Most popular UK pet name revealed

Alfie is the most popular pet name in the UK for 2016, a new study has found. The research conducted by Animal Friends Pet Insurance, showed that Alfie is the most popular name for dogs and fourth most popular cats' name, with the number one names for cats and horses being Charlie and Rosie respectively. Bella and Poppy took second and third place on the lists for both cats and dogs. The research has come after pet insurers, Animal Friends, analysed the names of almost 60,000 of their policyholders collected in the first quarter of this year, and celebrates the fact that this April is known as National Pet Month. The research also delved into what were the UK’s most popular inspirations behind the naming of their furry friends, with 805 animals named after foods, 567 named after musicians and 704 named after popular TV and film franchises such as Marvel, Star Wars and Game of Thrones. The data showed that cat owners were more likely to find inspiration from their favourite foods, Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, whereas more dogs were named after their owner’s musical heroes. Westley Pearson, director of claims and marketing for Animal Friends Pet Insurance said: “Trends over the last few years have shown that people are far more likely to give their pets ‘human’ names than ever before, which could be attributed to the fact that we are more and more likely to consider our pets are a part of the family. Pop-culture trends come and go, but clearly our affection for our animals is a constant.” For more information and to see the full infographic visit www.animalfriends.co.uk/blog/britains-most-popular-pet-names-2016