The annual lists of most popular dog names across the world revealed some firm favourites in 2025, along with a few returns to the top spots.
The American Kennel Club, a not-for-profit organization and the world’s largest registry of purebred and mixed-breed dogs recently announced the most popular call names of the year.
According to AKC registration statistics and AKC Canine Partners enrollments, Luna continues to hold on to the top spot for girl’s names in 2025, while Max returned to number one after being overtaken last year by Milo.
This year, there was a shakeup in the top five boys’ names.
Hank made an impressive jump from 35th in 2024 to second place this year, while Milo fell to 12th place. Teddy held on to 3rd place, Cooper rose one spot to 4th place, and Gus rounded out the top five at 5th place.
As for girls’ names, the top four remained unchanged, with Bella, Daisy, and Lucy holding steady at 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places, respectively.
New to the top five this year is Ruby, jumping from 16th in 2024 to 5th in 2025. Closing out the list is Uma for girls and Zen for boys.
AKC President and CEO, Gina M. DiNardo said choosing a pet’s name was a fun and important part of the process when acquiring a dog.
“People put a great deal of effort into picking a name that perfectly fits their pet and often spend a lot of time making that decision.”
Meanwhile in the UK, the top 10 dog names for 2025 are almost identical to last year.
Information released by the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, Dogs Trust show Poppy and Teddy holding on to their no.1 spots.
Only two new names have wiggled their way into the top 10: Mabel and Bertie, ousting Millie and Monty from their place on the league table.
For the seventh year in a row, ‘Luna’ held onto her crown as New Zealand’s most popular dog name.
The data comes from the NZ Companion Animal Register (NZCAR), which houses over 1.4 million animal microchip registrations and recorded more than 110,000 new animal registrations in the past year alone.
Other popular male names include Charlie, Bella, and Daisy.
Luna also remains the top female dog name for Australian pets , while Teddy leads as the most popular male dog name.
Pet Insurance Australia (PIA) , which released the names, said it reflected clear naming patterns across the country and strong trends driven by pop culture, nostalgia, and Australia’s growing love of “soft,” human-style pet names.
“We’re seeing a real shift toward soft, comforting and very human-style names,” said Nadia Crighton from Pet Insurance Australia.
“Names like Luna, Daisy, Teddy and Milo feel warm and affectionate, you could easily find them on a kindergarten roll. It shows just how loved our pets really are,” she said.
