Dog Names: Super Unimaginative

The Department of Health released the top dog names and breeds, and dog names are really pretty boring. Or, at least, owners who got their dogs licenses last year (that's how the DOH measures dog name popularity) really like names lke Max, Lucky, Rocky, Buddy and Princess. (And while we say their names are boring, we're not saying they aren't cute.) We're sure our readers have dogs with more interesting names - tell us!

Not surprisingly, mixed breeds are the most popular dogs for New Yorkers. But a note to City Councilman Peter Vallone: Pit bulls are popular too!

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By Jen Chung in Arts and Events on December 28, 2006 1:53 PM

Comments [rss]

Yvo

What's the pt of registering? I don't honestly know. Anyway, my baby isn't registered, but her name is Keywee (pronounced Kiwi) Ginseng Sin. Yeah, she's also got a Chinese name =P She's a Shih tzu / Pekingese mix, so she's a Chinese dog all around.

aspee cee

That's what I was thinking, You mean people actually got a license their killer fighting pitbulls?

So an owner of a pitbull with a thick chain and bruises and scraps actually went to get their killer pitbull licensed?

Brigid

My childhood dog's name was Strider. My mom had a thing for naming her pets after Tolkien characters.

bring it

Wow, there are people who actually register their dogs in NYC? They probably make up 5% of NYC dog owners hence the boring names.

snob bobby

I can smell the gay from here.

Bob Snotty

Barbabus -- black minature schnazur (spl?) named after the vampire, Barnabus Collins, on the series Dark Shadows. Many of you might be too young to recall.

Hildegaard -- minature girl schnauzer (spl?) named after the Rosslyn Russell charcter, Hildegaard Johnson from the Howard Hawkes newsroom flick "His Girl Friday". She is the only female amongst a band of crazy males. And sassy to boot...

shergar

My dog is called horse

Sarah

Micah, black lab-retr.

then Phoenix, also a black lab-retr. (named Phoenix aka-rising out of the ashes to resemble the same previous black lab; also named after the venerable woman named Phoenix in Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path")

Jen

There should be a limit on name usage, for humans and animals. Then 25 Bobos and Jens won't come running when you call.

melanie

Vixen, a lab/pitbull mix. Named after the reindeer, 'cause we got her right before Christmas 5 years ago.

oh,hello

Smitty, would someone who was training pit bulls to fight register them with the city? Seems unlikely to me, but I just keep goldfish (unregistered MEAN, vicious goldfish).

smitty

Yeah, but the reason the Pit Bulls are popular isn't for the human companionship aspect - it's as protection and for dog fighting. It's likely a reflection of unscrupulous dog owners, not compassionate ones.

The ASPCA puts down something like 5000 pit bulls a year in NYC due to bad dog owners who train them to fight.

the question

How could a list of the most used dog names be anything other than unimaginative? Imaginative names by their very nature would not be common enough to make a top 10 list.