Larger text
Smaller text
Print
E-mail
Local dog owners divulge popular pet names
Source: Allegheny County Treasurer's Office
Kellie B. Gormly can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7824.
Max is not only the No. 1 dog name among the 100,000 pooches registered in Allegheny County, the county Treasurer's Office says, but also the most popular pet name in America, according to "The Complete Book of Pet Names."
"You're kidding," McCoy said, when told that her white, fluffy wolfhound and terrier mix had such a common name. "We have dogs all through our neighborhood, and I don't think there are any named Max. But it is a popular name -- it's pretty ordinary, I guess."
Max is joined by the following pooch names in the Top 10 for the Pittsburgh area, in descending order: Buddy, Molly and Mollie, Maggie, Shadow, Jake, Sadie, Bailey, Lady and Bear.
The national list from the book by George Greenfield, which was published in 1997, was not too different. Its top winners after Max, compiled by veterinarian surveys, are: Sam, Lady, Bear, Smokey, Shadow, Kitty, Molly, Buddy and Brandy.
Clearly, pet lovers have a bandwagon. Yet, the local owners of pets with trendy names are surprised to learn that their companions' names are even that popular.
"I thought it was cute and she looked like a Molly, so that's how she got the name," said Kendra Perka, 32, of Freeport, Armstrong County, who has an 8-month-old, miniature wire-haired dachshund. "I didn't give it any thought, really. I didn't hear of anyone who had a dog with that name.
"It almost seems like it's a better dog name than a people name."
More Pittsburgh, Allegheny headlines
- Humar believes in being UPMC surgeon first, administrator second
- Defendant cooperates with DA in Meadows casino theft
- Planners need billions to rehabilitate roadways, bridges
- UPMC unit to increase use of organs from living donors
- Autopsy shows Hill District baby in bin was stillborn
- Cranberry couple under investigation in use of orphans' trust fund
- Fewer flights don't result in fewer authority workers in Allegheny
- UPMC Braddock closure plan upsets council
