What are the most popular dog names? Well, like the answer to SO many questions, that depends just who you ask and where you live!
Unlike with human baby names which are registered with the Social Security Administration, there is no one central database that records dog names.
Instead there are many lists, ranging from dogs that are registered with AKC to lists of dogs that receive subscription boxes to dogs with pet insurance. Many groups compile lists of the top dog names but those results are based on their own database.
Whether you’d like to choose one of the most popular dog names–making the name extra easy for others to understand–or you’d like to avoid the most popular names (so half the dog park doesn’t come running when you call), we’ve got you covered with numerous lists of the most common dog names!
Most Popular Girl and Boy Names
The American Kennel Club recently released their newest list of most popular dog names–and there have been some changes for 2023!
As the world’s largest purebred dog registry, you can imagine that this group has a massive database–and these were the top monikers in the past year.
According to AKC registration statistics and Canine Partners enrollments, the most popular girl’s name of 2022 was Luna and the most popular boy’s name was Max.
(Prefer something less common? Bookending the list at the bottom for girls was Zola and Willie for boys.)
The top 10 names for 2022 were:
| GIRL NAMES | BOY NAMES |
| 1. Luna | 1. Max |
| 2. Bella | 2. Milo |
| 3. Daisy | 3. Cooper |
| 4. Lucy | 4. Charlie |
| 5. Willow | 5. Teddy |
| 6. Penny | 6. Tucker |
| 7. Sadie | 7. Buddy |
| 8. Maggie | 8. Bear |
| 9. Rosie | 9. Rocky |
| 10. Ruby | 10. Leo |
Most Popular Puppy Names
Surveying its database of over 800,000 insured pets, Trupanion compiled a tail-wagger of a top 10 list. As with many US lists, Luna sits at the top of the pack, and Charlie and Bella round out the top three.
Top 10 puppy names for 2023
1. Luna
2. Charlie
3. Bella
4. Daisy
5. Lucy
6. Milo
7. Cooper
8. Bailey
9. Teddy
10. Coco
One fairly new name on the list is Teddy, especially interesting because Theodore just moved into the top 10 spot of most popular baby names in the US, according to the Social Security Administration!
MetLife Pet Insurance also noted that their list of most popular names featured a growing number of “human” names.
“There’s a long-standing discussion about giving names normally found in humans to pets – things like Oliver, Charlie or Jack versus names like Oreo, Coco and Smokey. Based on this year’s results, more people are naming their pets like they’d name a human child – another clear indication that pets are family.”
Rover put out their own list based on customer data–and that list showed a few new monikers.
In 2021, their top female names (including many that shared the top spot with human baby names) were Bella (top baby name), Luna (top baby name), Lucy (top baby name), Daisy, Zoe (top baby name), Lily, Lola, Bailey, Stella and Molly.
Top male names included Max (top baby name), Charlie, Milo, Buddy, Rocky, Bear, Leo (top baby name), Duke, Teddy and Tucker.
In fact, the names haven’t changed that much in the last decade. In 2010, petMD named the top 10 puppy names selected by their readers, five for boys and five for girls:
Boy Puppy Names
- Ace – Ace is a human moniker commonly given to dogs. Two of the most famous Aces include dog actor, Ace the Wonder Dog, and Batman’s loyal pooch, Ace the Bat-Hound.
- Aztec – Possibly named after the Aztec civilization, Aztec is not a common moniker for children, making it a unique puppy name.
- Max – Max is Latin for “greatest” and a popular baby boy name as well, making it another popular human name for male puppies.
- Byron – Byron is yet another human name, possibly coming from poet Lord Byron, famous for his wildness and debauchery. Byron is a terrific puppy name for any rambunctious pup.
- A.J. – A.J. has become a popular human name in its own right, though originally the initials probably stood for something. Perhaps perfect for the puppy that is an “awesome jumper”?
Girl Puppy Names
- Bella – Bella is French for “very pretty.” Though these days, girl puppies (and babies) named Bella are likely named after the main character from the widely popular Twilight series of books and movies.
- Abby – Short for Abigail, Abby is consistently one of the more popular girl names given to babies.
- Zoey – Meaning “life” in Greek, who wouldn’t want to name their puppy Zoey?
- Buttons – A long-standing favorite for dog names, Buttons may come from the phrase “cute as a button.”
- Daisy – A daisy is a flower, and a name commonly given to baby girls throughout the 20th century. Daisy’s popularity briefly declined, but is again on the rise.
As you can see, there are several familiar monikers among the lists!
Does the Most Popular Name Vary by State?
It’s interesting that the most popular dog names vary little to state.
A study by Bark showed that every state except Hawaii and Mississippi had either Luna, Bella, Charlie or Daisy as a top choice.
And what were the most popular names in those two states? In Hawaii, Kona was the top choice while, in Mississippi, Sadie took top honors.
Similarly Healthy Paws Pet Insurance looked at their customer list state by state and, as you can see, most of the country seems to be on the same wavelength when it comes to dog names:
| Top dog names by state | ||||
| CA | NY | TX | FL | |
| 1 | Luna | Luna | Bella | Luna |
| 2 | Charlie | Bella | Luna | Bella |
| 3 | Bella | Charlie | Coco | Max |
| 4 | Coco | Cooper | Daisy | Bailey |
| 5 | Lucy | Coco | Max | Rocky |
| 6 | Bailey | Bailey | Lucy | Cooper |
| 7 | Max | Teddy | Charlie | Lucy |
| 8 | Daisy | Lola | Cooper | Coco |
| 9 | Milo | Milo | Bailey | Charlie |
| 10 | Cooper | Max | Molly | Lola |
Most Popular Dog Names in England
And, in case you were wondering, the most popular dog names in the UK are pretty similar–but do include a few additional names that don’t make the top 10 lists in the US.
Tails.com, a UK dog food subscription company, tallied their most pup-ular names; as you can see in the infographic below, Bella, Luna, Max, Daisy and Charlie are making a lot of tails wag across the pond.
However, you’ll see some popular UK names that don’t make all of the US lists including Alfie, Milo, Roxy, Rosie and Buster.
As in the US, in the UK there’s a little fluctuation in popularity based on location.
Here’s a look at the top names by city. Only Edinburgh, with Dexter, had a top name that wasn’t in the top 20 list:
Within the cities, the top lists varied a bit; Tails noted, for example, that these are the top 10 most popular dog names in Cambridge:
- Alfie
- Bella
- Ruby
- Maisie
- Poppy
- Lola
- Luna
- Milo
- Molly
- Murphy
Most Common Names by Dog Breed
Of course, the popularity of a dog name doesn’t just vary by location–it also varies by the breed of dog!
Yappy.com, a company that produces personalized items for dogs, studied their many customer profiles and looked at the popularity of the names by each breed:
| Breed | Name |
| Affenpinscher | Gizmo |
| Akita | Storm |
| American Pit Bull | Vinnie |
| Basset Hound | Bertie |
| Beagle | Snoopy |
| Bichon Frise | Princess |
| Boxer | Bruno |
| Border Collie | Skye |
| Border Terrier | Teddy |
| Cavachon | Daisy |
| Cavalier King Charles Spaniel | Lola |
| Chihuahua | Pixie |
| Chow Chow | Winnie |
| Cockapoo | Coco |
| Cocker Spaniel | Willow |
| Corgi | Candy |
| Dachshund | Rolo |
| Dalmatian | Pongo |
| Doberman | Zeus |
| Dorkie | Dixie |
| English Bulldog | Winston |
| English Toy Terrier | Elwood |
| French Bulldog | Rocco |
| Foxhound | Ezra |
| Frug (Frenchie-Pug mix) | Bear |
| German Shepherd | Kaiser |
| Great Dane | Duke |
| Greater Swiss Mountain Dog | Heidi |
| Greyhound | Murphy |
| Hungarian Vizsla | Oscar |
| Irish Doodle | Flynn |
| Irish Setter | Finn |
| Jack Russell | Rocky |
| Labradoodle | Molly |
| Labrador Retriever | Bailey |
| Malti-Poo | Cookie |
| Miniature Poodle | Poppy |
| Old English Sheepdog | Rosie |
| Pomeranian | Misha |
| Pug | Doug |
| Rottweiler | Tyson |
| Schnauzer | Otto |
| Schnoodle | Monty |
| Scottish Terrier | Angus |
| Springer Spaniel | Jasper |
| St Bernard | Sully |
| Staffordshire Bull Terrier | Diesel |
| Weimaraner | Hudson |
| Welsh Terrier | Beazley |
| Whippet | Milo |
| Yorkshire Terrier | Toto |
Most Popular Dog Names Compared to Baby Names!
We’ve looked at the most popular names for dogs both by place and breed–but how do those compare to the most popular names for human babies? Not surprisingly, there are several similarities between human baby and fur baby names!
In the US, these are the top 10 baby names according to the Social Security Administration:
| Rank | Male name | Female name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liam | Olivia |
| 2 | Noah | Emma |
| 3 | Oliver | Charlotte |
| 4 | Elijah | Amelia |
| 5 | James | Ava |
| 6 | William | Sophia |
| 7 | Benjamin | Isabella |
| 8 | Lucas | Mia |
| 9 | Henry | Evelyn |
| 10 | Theodore | Harper |
In England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics names these as the top 10 baby names (with a lot of similarities in the top spots):
| Rank | Male name | Female name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Noah | Olivia |
| 2 | Oliver | Amelia |
| 3 | George | Isla |
| 4 | Arthur | Ava |
| 5 | Muhammad | Ivy |
| 6 | Leo | Freya |
| 7 | Harry | Lily |
| 8 | Oscar | Florence |
| 9 | Archie | Mia |
| 10 | Henry | Willow |
What do you think: popular or unique?
In looking at the list of names, the only ones we’ve had in our family are Coco and Daisy.
Coco was one of our dear cats and Daisy was the name of my childhood duck (who later became the subject of an article called “The Duck and The Dachshund” that I wrote for Reader’s Digest.)
It’s clear, however, that a lot of people love the same pet names. What do you think? Do you want a more common dog name or one that’s different and unique?
More Dog Names You Might Love
Pin it to Remember the Most Popular Dog Names
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