Most Popular Dog Names of 2017
Where is Your Dog’s Name on the List?
Rover, the online network for dog-walkers and dog-sitters, released its list of the most popular dog names for 2017. Unsurprisingly, the list is dominated by names like Max and Charlie for male dogs and Bella and Lucy for female dogs. These names top the list list year in and year out. A few cities buck the national trend of Max being the most popular male dog name. In Chicago, Denver, San Diego, Los Angles, Seattle, and Washington, DC, the most popular male name is Charlie (number two nationally.)
Top Ten Dog Names in the United States
Top Ten Male Dog Names
- Max
- Charlie
- Cooper
- Buddy
- Jack
- Rocky
- Oliver
- Bear
- Duke
- Tucker
Top Ten Female Dog Names
- Bella
- Lucy
- Daisy
- Luna
- Lola
- Sadie
- Molly
- Maggie
- Bailey
- Sophie
What’s really fun is when you dig into the data and see what trends emerged in 2017.
Women’s Names, Both Real and From Fiction
Names of powerful women, like Oprah, Madonna, Katniss (from the Hunger Games for those that are not in the know), increased by 21%. Wonder Woman-themed names were up 35%. And Atwood, the last name of the author of The Handmaid’s Tale, the novel about utopian, dystopian, feminist and postmodernist traditions and a hit TV series on Hulu, saw a rise of 200%! One name bucked this trend, Ivanka was down 77% in 2017.

Female names from television shows also reflected this trend. Of the top five names from Game of Thrones, three are for female characters. From Stranger Things, Barb and Eleven are up 182% and 166%, respectively. And if you go back to shows from the 90s, the trend continues: Buffy and Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer are both up, but the names of male characters like Spike, Angel, and Xander are down.
Doggo Lingo
We recently told you about the rise of the word “doggo” on social media. Well, Doggo Lingo, words used to describe dogs on the internet like Floof, Corgo, Cloud, Pupper, Boi, and Fluffer are all up 52%. The name Fluffer is up 500%!

Place Names
Travel destinations as pet names was also trend in 2017. A number of cities and states inspired dog names, among them: Sydney, Dallas, Rio, Phoenix, Savannah, Georgia, Montana, Indiana, Maine, and Alaska.
