Top Dog Names Of 2011 (PHOTOS)

Does your dog have a popular name? Many names are personal or silly, while others have stuck with pets throughout history.

If you're curious what other people name their animals, be sure to check out our cutest pets of 2011 slideshow.

Does your pet's name reflect where they came from? A recent poll by AP and petside.com suggests that most people get their pets as gifts or rescue them.

Want to get a dog and give it some fantastic name? Check out Petfinder.com and the ASPCA website to help a dog in need of a home.

If you think your pet has a unique name, check out Banfield Pet Hospital's list of the top 25 dog names for 2011, accompanied by some of our favorite dog pictures from this year. Click here to also check out the top cat names of 2011. Be sure to vote for your favorites!

List courtesy of Banfield Pet Hospital.

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For more on the best of 2011, visit AOL's Best of 2011.

Comments

[klroutt]

12:59 AM on 02/04/2012

In my avatar photo is Skye, my beautiful girl we lost to liver failure over a year ago.

Yesterday we adopted a new dog.

We spent quite a bit of time on our new dog's name (name change, actually, because we didn't like the original adoptive name he was given). We produced a list of over 30 names! (Only "Lucky" from the "most popular" list matched our list because I vetoed any name that EVERY OTHER dog in town has - like Bailey or Jake.)

We "narrowed" that down to 12. Then we each picked our top 3. He is a white German Shepherd/Husky mix and we settled on Scout.

Among the names that were in the final cut: Duffy and Bogey (coz we golf). We considered if he were a digger, we could call him Divot. Feel free to use these if you have not considered them before for yourselves... :)

[Also -- Though this is about dog names, we also have quite a few cats we care for. Nieghborhood strays don't get names, they get identifiers - Fuzzy Kitty, Black Kitty, Ink Spot Kitty, Smooth Kitty, Mama Kitty and Snotty Kitty (he has a perpetual cold and runny nose). (BTW -- )We have had all of the cats spayed/neutered and have place several in homes of friends)]

[Bella Meow]

07:56 AM on 01/13/2012

GAH, my name is Bella! It's bad enough that it used to be the #1 baby name but now dogs?! Great. Good thing I named my puppy Coquelicot.

[skylepaul]

08:43 PM on 12/12/2011

What breed is Toby? Number 21

[karen lyons kalmenson]

12:43 PM on 12/11/2011

a dog by an other name is the greatest creature on the earth♥

as my new ebook happily testifies:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/75285555/Dogs-of-my-Heart

[DMGMD]

08:55 PM on 12/10/2011

I'm happy my dog's name did not make the list.

[mikecross]

03:31 PM on 12/10/2011

How about "Roadkill"?

[klroutt]

01:02 AM on 02/04/2012

No,that's the most popular name for a pet oppossum.

[konamarsha]

03:19 PM on 12/10/2011

MY I feel real average number 1 name is Bella and my dog is the breed they showed and her name is Bella.

[Tae-Hee]

07:12 PM on 12/15/2011

As a dog groomer, I am not surprised Bella came in first, sorry :-/ Other names to avoid: Gizmo (especially if it's a shih tzu), Sammie, Shadow, Diesel... and I will agree that Coco, Max, Bailey and Jack are ridiculously common. I can't tell you how many Jack Russel's come in named Jack... really?? You might as well give your dog the name "Dog" o.O

I was relieved after I became a groomer that I gave my cats and dogs less common names: Sebastian, Mia, Cassie, Mekhi (original name was Mickey and I picked something that sounded close), and although Max is common, you don't ever see my lab's name, Mack/Mackenzie.

[klroutt]

01:07 AM on 02/04/2012

My neighbors named their dog "Dog".

I had a BorderCollie/Lab mix we called Mac (for McIntire because I refused to allow the dog to be named Reba by my ex). I hope your Mack is a joy to you as mine was to me...

[Bor Zoi]

03:16 PM on 12/10/2011

The most favorite dog name ...
"Should've Got a Borzoi"

Go Borzoi!

[3rdCitizen]

12:12 PM on 12/10/2011

True story: In my 20s, I rented a room in a house where there was also a guy & a girl who had a large black dog named Buddha. One day, while they were out of town, I came home & couldn't find the dog anywhere. I figured he'd gotten out, so I got on my bike & went searching for him. As I rode, I kept calling out, "Buddha! Buddha!" Sometimes I'd stop & ask people if they'd seen Buddha, explaining that I'd seen Buddha that morning, but now I couldn't find Buddha. They would look at me strangely. I finally had to give up & go home, and there I discovered that Buddha had crawled under his owners' bed & was scrunched back into a corner where I hadn't seen him. I thought I'd lost Buddha, but he'd actually been there all the time. I learned a valuable spiritual lesson that day.

[DelaneyRSchmitt]

12:27 PM on 12/10/2011

LOL!!

[ElCojonuo]

12:06 PM on 12/10/2011

Where's ' Bruno ' or ' Napoleon ' ?

[Lily P]

11:29 AM on 12/10/2011

People think Santa is only relavant this time of year. I say it all year round.

[ABQ-Mike]

11:00 AM on 12/10/2011

Was it James Thurber??? who had two dogs, one named "Get Off" and the other named, "That Rug"? Or was it, "That Couch"?

[AlphaDoc]

06:28 AM on 12/10/2011

In the area where I live, there are a lot of black Labs. Almost all of them are named "Bear." No imagination.

[klroutt]

01:14 AM on 02/04/2012

Let's see if you can guess where I live

Many dogs are named Archie, Brutus, Woody, or Buckeye.

In fact one of the local shelters advised us as we fostered a dog for adoption to rename her to a similar themed name (because people here are more than a bit over the top about this theme). (okay, many people are downright unreasonable about it).

[scoobydubious]

05:48 AM on 12/10/2011

I guess everyone takes that as a cue to list all their pet's names.
gee that'll be fascinating reading...

[Parkite]

10:12 AM on 12/10/2011

Glad you're here to read them all. Enjoy.

[scoobydubious]

03:16 PM on 12/10/2011

I didn't. But you sure did read my complaint!!

[scoobydubious]

05:47 AM on 12/10/2011

Bella? That's #1?

[Parkite]

11:24 AM on 12/10/2011

Depends on which list you look up. The website www.dog-paw-print.com/100-dog-names.html
has several lists. Bella isn't #1 on any.

[DelaneyRSchmitt]

12:29 PM on 12/10/2011

Must be a lot of dog owners who love that oh-so-well-written "Twilight" crap.