The pandemic pet boom had some serious bark. Many pup parents joined Embark Vet to discover more about their new best friends, bringing us closer to realizing our goal of ending preventable disease in dogs. We took a look at all the dogs we tested who were born in 2020 so we could share the most popular names and, of course, point out a few trends we noticed. Spot your dog’s name anywhere?
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2021!
Top female dog names
Luna
Daisy
Bella
Lucy
Penny
Stella
Lola
Piper
Ruby
Willow
This wasn’t even a contest: We tested nearly 3 times as many Lunas as Daisys this year. Luna has also seen a drastic rise in popularity as a human name in the past two decades.
Top male dog names
Cooper
Milo
Finn
Charlie
Tucker
Ollie
Bear
Max
Loki
Moose
The top 2 males names pulled ahead of the rest of the pack by a wide margin, but Cooper was printed on just a few more collar tags this year than Milo.
Large dog names
Zeus
Gus
Leo
Moose
Kobe
Most of the names we saw for larger dogs are short, sweet, and powerful.
Mythology dog names
Loki
Apollo
Odin
Thor
Freya
Zeus
Athena
Nyx
Titan
Artemis
Hercules
Some pup parents turned to myths, legends, and folklore to find the name that best captures their dog’s personality. Loki was another runaway winner—watch out for these mischievous mutts.
Food dog names
Mocha
Oreo
Peanut
Biscuit
Cookie
Mango
Peaches
Pumpkin
Taco
Toast
Tater
Nacho
Cashew
Potato
These pup parents took the phrase “I could just eat you up!” to another level by naming their pups after their favorite foods.
Star Wars dog names
Finn
Kylo
Rey
Chewie
Vader
Leia
Luke
Obi
Boba
It looks like the trend of Star Wars names won’t be going anywhere soon. We were surprised by how few Yodas we saw given Baby Yoda Fever at the tail end of last year.
Disney dog names
Nala
Winnie
Belle
Maui
Simba
Elsa
Lilo
Aurora
Olaf
Mowgli
It’s easy to assume the most popular dog names would be inspired by more recent Disney outings, but we saw a good mix of names from Disney movies new and old.
Harry Potter dog names
Dobby
Harry
Ginny
Dudley
Sirius
We were surprised that Sirius wasn’t higher on the list since the original character actually turns into a dog.
Avatar The Last Airbender dog names
Zuko
Korra
Suki
Appa
Momo
A new trend we spotted this year was names taken from the animated series Avatar The Last Airbender. The show was added to Netflix in the summer of 2020, so pup parents may have been inspired after giving it a rewatch.
Nintendo dog names
Zelda
Onyx
Kirby
Eevee
Yoshi
Link
It turns out a good amount of pup parents are a fan of Nintendo games. There were hardly any dogs named Mario, though. In fact, we saw a lot more Luigis.
Nature dog names
Clover
River
Juniper
Sage
Violet
Sky
Ember
Storm
Fern
A lot of pup parents looked toward nature to pick out the perfect name for their pups. We have a feeling these dogs have plenty of hiking and rolling around in the grass on their horizon.
Unique dog names
These were a few of the dog names we only saw one instance of. Do you think your dog’s name would make this category?
Zimbra
Timmy
Zona
Tahlia
Barnabus
Tavi
Scallion
Oswald
Picard
Rapunzel
Oops
Rally
Macho Man
Ludacris
Harpo
Elephant
Guapo
Bulbasaur
Bugs
Tiki
Top dog names by state
We were also curious to see if any naming trends emerged by region. After removing the top 10 male and female dog names overall, here are the most popular names in each state. (We’ve also taken a look at the most popular mixed breed result in each state.)
Alaska: River
Alabama: Moose
Arizona: Hudson
Arkansas: Olive
California: Olive/Kona
Colorado: Otis
Connecticut: Archie/Sadie
Deleware: Nova/Hopper
Florida: Bailey
Georgia: Bailey
Hawaii Nala/Rosie/Leo
Iowa Sadie
Idaho: Rocky
Illinois: Zoey
Indiana: Oliver
Kansas: Scout
Kentucky: Gus
Louisiana: Harley/Louie/Dixie/Moose
Massachusetts: Rosie/Saide/Zoey
Maryland: Rocky/Winnie
Maine: Odin/Lady
Michigan: Maverick
Minnesota: Olive/Oliver/Koda/Annie
Missouri: Murphy/Rosie
Mississippi: Lily
Montana: Scout
North Carolina: Sadie
North Dakota: Nova
Nebraska: Phoebe/Hazel
New Hampshire: Rosie
New Jersey: Koda/Bailey
New Mexico: Cosmo
Nevada: Archie
New York: Ruby
Ohio: Leo/Millie/Charlie/Archie
Oklahoma: Gus (The appropriate “Oakley” ended up in the #2 spot!)
Oregon: Charlie
Pennsylvania: Bear
Rhode Island: Rosie/Finn
South Carolina: Millie/Zoe
South Dakota: Scout
Tennessee: Bear
Texas: Bailey
Utah: Honey/Murphy/Hazel
Virginia: Moose
Vermont: Rosie
Washington: Ellie
Wisconsin: Rosie
West Virginia: Harper/Bailey
Wyoming: Luci
Pandemic dog names
In the year of Covid, it’s no surprise that we found a few pandemic-related names. 19 pup parents honored Dr. Anthony Fauci by naming their dogs after him. We also found a single “Covie D.”
No matter what name they go by, all dogs are good dogs. Follow us on Instagram so you can put plenty of names to furry faces in 2021!
