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Pop quiz: If your colleague says they’re picking up “Bella” at daycare, are they talking about a baby… or a bulldog?
It’s a tough question to answer, at least according to a new poll from US News and World Report that puts “Bella” as the current #1 dog name in America — and a top girl name, too, per the Social Security Administration (SSA), which releases its annual top names every May. “Isabella” hits seventh on their list of most popular names for girls born from 2020 to 2025, while the diminutive Bella ranks at No. 87.
Meanwhile, “Leo” — as in DiCaprio, Messi or, you know, Lions — is the third most-popular moniker for cats and the 24th for boys. And “Chloe” — like the feline-esque fashion icon Chloë Sevigny or the fat grey Tabby of “The Secret Life of Pets” — is also a popular choice for both species at No. 21 for baby girls and No. 35 for kitties, according to pet insurance data from Rover.com.
The mews — sorry, news — comes as Americans increasingly baby their pets, with 97% of dog and cat owners reporting to the Pew Research Center that their furry companions are family members. Even more extreme, 51% say their personal paw patrols are “as much a part of the family as a human member.”
That feeling extends to family budgets, with Arizona State University reporting that Americans alone will spend over $147 billion on their cherished furballs, including organic food, salon-quality shampoo and even diamond collars to keep pups from living the ruff life.
But not everyone thinks pet Yorkies deserve the same consideration as human New Yorkers. In June, some travelers fumed when a very good boy was plopped on a tray table mid-flight instead of remaining in his pet carrier, calling the move “totally unacceptable” and “disgusting.”
On Reddit, posts like “Your Fur Baby Is Not a Child” stoke debates with thousands of replies, while just this week, an X post went viral for declaring, “The people who call their pets ‘fur babies’ and other idiocies are in closer touch to their own humanity and love of living things.”
Of course, most New Yorkers know that in the moment, pets and infants aren’t really that different. Both will gaze adoringly at you on the couch, wail until you wake up at 2 am, and start gnawing on your new pair of Prada sunglasses whenever you take them off — regardless of whether the Bella at hand is a baby or a Boston terrier.
US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT’S TOP 10 DOG NAMES OF 2026
- Bella
- Luna
- Max
- Coco
- Daisy
- Milo
- Buddy
- Lucy
- Charlie
- Lola
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