People names are popular for dogs and cats too.(St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Byline: Sara Casey Newman

In the dog and cat name game, Max and Tiger take the prize. That's according to a nationwide survey of 1,500 pet owners conducted earlier this year by The Iams Co.

However, when Veterinary Pet Insurance recently tallied up the pet names in its database of more than 220,000 policyholders, Max shared top honors with Mollie, not Tiger.

Blame the difference on different polling strategies. But credit them for a few other trendy tidbits.

For example, the Iams survey found that:

_Midwesterners are twice as likely as Northeasterners to name their dogs after foods or beverages.

_More than 70 percent of Southerners give their cats people names.

_Ginger, Gizmo, Buster and Lucy are popular for both dogs and cats in the Midwest but don't make it into the top 10 in any other region. Casey and Sasha are big in the Northeast; Rocky, Bandit, Cody, Dixie, Lucky and Sparky in the South; Rusty and Lady in the West.

_Midwesterners are less likely to name their pets after personality characteristics, such as Cuddles or Rascal, than are pet parents in the West and South.

_Kittens in the Midwest are much more likely to be named Fatty Lump, Tuna Breath or some other so-called silly name than their feline friends in the Northwest.

_Young Generation Y'ers are nearly four times more likely to pick a traditional name _ such as Kitty, Whiskers, Lucky or Spot _ than baby boomers are. The latter tend to opt for less-mainstream monikers, such as Kaleiducat, Beaker and Malibu.

_Brandy, Babe, Sara and Snuggles were popular dog names 10 years ago but are no longer on the top 10 list; Rocky and Belle have returned to the list after a 10-year absence.

_Similarly, Fluffy, Angel, Bobby and Lucky are back on the kitty top 10 after being out of favor for a decade, while former favorites Boots, Pepper, Samantha and Sparky have all been scratched.

_Max, Jake, Charlie and Princess have been consistent favorites for the past 10 years.

One thing many pet-name polls tend to agree on is the popularity of people names. Iams found that 74 percent of puppy owners and 66 percent of kitten owners chose people names for their pets this year. And according to Veterinary Pet Insurance, the penchant for people names has been on the increase for at least a decade _ evidence, perhaps, of our growing view of pets as members of our family.

According to Valerie DeMassa-Bruemmer, executive director of the St. Charles Humane Society, "some studies claim that if you choose a human name like Bonnie or Suzie, rather than some slang name, it actually helps strengthen your bond with that pet."

Whether we spend as much time pondering pet names as we do our children's names remains to be seen, but 84 percent of the pet owners surveyed by Iams said naming four-footed family members was easy. More than 60 percent of them said they chose a name the same day the newcomer arrived.

Such is not the case at animal shelters, where coming up with new names for the thousands of strays placed in adoption programs every year is an ongoing challenge.

"We try not to duplicate, but with the volume of animals we've had to name over the years, how could we not," said Claudia Shugert, executive director of the Animal Protective Association of Missouri.

The baby books that the APA staff resorts to "on occasion" are only one source of inspiration. As with baby names, help with picking pet names abounds.

A quick check of Amazon.com found more than a dozen pet-name books in print, some with unusual twists. The one offering astrological help _ "Pet Names, Pet Signs," by Karen Webster _ is out of print, but come December, "From Ace to Zummo," by Ellin Dodge, will provide some numerological guidance on the subject.

The Internet also offers innumerable animal-naming sites, many of them boasting their own pet-name popularity polls. For example,

http://www.ivillage.com/

serves up a generic top 50 list _ on which Max is fifth, by the way. Here, Rocky is first, followed by Amber, Jasper and Cinnamon.

Bowwow.com.au provides top 20 lists for dogs and for cats based on its pet-tag business.

Current top dogs on this tally are Max and Maggie; felines in first are Max and Sassy.

Bowwow.com.au also offers monthly suggestions for pet owners in search of more unusual monikers. Among the possibilities proffered in the past 12 months are Ricochet ("for the pet that bounces back"), Tommy Holedigger ("for the fashionable dog that likes to dig") and "Hecksma Kitty (as in "Where the heck's my kitty?").

Going for the popular names can have some disadvantages. DeMassa-Bruem mer suggested that too many Maxes might cause some confusion in obedience classes.

So could names that sound like commands, she said. Stacey sounds a lot like "Stay," Noah a lot like "No."

Then there's Spit, said Shugert, who knew of a pet with that name. Spit sounds too much like "Sit."

Shugert and DeMassa-Bruemmer both suggest getting to know your new pet before naming it.

This can lead to such names as Snuggles, Meowsy and Napster.

But when picking names based on personality or temperament, you have to be careful about the message you're sending about your pet or its breed, Shugert said. A puppy named Klutzie could cause people to assume a clumsiness that is no longer there once the dog is grown, she said, and giving a large dog a scary name can predispose people to fear it, even if he's a teddy bear at heart.

"Naming your Rottweiler Killer is not good for the dog and probably won't enhance your own reputation much either," she surmised.

Opposites _ a tiny Yorkie named Moose, for example _ can add "a comic element that can be appealing," Shugert continued, "but you also want to make sure you pick a name that ages well."

Take the APA's mascot dog, a little Pomeranian mix named Jaws. The moniker worked for many years, Shugert said, but it no longer quite fits their old and tooth-challenged friend.

Names that start out long often get shortened, and that also can ruin the original effect, Shugert said.

Short names _ only one or two syllables _ tend to be best. Pick a lilting one that still has "a natural rhythm for you even when you're yelling it at the top of your lungs," she advised. "No, Phoebe,

No!" rolls off the tongue easier than "No, Pheiddipides, No!"

That ill-advised moniker may not end up on your tabby's name tag, but it brings up one of the things Shugert loves about naming pets. "It provides a great opportunity to educate, especially if you have children." she said. "You can draw inspiration from history, mythology, music, geography _ all kinds of things. It's a wonderful opportunity for cultural investigation."

Inspiration can come from many other things as well: a pet's size, color, appearance or type (Tiny, Smoky, Tubby, Calico); a favorite food (Butterfinger, Cinnamon, KitKat); inanimate objects (Sneakers, Rocket, Socks); royalty (Duchess, Prince); Mother Nature (Snowflake, Timber, Summer, Star); holidays (Santa Claws, Firecracker); the entertainment world (Britney, Ringo, Rocky, Tweetie).

Hobbies and careers can spawn creativity, too, said Shugert, who knows a gardener who names all her felines after flowers and a doctor who calls his canine Band-Aid.

"I also know a woman who named her cat Sizzle, because she found it at a barbecue," Shugert said.

Even amid all the creativity and diversity, pet names tend to have at least one thing in common,

Shugert said. "Linguistic studies have shown that the majority of pet owners will ultimately pick a name or a nickname that will have an `e' sound at the end."

Just look at Jaws, she pointed out. "Most of the time we call him Jawsie."

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