10 Most popular pet names for 2023

The award-winning pet insurance brand ManyPets has today revealed the top ten pet names in the UK for 2023, with Luna once again taking top spot for both dogs and cats. This year has also seen a new entry to the top names for dogs—Willow—which nabbed the sixth spot on the list, pushing Rosie out of the rankings altogether.

The data, collated from ManyPets’ database of 51,906 insured pets, also revealed the most popular dog breeds of the year, with mongrel, cocker spaniel and Labrador retriever taking the three prime spots. Lewis Martins, Content Strategy Lead at ManyPets, noted: “We see a lot more female names at the top of our lists—as to why, we’re not too sure!”

This new data from ManyPets has revealed that Luna is once again the most popular name for both cats and dogs, followed closely by Bella. Lewis Martins, Content Strategy Lead at ManyPets, commented: “Interestingly, Luna and Bella have been the most popular pet name for the past five years, having taken first and second place respectively since 2019”.

For the dogs, Teddy is the third most popular name, with Lola coming in fourth and Milo coming fifth. Lewis Martins noted: “What has been interesting to see is the number of Teddys increase year on year—going from the sixth most popular name to third place for the past two years. This year, we’ve also seen a slight decline in the number of new pets named Rosie—with it slipping just out of the top ten.”

The name Lola for a pooch has also grown in popularity this year, having moved up four spots from number eight to number four in the last year. Other popular dog names in the top ten include Willow (a new entry into the top ten and first time on the list), Poppy, Ruby, Buddy and Bailey. In terms of dog breeds, cross breeds are still the most popular followed closely by cocker spaniels in second, Labradors in third and cockapoos and cavapoos rounding out the top five.

For cats, Milo is the third most popular cat name, holding steady this year to round out the top three for cats, with Poppy and Coco rounding out the top five cat names. Also making the top ten are Nala, Willow, Loki, Molly and Charlie. Poppy is the highest climbing name in the top ten names for cats this year.

Lewis Martins advised: “Like babies, choosing the name of your pet takes time and consideration. It’s interesting to see that owners are going for similar cat and dog names, and the trend of picking human names is still going strong!"

“If you're stuck on what to go for, our ManyPets tip is to pick a name with two syllables in it—the shortness makes it much easier for your pet to learn and recognise”.