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The UK’s top puppy names and trends behind them… revealed!

Choosing the name for your dog can be almost as hard as choosing for a baby! But when it comes to puppy names, it seems that it’s the family’s children that often have the biggest influence over the names of our canine family members…

We have found that, while the puppy names in the UK’s top ten have stayed largely consistent over the past five years, names that have shot up the charts are predominantly from children’s and popular culture.

Children’s favourites

Comparing puppies registered with us in 2015 and 2020, one of the bigger influences appears to have been the Disney Pixar film, The Good Dinosaur. There were 659% more puppies named Arlo - the name of the star dinosaur in the film – registered in 2020 compared with 2015 – tying in with the film’s release.

Pablo, from the children’s animated series of the same name, seems to have been the inspiration for the 200% increase in puppies of the same name. And, the Nintendo Switch game, Animal Crossing, appears to have inspired several of the top movers, with ‘Moose’ seeing an increase of 323%, ‘Peanut’ up by 186% and ‘Rocket’ at 148%.

Marvel and fantasy

For the girl puppies, ‘Nova’ was the name with the biggest increase, seeing a rise of 700%. Although a male Marvel superhero, it seems that owners think Nova is the perfect name for their female puppies. The name ‘Lyra’ – the heroine from the hugely popular BBC series, ‘His Dark Materials’ – saw a rise in popularity of 238% among puppies.

Harry Potter remains a strong influence among the UK’s choice of puppy names, with ‘Albus’ – first name of wizard Dumbledore, rising by 150% in popularity. Luna – another of JK Rowling’s characters, enjoys popularity as a puppy name not just in the UK but across Europe too. At position 1 in the UK, Luna is also in the top 3 of puppy names in Denmark, Norway and Finland.

Celebrity tributes

Bowie and Ziggy also saw big jumps in popularity in 2020 compared with 2015, at 118% and 97% respectively – possibly attributed to the musician, who died in 2016. But the biggest surge in popularity of all is the name Kobe, with a staggering 929% rise in puppies with the name joining Agria in 2020 – likely to have been named in tribute to the American basketball star Kobe Bryant who sadly died last year.

Tom Vaughan, our Head of Marketing, comments: “It’s fascinating to see the impact that the big names in children’s lives and popular culture have on names chosen for family pets - giving a good clue as to who in the family is getting the say in this all-important decision! Following these naming trends also give us a great insight into those that are losing popularity for the same reasons, such as the big drop we have seen in puppies named Elsa since 2015 – when Frozen was still at its height – with no new puppies named Olaf joining us at all in 2020.”

The King lives on

And while several names have dropped out of favour altogether and off the list – including Scarlett, Anna, Dillon and Zac – we are delighted to report that the King still lives - with the name ‘Elvis’ at position 113, up 3 places from 2015!

 

The top 50 UK female and male puppy names are:

1

Luna

Milo

2

Bella

Teddy

3

Lola

Buddy

4

Daisy

Max

5

Poppy

Monty

6

Ruby

Reggie

7

Willow

Cooper

8

Coco

Alfie

9

Rosie

Charlie

10

Nala

Bailey

11

Bonnie

Hugo

12

Molly

Archie

13

Mabel

Bertie

14

Tilly

Barney

15

Millie

Bear

16

Winnie

Ralph

17

Skye

Loki

18

Pup

Dexter

19

Maggie

Oscar

20

Roxy

Murphy

21

Betty

Freddie

22

Honey

Stanley

23

Lottie

Bruno

24

Olive

Chester

25

Lily

Woody

26

Peggy

Winston

27

Dolly

Toby

28

Penny

Frank

29

Pepper

Benji

30

Maisie

Ted

31

Belle

Rocco

32

Pippa

Rocky

33

Minnie

Arlo

34

Nellie

Finn

35

Lexi

Jasper

36

Lucy

Bruce

37

Amber

Blue

38

Bailey

George

39

Ivy

Boris

40

Dotty

Otis

41

Jessie

Leo

42

Isla

Ollie

43

Indie

Marley

44

Betsy

Ziggy

45

Dottie

Ozzy

46

Margot

Frankie

47

Jess

Henry

48

Nova

Bobby

49

Nelly

Ronnie

50

Meg

Otto

 

Names data collated from all puppies covered by an Agria Pet Insurance policy in 2015 and in 2020.

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Agria Pet Insurance Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Financial Services Register Number 496160. Agria Pet Insurance Ltd is registered and incorporated in England and Wales with registered number 04258783. Registered office: First Floor, Blue Leanie, Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP21 7QW. Agria insurance policies are underwritten by Agria Försäkring who is authorised and regulated by the Prudential Regulatory Authority and Financial Conduct Authority.


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