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Naming cats and dogs: New figures show we like giving our animals celebrity names
The research, based on 70,000 pets from clinics in Dublin, Meath and Kildare, also shows a decline for some of the more traditional monikers.
3.30pm, 20 Oct 2014
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NEW RESEARCH INTO what we name our pets has brought bad news for traditionalists everywhere.
It seems the Gandalfs, the Hectors and the Bonos have taken their place alongside the Rovers and the Fidos of this world.
New research has looked at data from 70,000 pets and found a trend of people giving their animals celebrity names.
In the list of 200, many traditional names still featured – although some former stalwarts were less popular than might have previously been thought.
The names ‘Rover’ for dogs and the name ‘Whiskers’ for cats were listed between numbers 150 and 200 on the list of popular names.
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Also examined in the study was the divide between the northside and southside of Dublin when it came to naming animals. North of the river the names Sam, Jack and Ben came out as most popular, while on the other side of the Liffey: Daisy, Roxy and Buddy were favoured.
Baby names
Interestingly there was a correlation between pet names and children’s names. CSO statistics showed that in 2013: Jack, Charlie, Holly and Lucy were all popular baby names. These were all also in the top 25 when people came to selecting names for their felines and canines.
Speaking about the change in the names we give our animals, Head Vet with Just Cats Veterinary Clinic, Aoife Caulfield, said:
Pet names are becoming more humanised as cats and dogs take on a more integral role within the home and family.
“This is reflected in the increase in the pet cat population in Ireland which has doubled in the last 15 years, to over 310,000 pet cats in Ireland. Cats are becoming more popular as pets.”
The study was carried out by Just Cats Veterinary Clinic and looked at animals from clinics in Dublin, Meath and Kildare.
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This is boomerang, never comes back unless you have a throwy thing. Last one was ogleby the red setter astronomer from war of the worlds, and of course hess the german sheppard. Does’nt mater what you name them, the love and loyalty they give back is unreal to us mere humans.
We have a Boo as well…tho she gets called Booby quite a bit..Another cat called Polly and hens called Elsa, Anna and the white one is Snowy (Olaf was debated but couldn’t really give her a boys name)
I have named three cats after current or former Secretaries General of the UN, who I’ve found lend themselves very well to cat names. Currently have Kofi II and Banki.
My nephew (8) called his dog katie perry. Not a mayor fan of the singer but dog in spanish is “perro” and katie sounds like cat. So he find it funny the dog its a “cat-dog”
My cat is Heisenpurg, after Heisenberg from Breaking bad and purr coz hes a cat. I, of course thought it was hilarious, others not so much. He’s just back from Just Cats Clinic where he got the snip over the weekend and I have to say they are fantastic there. Highly recommend them!
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