Nation's Leading Pet Insurer Reveals Most Popular Dog and Cat Names for 2005

PR Newswire ^ | December, 2005

[SJackson]

BREA, Calif., Dec. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- As the holidays and the New Year quickly approach, animal lovers may plan on adding a new pet to their family. Veterinarians from Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI) suggest that new pet owners take time to get to know their new fuzzy family member before deciding on a permanent name.

Below are the most popular names for dogs and cats for 2005 among policyholders with VPI, the nation's oldest and largest provider of health insurance for pets.

Dogs 1. Max 2. Baily 3. Buddy 4. Molly 5. Maggie 6. Lucy 7. Daisy 8. Bella 9. Jake 10 Rocky

Cats 1. Max 2. Tigger 3. Smokey 4. Tiger 5. Chloe 6. Shadow 7. Lucy 8. Angel 9. Oliver 10. Simba

For the third year in a row, Max is the nation's most popular pet name, based on an analysis of VPI's 360,000 pet insurance policies.

"Many pet owners consider their pets to be members of their family. As such, they give them human names like Max, Molly or Maggie, which underscores the fact that the human-animal bond is stronger than ever," says Dr. Carol McConnell, manager of veterinary education and services for VPI. "New pet owners should spend quality time with their pets, especially in the first week, to establish daily patterns of behavior and to recognize unique traits in the pet that translate into a name, such as 'Happy' or 'Diva'."

Other suggestions for naming a new pet, says Dr. McConnell, include selecting a name that is short and easy to pronounce, and to be careful not to choose a name that is too similar to a command, such as Neil or Joe, which might be confused with "heal" or "no."

About Veterinary Pet Insurance Veterinary Pet Insurance Co./DVM Insurance Agency is the nation's oldest and largest health insurance provider for pets. Providing pet owners with peace of mind since 1982, the company is committed to making the miracles of veterinary medicine affordable for all pet owners. VPI Pet Insurance plans cover dogs, cats, birds and exotic pets for thousands of medical problems and conditions relating to accidents, illnesses and injuries. Optional Vaccination & Routine Care Coverage is also available.

Policies are available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Policies are underwritten by Veterinary Pet Insurance Company in California and in all other states by National Casualty Company, an A+15 rated company in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information about VPI Pet Insurance policies, call 800-USA-PETS (800-872-7387) or visit http://www.petinsurance.com/.

[tuffydoodle]

I was looking at one of those horse for sale sites and there was a shetland named Al Ca Pony.

[elli1]

This proves that chicks name pets.

Got a new dog this year and named him 'Tex'. Din't want a metrosexual dog. ;)

[elli1]

I had a cat once named Boots, and one named Whiskers, and one named Baby (lack of inventiveness at that point in life),

LOL--Been there. Our 'Pups' went to the rainbow bridge this summer. We acquired him at a time when our children were small and the name pile had been consumed by large numbers of stuffed toy animals.

[HairOfTheDog]

Al Ca Pony? LOL ~cringe~

[AnAmericanMother]

You're assuming a lot. She's a good breeder with plenty of titled dogs - she does mostly conformation and obedience. My dog's sire and grand-dam are both Am/Can CH, her grandsire is CH as well as CD,JH,WC,WCX,and CGC. Her mom is royally bred on the field trial side - by Rascal out of a Candlewoods bitch. The breeder kind of took a flyer at breeding with a field trial Lab - got interesting pups, of which ours is probably the "wild child". Met her full brother (from the rebreeding) at a Hunt Test and he's a good hunting boy, more typey than my girl. He's doing much better than my girl (working on his Finished title already) because his handler knows what he's doing!

Fact is, since they're HER dogs and she doesn't HAVE to sell to anybody (her pups are spoken for as soon as the breeding is announced), she can put any qualifications on the sale that she likes. I thought it was a bit odd, but I like the pup and she's proven to be a good performer.

The Shellster has her UKC started title and we're going out for JH next - but we just started the retrieving game, she's been an agility dog and has her AKC OA and OAJ and AD in USDAA plus a couple of Excellent legs in AKC and Advanced Jumpers legs in USDAA. But she was born to hunt (must be her mom coming out in her), she's not very good on blinds yet ("What do you mean, you're going to tell me where that bird is? You think I can't find it on my own? Hmmph!") but she marks like a laser and thinks nothing of 100 yard retrieves.

[Rodney King]

He's orange like Morris the cat.

So's mine. He is actually Mr. Orange 2 as the first one gotten eaten by a Coyote. Anyway, I named him Mr. Orange just because he is orange, but I told my wife that I named him after Mr. Orange in the movie "Resevoir Dogs" just so she would go along with it.

[AnAmericanMother]

OMG - AlCaPony . . . call out the Pun Police! < groan >

[AnAmericanMother]

BTW, if you're in the field trial line, maybe you can tell me why somebody would NOT want to have EbonStar Lean Mac in the pedigree? Some folks with dogs at stud are noting this . . . he's not in my dog's line on that side, Way Da Go Rocky is her great-grandsire.

[tuffydoodle]

It's not a name I would choose but ya gotta admit, it's original.

[Mercat]

ooooo, my dog when I was a kid was named Boots. My first dachshund RIP was named Thunderation Puppy Poop Underfoot, Thunder for short. We had a can named Jelly Felicitious Lucifer Razzzberry Rose, Razz for short. Our current dachshund is named Pisco, which is a Peruvian brandy, pronounced peaceco. For a while we named our cats after food, Garlic, Jelly, Vinegar, etc. Our current cat is named Bob.

[Mercat]

The Naming of Cats
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, or George or Bill Bailey -
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter -
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum -
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover -
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
T. S. Eliot

[Dog Gone]

Got a new dog this year and named him 'Tex'. Din't want a metrosexual dog. ;)

LOL, good for you. Pets deserve to be named something studly. "Fluffy" doesn't cut it.

[sassbox]

Before I was born my parents had a male cat named Purt. By the time I was a little kid, all of us just called him Kitty. He died when I was 8 and we got two male kittens. My 5 year old sister and I each got to name one of the kittens. Hers became Tiger and mine became Phillip. I have no idea why I chose that name for a cat when I was 8. He was such a sweet angel kitty and he passed away in March. We all miss him terribly.

My mom recently took in two cats that previously were owned by my sister and her roommate. One is a lovely female long-hair calico named Zoe. The other is a female named Lulu. My mom named the cat Lulu. Previously she was known as Louie. The old roommate didn't know Lulu was a girl until it was time for *the operation* and hence the name Louie. My mom didn't want to call this sweet little girl cat by a boy's name.

Growing up, my husband had a schnauzer named Schatzie (German for "friend") and a cat named Penny, who was somewhat copper colored. We have no pets of our own right now and probably won't get any for awhile, due to the fact we live in an apartment. I do a lot of pet sitting to get my kitty fix. Right now I'm taking care of a black male cat named Luther. I would love to get a little plain catnip sack chewy toy for him and write "indulgence" on it in safe ink and watch him attack it.

[Huntress]

My kitties are Norman and Betty. I doubt those names would even make the top 100 cat names.

[rdb3]

Yer so ~trendy~

Thanx, I think.

[teenyelliott]

I think Mr. Beans is funny.

I wanna name my next dog Steve.

[teenyelliott]

Wait a minute . . .you have no pets? At all?

That's weird. I could not live without my furry children.

You need to at least get a turtle or something!

[Maximus of Texas]

When we moved out here 3 three ago we had a Beagle. Great dog who, at our old house, would climb trees and out at the new place had a ball roaming around. In Aug '03 she, we think, got kicked in the head by a deer and died the next day.

Since then I've been waiting to finish my barn and get a fence around the back 2.5 acres so we can at least keep any future dogs from roaming too far. As soon as the fence is up we're getting two dogs so hopefully that will happen this spring. I miss having a dog around.

A few barn cats are needed. I've got mice in the barn already.

[Varmint Al]

Cat-Dog-Names Large Collection of Cat and Dog names. Cat and dog names based on color, gender, country of origin and other categories.

Good Hunting... from Varmint Al

[teenyelliott]

Oh, man, that's terrible. Sorry.

Beagles are great dogs. And so cute. We have a big ol lab right now. Hubby wants to get a pug reeeeeally bad. I want a Newfoundland. Spouse war! Maybe we'll just get both!