Taylor Swift, Wayne Gretzky, Barbie: here are some of the trendiest animal names in Canada for 2023

Iconic artists, legendary athletes and blockbuster hits inspired some of the hottest baby names that stole the show in 2023, according to a new report.

A ranking published Tuesday by the site of animal care providers Rover.com suggests that several of Canada’s most popular pet names were inspired by pop culture this year, proving that the latest trends and cultural moments influence our daily lives and those of our four-legged friends too.

The ranking is based on Rover’s analysis of millions of user-submitted pet names provided by pet parents online between September and October 2023.

Rover said animal names reflect what’s going on in the world, which is probably why, after a successful, record-breaking world tour, Taylor SwiftSome inspirational names have appeared on this year’s list. Names inspired by her song and album titles, such as Midnight, August, Betty, Lavender and Karma, were increasingly popular for dogs and cats in 2023.

Use of the name Swifty increased 173% this year among cats, while the name Swift appeared on the list for the first time. Swifty was also new to the dog list in 2023.

Meanwhile, use of the name Travis — inspired by Swift’s new boyfriend, an American football player Travis Kelce – jumped 31 percent from last year.

In the world of sports, other athletes like hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and 2023 Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid have also inspired Canadian dog names this year. New to the list this year is the name Canucks, inspired by ice hockey.

This year it was also barbie. The Barbie name for dogs was up 34 percent over last year and Sasha, a strongly anti-Barbie movie character, was up 18 percent. The name Margot is up 12% among cats, likely inspired by Barbie actress Margot Robbie. Ken and Beach were also on the cat list this year.

Cat parents also love Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal, whose music videos are very popular on the social media app TikTok. The name Pedro increased by 23 percent and Pascal increased by 473 percent compared to last year.

Mandalorian-inspired names for TV shows were also up for cats, with Ahsoka up 573 percent, Mando up 473 percent and Luke up 90 percent. For dogs, Grogu was up 91 percent and Mandalorian was new to the list.

TASTY NAMES

Tasty names for dogs and cats also saw a slight increase this year. For dogs, the most popular food-inspired names were Cupcake, Almond, Yuka, Banana, and Maple. For cats, burrito, cake, brie and chips were the most popular, with turkey and gouda new to the list.

Cat Food Inspired Names of 2023. (By Rover.com)

MOST COMMON ANIMAL NAMES

Meanwhile, the list of most common names for cats and dogs included some of the usual suspects.

The top 10 cat names were:

1. Moon
2. Read
3. Bella
4. Lucy
5. Nala
6. willow
7. Rosie
8. Cleo
9. Lola
10. Kitty

The most common male cat names were:

1. Leo
2. Milo
3. Charlie
4. Olivier
5. Simba
6. Loki
7. Max.
8. Jasper
9. Jack
10. Felix

For dogs, the most common names, female and male, were:

1. Moon
2. Charlie
3. Bella
4. Milo
5. Daisy
6. Max.
7. Cooper
8. coconut
9. Molly
10. Bailey

Top 5 Popular Dog Breeds and Their Trending Names (By Rover.com)