RESEARCH carried out by White Cross Vets in Guiseley and Eccleshill has revealed the most popular names for cats and dogs, as well as offering a fascinating insight into how these compare to pet names from more than 80 years ago.

The practice researched the names of all the pets they saw in 2018 and compared them to the hand written ledgers from when White Cross Vets opened its first practice in West Yorkshire in 1937.

The data revealed that Bella, Alfie, Charlie, Lola, Poppy, Molly, Daisy and Oscar are all currently in the top 10 for both dogs and cats.

By comparison, none of these names ranked amongst the most popular monikers in White Cross Vets’ ledgers dating back to 1937. At that time, Susie, Sally, Judy, Penny, Candy, Sam, Betty, Simon, Wendy and Bridget, made up the top 10 cat and dog names registered with White Cross Vets.

More recently White Cross Vets, which is part of veterinary services provider Independent Vetcare, has also seen a surge of pets named after TV and film characters including Elsa from Frozen, Baloo from The Jungle Book and Peppa, inspired by the cartoon pig.

The number of cats and dogs sharing names with Game of Thrones characters, including Khaleesi, Sansa, Brienne and Tyrion, is also into double figures, along with 16 pets called Olive, which is the name of David Beckham’s Cocker Spaniel.

Tom Ward, from White Cross Vets in Guiseley, said: “Pets are such an important part of the family, so choosing a name for them is a big and very personal decision. The most common names in our research reveal a leaning towards giving pets human names. It’s fascinating that this has gone full circle and was also a trend in the late 1930s, before names such as Fido, Patch, Sooty, Duke and Fluffy became popular with cats and dogs.”

The lists below show the top 10 most popular names for dogs and cats currently registered with White Cross Vets.

Dog names: 1, Bella, 2, Poppy, 3, Alfie, 4, Charlie, 5, Lola, 6, Molly, 7, Ruby, 8, Daisy, 9, Max and 10, Oscar.

Cats names: 1, Charlie, 2, Bella, 3, Molly, 4, Poppy, 5, Daisy, 6, Tilly, 7, Alfie, 8, Oscar, 9, Simba and 10, Lola.