Not a Fido in sight

The UK’s most popular names for cats and dogs of the past year have been revealed.

‘Tis a contentious issue: while some people strongly believe that animals should not have human names, others feel the opposite.

But given the findings by Argos Pet Insurance, human names are reigning supreme - there’s not a Fido in sight.

The top name for male dogs in 2017 was Alfie, and Poppy for female - both names that have proven popular for babies in recent years too.

And when it comes to our feline friends, the top names last year were Charlie and Poppy once again, for males and females respectively.

In fact, many of the names in the list are popular children’s names of the moment, and there are few gender-neutral names in the top ten. 

The UK’s most popular dog names in 2017: 

For male dogs:

  1. Alfie
  2. Charlie
  3. Max
  4. Oscar
  5. Buddy
  6. Archie
  7. Bailey
  8. Teddy
  9. Milo
  10. Toby 

For female dogs:

  1. Poppy
  2. Bella
  3. Molly
  4. Daisy
  5. Lola
  6. Ruby
  7. Millie
  8. Rosie
  9. Tilly
  10. Roxy

The UK’s most popular cat names in 2017:

For male cats:

  1. Charlie
  2. Oscar
  3. Alfie
  4. Max
  5. Milo
  6. Jasper
  7. George
  8. Leo
  9. Simba
  10. Harry 

For female cats:

  1. Poppy
  2. Bella
  3. Molly
  4. Tilly
  5. Daisy
  6. Millie
  7. Lola
  8. Lily
  9. Rosie
  10. Willow 

Interestingly, many of the names appear popular for both cats and dogs.

So if you want to make sure you won't get your pooch mixed up in the park, perhaps going back to Fido might be a good move.