Top 10 Pet Names for 2009

"Bella" Beats Out "Max" for Top Dog Name For six years in a row, Max ruled the top spot. But in an upset that is sure to have dog owners talking, Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI), the nation’s oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance, has declared Bella the most popular dog name of 2009. VPI crunched the numbers on its more than 475,000 insured pets to determine this year’s most common names, and Bella beat out Max by more than 400 dogs. Fans of Max, however, can rest assured that for cats, that name is still top dog – er, top cat. “I was shocked to see Max bumped from No. 1!” said Curtis Steinhoff, senior director of corporate communications for VPI. “Max has been the most popular dog name for so long, I didn’t think anything would take him down. I can only wonder if Max’s dethroning has something to do with Bella being the name of the heroine in a certain vampire book/film series that’s pretty popular these days.” Not all the pet names in VPI’s database are as trendy as Bella and Max. Thousands of VPI policyholders have bestowed names upon their animals not shared by any other pet on record. Check out some of the more “creative” monikers selected for VPI’s Top 10 Most Unusual Pet Names of 2009. TOP 10 DOG NAMES

1. Bella
2. Max
3. Bailey
4. Lucy
5. Molly
6. Buddy
7. Maggie
8. Daisy
9. Chloe
10. Sophie

TOP 10 CAT NAMES

1. Max
2. Chloe
3. Bella
4. Oliver
5. Tiger
6. Smokey
7. Tigger
8. Lucy
9. Shadow
10. Angel