Top Trending Pet Names in Canada

Does your pet have a trendy name? What we name our pets is deeply personal—and also deeply impacted by what’s happening around us. From sports icons to blockbusters, current trends are a fun, always surprising source of new dog and cat names worldwide.

This year we decided to really dig into the trends and separate them from classic, popular names. Why? After looking at more than a decade of data, we noticed the top 10 names don’t change much year over year. In fact, the #1 names (Luna and Charlie) have grown less than 5% year over year. In other words, popular names are steady favorites but they aren’t necessarily trending names.

So to find out what—or who—the winners of this year’s cultural zeitgeist really are, we at Rover looked at our growing database of over a million dogs and cats to see what’s hot—and what’s not. Let’s dig in!

Digging Into the Data to Surface Trending Themes

First, to isolate the themes pet parents in Canada were leaning into, we analyzed all of the new pets added to Rover’s database. By looking at pets under the age of 2 years old and applying a minimum threshold for puppy and kitten names added from August 2024 to September 2025, we were able to get a good look at overarching themes to see what inspiration comes from brand new beginnings. 

After all, in a survey of 500 pet parents, 37% already had a name in mind when it came to choosing their pet’s name. In other words, they have been influenced — and we want to know by what or whom.

Nearly half (45%) of dog parents chose a name based on their pet’s personality or appearance — and when it comes to personality, entertainment plays the largest role (31%). Other factors include breed (20%), classic human names (20%), and humor (14%).

This explains some of the naming patterns for female and male puppies, with Eevee (Pokémon), Chester and Charlotte (human names), and Goose (silly name for a dog).

For cats there is a similar hierarchy for inspiration. Canadian pet parents said entertainment (32%), breed (19%), classic human names (19%), humor (16%), and nature or space (15%) were sources of cat name inspiration.

A few fun facts: Kitten names beginning with Mr. grew 939% this year! We also have a number of entries starting with Miss, Ms. and Mrs.—all new to our list in 2025.

Looking at Naming Patterns Across the Provinces

After that, we decided to get even more granular. Our survey results show that 14% of pet parents drew inspiration directly from Canada. Looking closely at trends by province, this trend appears to be true. The top trending names across provinces with potential Canadian ties (Raven and Aspen) represents about 10% of the trending names by province.

Between trending puppy and kitten names, our survey data, and patterns across the provinces, we saw a clearer picture of the trending themes—and whether there were enough names to populate the category. Read on for the categories our name investigation surfaced.

Trend 1: In Honor of Our Grandparents and Babies

Let’s start off by respecting our elders, or rather, honoring them through Grandparent-inspired dog names. Between Charlotte, Louise, Dottie, and Archie, we noticed generational differences between cats and dogs, with cats adopting trending baby names and dogs getting older names.

When we isolated our data from highest percentage growth, an abundance of human names surfaced. You know what they say: What’s old is new again!

Notice the many ties amongst the cats names? Rather than one name dominating the category, it looks like majority of cat parents had the same idea of using human names while making sure their picks were unique.

Trend 2: Adventurous Heroes Takes Over

Grab your popcorn: It’s time to unveil the on-screen characters who inspired the most pet names this year. With entertainment as a dominant inspiration for pet names, it’s no surprise this was a prevalent category.

And spoiler alert! Action heroes and adventurous characters won the day. We saw a trend of dog and cats names inspired by superheroes and their famous sidekicks. Perhaps pointing to how pet parents see their pets as their ride-or-die in the journey of life?

Dog name honorable mentions: Peko, Hachiko, Sherlock Holmes, and Winchester.

Meanwhile, cat names were influenced by a variety of characters with one thing in common: they’re always down for an adventure. Perhaps relatedly, searches for cat backpacks are up 112% in Canada this year as well, according to in Google Trends.

New this year!

A number of super fun character-inspired names appeared on the list for the first time this year, including Knuckles, Mr. Bigglesworth, Sir Pounce, Lady Oopsie Daisy, Meow Reeves, and Ferris Mewler.

Trend 3: An Obsession with Natural Wonders

When we say pet parents are inspired by the world around us when it comes to naming their pets, we mean it literally. The natural world is full of creative names ripe for the taking, and a few really took off this year.

Dog name honorable mentions: Mountie, Soleil, Powder, and Lightning.

What do Douglas Fir, Duna, Muskwa, and Igloo have in common besides trending up at the same rate? Well, it seems like Canadian winters are on the mind of dog parents. Could they be missing traditional cold winters during these warmer than normal times?

As for cat parents, the tie amongst Cedar, Autumn, and Pebble tell a fall-forward story. It could also be a more simple tale about the coat color of these adopted cats: brown, orange, grey—or all three!

New this year!

Here is a shout-out to two amazing cat names new to the list this year: Cat-Tastrophe and Night Night.

Trend 4: Food-Inspired Pet Names Worth Savoring

Every year, pet parents name their pets after their favorite dishes, snacks, and drinks. 2025 is no different, and we’ve got a fresh batch of the trendiest food names to savor this year.

Notice another trend amongst the foodie-inspired cat and dog names? Local snacks (Touton, Noisette, and Melba) and Japanese-inspired food names (Pocky, Wagy, Katsu) are up. These two trends may coincide with an increase in Canadian pride and travel to Japan being up 15% from August 2024 to 2025.

New this year!

It’s always surprising which names are new to the list. For dogs, we have Xiaobao, Bubble Tea, and Shortbread. For cats, there is Earl Grey, Chartreuse, and Moonpie.

Trend 5: Sport Icons Score Big

Every year, pet parents name their pets in honor of their favorite sports icons. Let’s see who scored big in the hearts of pet parents in 2025.

In true Canadian spirit, hockey players are taking the lead as a source of inspiration and a sport both cat and dog parents agree should take first place. Sidney Crosby is trending up for both cats and dogs.

The differences between these pet parents start to show after the first sports. For dogs, the sport names that show in order of popularity are football (Josh Allen), basketball (Karl-Anthony Towns and Lebron), and then baseball (Bobby Witt Jr.).

For cats, the order after hockey is basketball (Luka Doncic), tennis (Serena Williams), and then baseball (Bobby Witt Jr.).

New this year!

New to the game this year for dog names are Connor McDoodle, Novak, Oiler, and Saquon. And new to the field for cat names in 2025 are Leon Meowsaitl, Auston Matthews, Lebron James, and Springer.

Pure Canadian Roots and Influence

As Canadian pet parents create pet profiles of their dogs and cats, we’re also starting to see a very French-Canadian and Indigenous Canadian influence emerge this year. Giselle (up 538%) and Delphine (up 338%) fit into the human name trend and influence for French Canadians while Monsieur mirrors the increase of “Mister” names in our database.

It’s also no surprise to us that pet parents are turning to Indigenous names for nature inspiration. Trending names like Muskwa (bear), Nimkii (thunder), and Nodin (wind) speak to the country’s great outdoors.

New this year!

We’re loving the rise of new Canadian pets and pet profiles this year: Jambon, Poulet, Coquin, Chouchoune, Aput, Dakoda, Ila, and Panuk.

Trending Names Across the Globe

Did you know Rover is available in 16 different countries across the world? Digging into the global data, we’ve decided to highlight the top trending names for cats and dogs of all ages across some of our fastest growing markets. This global view shows cultural differences and similarities amongst names.

Read More From Our Pet Names Library

Inspired by these categories? Using the millions of names in our dataset, we’ve pulled more name examples and inspirations for you to peruse. These names are listed by order of popularity so you can get a sense of how common a name may be.

The Top Pet Names 2025 report was developed by Rover between August and October 2025 and a Rover survey of 500 Canadian pet parents, conducted via Pollfish in October of 2025. Results are based on an analysis of millions of user-submitted pet names provided by pet parents on Rover.com. This report is not endorsed or sponsored by any of the brands, celebrities, and businesses mentioned within. If you use any of our data and findings, we kindly as you to link back to our pet names page.

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