Gone are the days when all the dogs on the road ran towards you when you called out ‘Scamp’. It turns out that in 2012, pet-owners are more inclined to christen their pooch with a human name and Bella and Max have topped this year’s list.
For a sixth year in a row Bella has featured in the list of most popular dog names due to the success of the Twilight franchise, while Max has topped the list of male names for the seventh year running.
The research, conducted by US company Vetstreet analysed the names of 1.26 million puppies born in 2012 and revealed that people are giving their dogs human names to make them feel like a more important part of the family.
“As people develop deeper bonds with their dogs, it makes perfect sense that they’d name them in a way that humanizes them,” a spokesperson for Vetstreet said.
Max and Bella are the most popular dog names of 2012
Since 2011, there have been some slight changes to the list with names such as Molly, Chloe, Charlie, Buddy and Cooper remaining in the top five.
Bentley, a name made popular by Teen Mom star Maci Bookout, holds the number seven spot on the list but awkwardly hasn’t influenced American birth records.
Names such as Buster and Toby have also fallen in popularity.
Meanwhile, researchers predict that just like baby names, the Gods will influence dog names in 2013 with Zeus and Thor expected to rank high.
If you’re naming a pooch this December, names such as Rosie, Luna, Nala, Milo, Gunner and Blue will rank highly in next year’s list!
