired names this year. These include Furby, up 27%; Nerf, up 17%; Polly Pocket, up 14% and Elmo, up 9%.
However, not all the trending names this year are from the last decade of the 20th century. Netflix’s series “Wednesday” from this year inspired names such as Wednesday Addams (up 297%), Enid (up 217%) and Thing (up 197%). Pedro Pawscal also made the list, a nod to the star of “The Last of Us” and “Mandalorian”.
Sports fans also made Kelce the top trending dog name in the U.S. “likely inspired by the Kelce brothers, who faced off at last year’s Super Bowl,” according to Rover. Travis Kelce has also been making headlines since he started dating pop icon Taylor Swift. Names inspired by Swift were also up this year as she took her Eras tour across the U.S.
Another trend from our current century is social media and tech inspired names such as Twitter (up 247%), Elon (up 11%) and Musk (up 47%). It also seems like the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have an impact on dog names, with Virus (up 197%) and Covid (up 42%).
As we head into 2024, we’re all looking towards the upcoming presidential election. It’s unclear if pet naming provides any insight into who might win – if it does, the results are certainly interesting.
“On one side of the aisle, Alexandria is up 83%, Kamala is up 31%, and Nancy is down -22%,” said Rover. “On the other side, Santos is up 5%, while Donald, Trump, and Mitch are all trending down. We are thrilled to report that Ruth Bader Ginsbark is new to the list this year.”
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