Names say a lot about our pets, ourselves, and our bond with our animal companions. As the year comes to an end, we like to reflect on the past twelve months with our annual Year of Comprehensive Care report, which celebrates our hospital’s achievements and highlights pet trends. One of our favorite sections is the top pet names of the year. In this blog post, we’ll give you a sneak peak of 2021’s top dog and cat names at AMC, as well as some fun names from AMC’s database.

For previous years’ list, see:

• Year of Comprehensive Care | 2020
• Year of Comprehensive Care | 2019
• Year of Comprehensive Care | 2018

And for reference, see Embrace Pet Insurance’s top pet names of 2021 from their insured pet database.

Max and Bella Are Top Dog Names Again in 2021

AMC’s top female dog names for 2021:

1. Bella
2. Lola
3. Luna
4. Coco
5. Lucy
6. Daisy
7. Chloe

AMC’s top male dog names for 2021:

1. Max
2. Charlie
3. Milo
4. Rocky
5. Toby
6. Teddy
7. Oliver

Embrace does not separate their list by gender, but Bella and Max win again: all of Embrace’s top five are also in the AMC list.

The popularity of Bella has been attributed to the Twilight Series character, Bella Swann, but Bella has been the most popular female dog name at AMC since at least 2018. Bella, or a similar word, means beautiful in many languages, and the meaning of the word may explain its popularity. According to the Social Security Administration, Bella has been a consistently popular name for baby girls since 2017.

Luna Beats Bella for the Top Cat Name

AMC’s top female cat names for 2021:

1. Luna
2. Bella
3. Lola
4. Chloe
5. Lucy
6. Cleo
7. Kitty

AMC’s top male cat names for 2021:

1. Leo
2. Max
3. Simba
4. Charlie
5. Oliver
6. Tiger
7. Milo

In 2020, Bella was also the top name for female cats, but in 2021 Luna beat Bella for the top spot. Leo and Max have been the top two male cat names for the past two years running. Embrace’s list matches AMC’s female cat names with Luna number 1 and Bella number 2, but there is some disagreement among male cat names. Oliver and Milo, which are 1 and 2 on the Embrace list, are number 4 and 6 on the AMC list. I can’t think of a reason why Oliver and Milo have fallen in our rankings. However, there does seem to be more variability in the top male cat names year-to-year than there is with the female names, so perhaps some shuffling is to be expected.

Exotic Names for Exotic pets

I am not quite sure how to explain this phenomenon, but exotic pets seem to be given incredibly clever names. Take for example rabbit names. AMC’s electronic medical record system lists rabbit names such as: Lola Nibbler Bunny; Money, the Bunny; and Cinnabun.  There are also a number of riffs on famous rabbits: Flopsy, Thumper, and Peter Cottontail. My personal bunny name favorite? Attila the Bun.

Hedgehog names tend to be more descriptive of the appearance of a hedgehog: Loofa, Spike, Spikey, Sonic, and the female version, Sonica. In my opinion, the winner in the hedgehog naming category is Quilliam Shakespeare.

Some notable and “Supreme” names are a betafish named Ruth Beta Ginsburg and a snail named, you guessed it, Atonin Snalia.

Queen “B” of Pet Names

If there is one name that crosses all species of animal, it is Beyonce. This former member of Destiny’s Child has canine, feline, guinea pig, red eared slider, bearded dragon, and rabbit patient namesakes. Naming AMC patients after Beyonce is not unique. The Linnean name of an Australian horsefly with a golden abdomen and identified in 2018 is Scapita beyonceae. All this just confirms the broad impact of Queen Bey on animal names and as well as pop culture.