Categories: PETS

Pets: Here are Ottawa’s most popular pet names for 2023

Ottawa pet-lovers loved the name Luna and embraced unique names for their furry friends this year, featuring tributes to food and Ottawa Senator Tim Stutzle.

Pet-sitter finder Rover released its 11th annual Top Names Report for Ottawa on Wednesday. Findings this year span a pop culture-packed 2023, with pet parents drawing inspiration from iconic entertainers, legendary athletes and blockbuster hits.

The name Luna topped the list for the most popular female dog and female cat name in Ottawa, a trend also seen across the country.

Charlie was the most popular male dog name and Milo was the top male cat name.

The report found the top trending name for dogs in the capital was Greta, up 797 per cent from last year, and Ivy, up 891 per cent, for cats.

Tim made the dog names list for the first time this year, a salute to Ottawa Senators centre Tim Stutzle.

Food-inspired names were also more popular than ever and included names like Jellybean, Cheddar and Cucumber.

New names on the list this year for dogs and cats were Bagheera, Gucci, Magic, Smudge, Garfield, Atara, Junior, Bagel, Caesar, Rudder, Tilly, and Waffle.

The report analyzed millions of user-submitted pet names provided by pet parents on Rover to break down the most influential trends leading up to the year’s end.

This year’s top five most popular female dog names in Canada were Luna, Bella, Daisy, Molly and Lucy, respectively.

The top canuck male dog names were Charlie, Milo, Max, Cooper and Leo.

In the tabby category, the top five female names were Luna, Lily, Bella, Lucy and Nala. The top male cat names were Leo, Milo, Charlie, Oliver and Simba.

“The Great One” was on the mind of hockey fans, with Gretzky ranking as the top trending sports-inspired name of the year, up 591 per cent from last year.

Taylor Swift, a well-known lover of cats also inspired many Canadian pet owners. Taylor’s own cat names saw increases this year, with Meredith Grey (up 16 per cent), Olivia Benson (up 58 per cent), and Benjamin Button (up 18 per cent).

These were the most popular dog names in Canada this year. (Rover/Handout)The name Swifty is up 173 per cent this year among cats in Canada and Swift also made the list for the first time. Swifty was also new to the list for dogs in 2023.

The top trending music-inspired dog names were Harry, Elvis and Willie.

The name Cupcake was the top trending food-inspired name across the country this year, up 358 per cent. A Canadian classic, Maple, is the fifth most popular food-inspired name in 2023. Also trending up are Almond (291 per cent), Yuka (224 per cent), Banana (131 per cent) and Toast (116 per cent).

In the box office category, Barbie was up for dogs by 34 per cent and Sasha is up 18 per cent. Margot was also up 12 per cent among cats in 2023.

TV-inspired names were Wednesday (up 49 per cent) for dogs and and Ahsoka (up 573 per cent), from Disney's The Manadalorian.

Cat parents in Canada also loved Pedro Pascal, with Pedro rising 23 per cent and Pascal up a whopping 473 per cent.

A full list of the top pet names from across Canada can be found here.

Here are the top pet names for dogs and cats in Ottawa

Top female dog names: