Top Dog
Houston's top dogs answer to these popular names: Would you believe Duke and Daisy?
These days, when someone calls out "Charlie!" or "Maggie!" it's especially hard to know if they're summoning a child or a dog. There's a reason for that, says petsitting service Rover.com, which has just released its list of dog name trends for 2015. Besides human monikers, current pop culture hits (think The Hunger Games and Star Wars) and food dominate the most popular picks.
Around the nation, nearly half of all pet parents have progressed from Fido and Spot to Max and Bella — except for Houston, that is. We're one of the few cities where the Twilight-inspired name not only isn't No. 1, it doesn't even crack the female top 10.
In Houston, Daisy is the No. 1 female name, followed by Maggie, Lily, Coco, Lucy, Luna, Lola, Molly, Lady and Sophie.
While Edward and Jacob are holding steady nationally, Jake has dropped out of the top 10 for males. What you will find in Houston, however, is an abundance of Dukes scampering around the dog park.
The top male names in the Bayou City are Duke, Max, Teddy, Buddy, Charlie, Bruno, Jack, Oreo, Rocky and Cooper. (Among pets named for sports, nationally, Astro ranks No. 7.)
Also trending downward are names from post-apocalyptic zombie series The Walking Dead and fantasy saga Game of Thrones, while Harry Potter's Luna and Dobby and "geek chic" names like Gizmo and Chewie (or Chewbacca) are rising.
Food (Pepper, Ginger, Peanut) and booze are also hot, especially in Houston, which proudly lands in the top 10 nationwide for alcohol-related dog names. Your chance of meeting a Shiner here is only matched by coming across a Coco, Gracie, or Toby, which top the list of red state names.
Finally, the study notes that one in 20 pet parents have social media accounts for their dogs. You know who you are.