The above pictured cat, Bagheera, is the only pet I have that I have named. My wife had her chinchilla in college and therefor she got to choose his name, Chili. All the dogs we’ve had, Riley, Ollie, and Sandy came to us with those names and we didn’t change them. Bagheera came to us named Charlie but my father had a dog named Charlie at the time and Charlie is one of the most popular pet names out there and we couldn’t have that so we named him after the black panther from The Jungle Book despite the fact that he is a Siamese and far more Cheshire cat than Bagheera.
Now that you know somewhat of how I choose a name for a pet I will let you know that I pull up popular name lists to disqualify names. I did this for my children as well. Nearly everyone I know suggested the name Liam. Liam is the reigning, undisputed, undefeated most popular boy name of the past several years. There was no one of my sons was going to be saddled with that. I get a bit of a test of that being a David.
The top three male dog names are; Bailey, Max, and Charlie. The top three female dog names are; Bella, Lucy, and Molly. I always imagine the Bella people are hug Twilight fans and Team Edward. For male cats the most popular names are; Oliver, Leo, and Milo. For female cats they are; Luna, Bella, and Lily.
Now that you know what the most popular names are and can either eliminate them from your list or join the trend we can discuss some of the most creative pet names I have seen in my time as a professional pet care provider. Just after this word from our sponsors.
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