In the United States, there is an obvious trend toward giving pets a human name or nickname. Perhaps this is because more people are identifying with their pets almost as if they were children. Take a look at the following list of the 40 most popular names for dogs in the U.S. :
(by gender and in alphabetical order)
Male:
Barney, Bailey, Buddy, Buster, Casey, Charlie, Cody, Duke, Harley, Jack Jake, Max, Murphy, Rocky, Rusty, Sam, Shelby, Sparky, Toby, Winston
Female:
Abby, Annie, Bo, Chelsea, Coco, Daisy, Dakota, Ginger, Katie, Lady, Lucy Maggie, Missy, Molly, Princess, Sadie, Sandy, Sasha, Sophie, Tasha
The chances are that you know of a dog or have named your dog in a similar fashion. The chances are that you also know of a person who has one of the above names.
The trend is not exclusive to the United States:
The Top 20 Names for Dogs in Australia:
Male:
Charlie, Jack, Jake, Max, Monty, Oscar, Sam, Toby, Zach
Female:
Bonnie, Chloe, Daisy, Jess, Jessie, Lucy, Molly, Sally, Sasha, Tess, Zo?
Top 20 Dog Names in the U. K.:
Male:
Charlie, Duke, Max, Pip, Piper, Rocky, Sam, Spot, Tiny, Zak
Female:
Bonnie, Cassie, Daisy, Heidi, Holly, Jessie, Lucy, Polly, Susie, Trixie
While looking into the most popular dog names I found that many of these names are the same.
Popular names in all 3 of these countries:
Charlie, Daisy, Max, Sam, Sasha, Lucy
My son's name is Max; my dad's name is Charlie; my nickname is Daisy.
Please pardon me if I look around the next time you call your dog!
Apparently, the use of human names for dogs is not exclusive to English speaking countries:
Top Names for Dogs in France:
Male:
Andre, Balzac, Camille, Corbie, Damien, Fabien, Napoleon, Romeo
Female:
Alette, Angeline, Celeste, Danielle, Dominique, Etienne, Juliet, Michelle
Dogs are man's best friend. It makes a strange kind of sense to name them accordingly.
By Gerd Cornelius Pacher
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