The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center will soon release its 2023 Year of Comprehensive Care report, highlighting all of the hospital’s accomplishments and activities over the past year. I am going to give you a fun preview of one of the most popular features of the report – the top pet names for 2023. I‘ll also look at how our list compares to nationwide trends.

Top Dog Names of 2023

Bella is the top female dog name at AMC for the 5th consecutive year. Nationally, Luna is the top female dog name, and Bella is number two. Bella’s popularity as a name for baby girls started to climb in 2009, which suggests the name’s popularity may stem from Bella Swan, protagonist of the Twilight vampire romance novels, which were published and adapted for film throughout the late 2000s.

Buddy beat out Max as the top male dog name for the first time since 2019. Nationally, Max got bumped out of his top spot after a decade, making Charlie the number one male dog name. Buddy came in at number five, nationally.

Top Cat Names for 2023

Bella was not only the number one female dog name at AMC, but it was also the number one female cat AND female exotic pet name! For some reason, New Yorkers love their vampires. Rounding out AMC’s top five female cat names are Chloe, Coco, Kitty and Lily. This list is similar but not an exact match for the Healthy Paws list of top feline monikers of 2023 where Luna was number one, Lily number three and Bella ranked in the top ten. The popularity of Luna can be linked to Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter series and Chrissy Tiegen and John Legend’s daughter.

Male cat names at AMC, ranked from one to five, are Charlie, Jack, Leo, Loki and Max. Leo, Loki, Charlie and Max can also be found on the Healthy Paws top ten name list for 2023. Most interesting on the two lists is Loki. The popularity of the name is mostly like derived from the eponymous television program on Disney+ based on a Marvel Comics character. The original Loki is a Norse God, a trickster and shapeshifter. An apt description of a young male cat, perhaps explaining the popularity of Loki as a cat name.

The Connection Between Pet Names and Baby Names

While searching common pet names, I ran across a list of the top names given to New York City babies in 2022. Like AMC’s data on common pet names, the names given to babies seem not to change much year to year. In New York City, Emma has been the top choice for girls since 2017, and Liam has been the top choice for boys since 2016. In our 2022 Year of Comprehensive Care report, the most popular female cat name was Luna, and it was also the second most popular female dog name. In the same year, it was the ninth most popular name for New York City baby girls, but there was no overlap at all between male dog and baby boy names.

What’s in a Name?

The Rover.com report also discusses how our choice of pet names reflects memorable moments in popular culture. From strong female leads to blockbuster hits, favorite comfort foods and nostalgic pop culture icons, our cultural diet has impact on how we choose to relate to our pets. However, AMC’s list reflects stability and familiarity. To paraphrase William Shakespeare, “that which we call a pet, by any other name would be equally loved.”