Space travel, COVID-19 and the Olympics are among the 2021-inspired events that influenced the naming choices for Canadian pets this year — according to recent statistics.
Rover.com — the world’s largest online marketplace for pet care — unveiled its ninth annual report of the year’s most popular pet names and trends.
This year saw a surge in pet adoption rates due to the on-going effects of the pandemic and Canadians not be able to meet friends and family freely.
“Year after year, we find that the names we give our pets are a reflection of the cultural moments that have impacted pet parents. This explains why COVID-inspired names, Olympic athletes and binge-worthy television characters have all trickled their way down to the names we hear at our neighborhood dog park,” said Kate Jaffe, trend expert for Rover.
As mentioned, COVID-19 continued to have an impact on dog names — with “Rona” and “Fauci” making their debuts this year. “Covi,” which first appeared in 2020, remained a popular dog name.
While among our feline friends — the names “Delta” (variant) and “Zoom” were both first time pet names.
Space travel dominated headlines this year, with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic both launching into space. When it came to pets — space-themed names like “Mars,” “Venus,” “Pluto” and “Titan” were certainly popular choices for dogs.
In fact, “Pluto” is the top trending dog name of the year — up 808 per cent.
The first half of 2021 was mostly spent inside our homes, so it’s no huge surprise that the small screen and the Olympics inspired pet moms and dads.
Canadian hit series, Schitts Creek, continued to be popular with characters “David” and “Twyla” both trending up for the second year in a row. The dog names “Mutt” and “Moira” on the rise — as well.
After six seasons, the tv show Lucifer came to close, and in tribute the name “Lucifer” trending up nearly 60 percent for cats.
Pet owners — like in years past — did not forget about Game of Thrones as the show marks the 10th anniversary of its first episode. “Dragon,” “Arya,” “Winter” and “Stark” all big pet names for 2021.
Finally, some Canadian athletes had some great moments at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, and that was reflected in the name selections for pet parents. The most popular Olympic athlete-inspired names are “Maggie” [MacNeil], “Penny” [Oleksiak] and “Andre” [De Grasse].
Toronto Top 10 Female Dog names:
1. Luna
2. Bella
3. Coco
4. Daisy
5. Lola
6. Nala
7. Lucy
8. Bailey
9. Molly
10. Rosie
Toronto Top 10 Male Dog names:
1. Milo
2. Leo
3. Charlie
4. Max
5. Teddy
6. Simba
7. Bruno
8. Rocky
9. Loki
10. Buddy
Toronto Top 10 Female Cat names:
1. Luna
2. Lola
3. Bella
4. Sophie
5. Daisy
6. Lily
7. Coco
8. Lucy
9. Cookie
10. Frankie
Toronto Top 10 Male Cat names:
1. Oliver
2. Oscar
3. Leo
4. Simba
5. Finn
6. Henry
7. Milo
8. Bear
9. Felix
10. Gus
