If you feel like you met a lot of pets named Khaleesi this year, you might be on to something.
According to Rover, an international pet sitting and dog walking network, the Game of Thrones-inspired name surged in popularity in 2019 – becoming 300 per cent more popular than the year prior.
And Khaleesi wasn’t the only pop culture inspired pet name trend. Released Tuesday, Rover’s seventh annual Canada’s Most Popular Pet Names report shows that large portion of the country was inspired by TV shows, athletes and musicians when naming their furry friends this year – Dolly Purrton anyone?
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While Rover has been tracking name trends for seven years, the 2019 report comes with a new addition – a summary of the most popular feline names of the year.
“The names we give our pets provide a peek into our passions, aspirations, happy places, and guilty pleasures, reinforcing what we at Rover know to be true – our pets are as unique as the names we lovingly bestow upon them,” says Kate Jaffe, Rover trend expert.
Rover says the name ‘Finn’ spiked 76.3 per cent in dogs – an increase it connects to actor Finn Wolfhard, the Canadian actor famous for his role as Mike in the Netflix hit Stranger Things. The name Seth increased in popularity for dogs and cats following Vancouverite Seth Rogen’s 2018 Translink campaign and cannabis brand launch. In central and eastern Canada, Drake has remained a top pet name, while Kawhi and Leonard both made appearances on the list following the Toronto Raptors’ win.
According to Rover, Canadian cannabis legalization coincided with a 33 per cent spike in dogs named Mary Jane and the introduction of the name ‘Stoney.’
Even with the Canadian influence strong among pet owners – Rover found only three dogs named Poutine amongst pets surveyed in Europe, the U.S. and Canada. All three Poutines were Canadian.
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RuPaul inspired a number of Canadian cat names, with increases reported in the names Brooklyn, Pearl, Trixie, Jinx, Trinity, Vixen and Alaska. Cat parents also got creative with names such as Meowly Cyrus, Dolly Purrton and Ziggy Pawdust.
Rover’s survey found that the top three cat names are Luna, Bella and Oliver. Top dog names stayed the same with Charlie, Max, Cooper, Milo, Buddy and Tucker holding rank for male dogs and Bella and Luna leading amongst females.
Rover’s Top Pet Names 2019 report is created based on millions of online user-submitted pet names.
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