Pet People Pick Human Names for Their Pets

More has been written about the humanization of pets in the last 20 years than almost any relevant topic about pets. All of a sudden a bunch of articles, have come out documenting the popularity of using people names for pets as opposed to using pet names in the past. This is attributed to the fact that Pets Are Part of the Family now, so they deserve a human name. A lot of demographic information comes from the pet insurance companies. They delve into the way we care for our pets when we apply for pet insurance. This information about the most popular names of 2012 comes from Veterinary Pet Insurance Co., VPI.

Traditionally pets had names like:  Fido, Fluffy, Rex, Lassie, Mugs, Trixie, Bandit, Lady etc. Today the top 5 pet names are exactly the same as those in the top 100 names for boys and girls.

Top 5 Dog Names ’12      Top 5 Cat Names ’12           Top 5 Bird Names ’12

1.  Bella                                                1.  Bella                                                1. Charlie

2.  Bailey                                              2.  Max                                                2.  Buddy

3.  Max                                                3.  Chloe                                              3.  Bella

4.  Lucy                                                4.  Oliver                                              4.  Max

5.  Molly                                              5.  Lucy                                                5.  Angel

Bella, it should be noted, is now in the top 5 of all three lists. This is the first year it’s made it into the Bird/Exotic names. In fact, it wasnt that popular for kids until the Twilight series arrived by book and on the big screen. (Bella was the heroine.)

Now kids and pets have the same names.