The Burrow
Sep 19, 2024
Cat and dog owners have a few more options when it comes to picking names than parents with human babies do, thanks to being fluffy and cute or having distinct characteristics like fur colouring, among others.
After all, it’s a lot more acceptable to name a dog Dozer or a cat Twinkles than it would be a human child.
But what are the most popular pet names? As pet insurance experts, we conducted a survey across Australia, Canada and the USA, totalling over 3,000 adults, to find out.
Need inspiration for your own furry friends? Check out the results below.
Looking Down Under, there was a clear theme with many of the most popular cat names ending in a “y/ie” sound, with timeless classic Fluffy taking the cake at number one. This was followed by Oscar, Tilly, Lilly, Lucy, Luna, Molly and Ollie.
Many popular dog names also had a similar end sound syllable, but for “a/ar/er” sounds, though there was a bit more variety with dog names in contrast to cat names. The number one most popular dog name in Australia is Bella, followed by Charlie, Luna, Milo, Pepper, Daisy, Max, Oscar and Teddy.
| Ranking | Top cat names | Top dog names |
| 1 | Fluffy | Bella |
| 2 | Oscar / Tilly | Charlie / Luna / Milo / Pepper |
| 3 | Lilly / Lucy / Luna / Molly / Ollie | Daisy / Max / Oscar / Teddy |
When it comes to popular cat names in Canada, there are clearly a lot of cat parents who are big fans of the Lion King movie (and who can blame them?), with Simba and Nala both making an appearance.
While popular, these names lost out to Charlie, which was the most popular cat name for Canadian cats. Pepper was equally as popular as Simba, while Nala was in third place.
Switching to dogs, Bella was a clear favourite, followed by Penny, then Charlie, Daisy, Molly and Rocky – a selection of classic pet names.
| Ranking | Top cat names | Top dog names |
| 1 | Charlie | Bella |
| 2 | Pepper / Simba | Penny |
| 3 | Nala | Charlie / Daisy / Molly / Rocky |
There is no clear theme when it comes to popular cat names for America, with numerous options that were all equally popular as each other, and all quite different to each other. The number one cat name was a tie between Baby and Kitty. These were followed by Charlie, Luna, Oreo, Sassy, Tiger, then Ash, Bandit, Bella, Blue and Maggie.
In contrast, American dog owners are set on their favourite names, with three clear distinct results. Max was the most popular, while Luna was second, and Coco was third.
| Ranking | Top cat names | Top dog names |
| 1 | Baby / Kitty | Max |
| 2 | Charlie / Luna / Oreo / Sassy / Tiger | Luna |
| 3 | Ash / Bandit / Bella / Blue / Maggie | Coco |
This table ranks the top pet names for both cats and dogs in each country, based on the total number across both types of pets in the survey results. There are multiple names for some rankings in Australia and Canada because each name was equally as popular.
| Ranking | Australia | Canada | USA |
| 1 | Bella | Charlie | Max |
| 2 | Luna/Oscar | Bella/Pepper | Luna |
| 3 | Charlie/Milo | Molly | Charlie |
| 4 | Max | Max/Nala | Coco |
| 5 | Coco/Ollie/Pepper/Tilly/Zoe | Daisy/Lola/Penny/Rocky/Ruby/Shadow/Simba | Baby |
For each country the same names kept popping up as the most popular. We took all the results for both cats and dogs combined between Australia, Canada and the USA, to see just how popular they were overall.
Charlie and Max tied for first place as the most popular pet names across all three surveyed countries together, followed by Bella and Luna in a tie for second place. Coco was the third most-popular name.
When looking at the most popular names across the globe by the age of pets, the most popular name for pets aged from birth to four years was Luna. For pets aged five to 10 it was a tie between Max and Charlie. Charlies was the number one name for cats and dogs aged 11 to 14, while the most popular name for older pets was Rocky.
| Ranking | Top names |
| 1 | Charlie/Max |
| 2 | Bella/Luna |
| 3 | Coco |
| 4 | Milo/Molly |
| 5 | Daisy/Pepper |
Looking at the survey results, most people’s pets are quite young, being aged one to four years old – so very much in the puppy/kitten phase, and just coming out of that as they mature (of course, different breeds of cat and dog will mature at different rates.
Interestingly, Australia had a higher percentage of pet owners who had old pets aged between 17 to 20, and that was the case for both cats and dogs. Also, the USA had the highest percentage of cat and dog parents whose pet was aged one, and Canada had the most cat and dog parents whose pet was aged three.
The charts below outline the ages for cats and for dogs across all countries surveyed.
Note: Where respondents had multiple pets, they were instructed to provide the age of the most recent purchase/addition to the family.
Note: Where respondents had multiple pets, they were instructed to provide the age of the most recent purchase/addition to the family.
Pet insurance can help pet owners pay for vet treatment when their cat or dog falls sick or gets injured, and for those wanting this safety net it’s important to take out coverage early on in the pet’s life.
Compare the Market’s Executive General Manager of General Insurance, Adrian Taylor, explains why.
“Pet insurance doesn’t usually cover pre-existing conditions. Cats and dogs are susceptible to develop health conditions as they age, and this is worse in some breeds,” Mr Taylor says.
“You might be able to avoid exclusions relating to pre-existing medical conditions by taking out cover early, and before any medical conditions surface. Any claim you make will still be subject to the annual limits and policy excess, as well as any other t’s and c’s. We always recommend that pet owners insure their pets while they are young and before their pets develop medical histories as this makes finding a suitable policy much easier.”
PureProfile was commissioned by Compare the Market to survey 1,005 Australian, 1,000 Canadian and 1,001 American adults in July 2024.