50 popular baby names that were once reserved for our pets

Benji, Rocco, Trixie and Coco – they sound like occupants of a kennel but these names are all rising in popularity and coming to a kindergarten near you.

These days choosing a unique baby name is the norm. More and more baby names that were once considered off-the-charts and unusual are now considered popular and trendy. One of the trends in baby names is to opt for a name that comes with furry connotations. Names and nicknames that we probably remember as belonging to pets from pop culture or constantly hear at the dog park are now topping the charts for children and showing up on roll calls across the country.

And while Lassie is yet to make an appearance on the playground, here are fifty other pet names that many parents consider perfectly suitable for their offspring as well.

Girls

As well as making the rounds at the dog park, popular names like Lily, Ruby, Sophie, Bella, Lucy, Zoe, Lola and Grace all made the McCrindle Top 100 Baby Names list, and names like Luna, Fifi and Trixie are all rising in popularity. We can thank celebrities like Fifi Box (whose daughter is Trixie) and Chrissy Teigen (who named her little one Luna) for bringing pet names to the table. Other celebrities who have hopped on the kennel wagon include Courtney Cox (with daughter CoCo), Jules and Jamie Oliver (with daughters Poppy and Honey) and Kourtney Kardashian (with daughter Penelope).

Here’s the list to consider:

1. Grace
2. Jess
3. Ruby
4. Lily
5. Zoe
6. Bella
7. Penelope (Penny)
8. Coco
9. Molly
10. Maggie
11. Daisy
12. Roxy
13. Lucy
14. Ginger
15. Trixie
16. Lady
17. Lucky
18. Sadie
19. Sophie
20. Stella
21. Honey
22. Lola
23. Fifi
24. Poppy
25. Angel

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Read more about baby names:

• The top 100 baby names for 2018 reveal some surprising trends
• The five types of baby names you should always avoid
• 15 stunningly beautiful French baby names you’ll want to steal

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Boys

Male dogs are also inspiring some pretty cute human names with more and more parents turning to names like Benji, Milo, Felix and Otis for their kids (come on, who doesn’t remember the adorable movie Milo and Otis?).

Other popular pet names that also have a spot on the top 100 list? Jack, Max, Charlie, Hunter, Riley, Toby, Bailey and Beau. Jules and Jamie Oliver’s son’s name makes an appearance of this list too (Buddy Bear). Rose Byrne named her son Rocco and Adam Levine recently welcomed a little girl he named Dusty (gender-bending names are also trendy these days).

Consider these:

1. Benji
2. Toby
3. Rocky
4. Duke
5. Buddy
6. Hunter
7. Bentley
8. Rusty
9. Jack
10. Dusty
11. Milo
12. Oscar
13. Buster
14. Otis
15. Otto
16. Beau
17. Riley
18. Leo
19. Bear
20. Gus
21. Felix
22. Rocco
23. Bailey
24. Max
25. Charlie

For more baby names that are outside the box, check out our baby name archive or take our quiz on what you should name your baby.