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9th September 2009

Top ten pet names 2009

Traditional pet names such as Spot and Prince are slipping out of vogue as the 2009 top 10 pet name list is released and unveils the latest trend – giving pets popular baby names instead.

The list, revealed today by Petplan, correlates significantly with the latest England and Wales top 10 baby name list from the Office of National Statistics released yesterday. Evidently, pet owners are increasingly regarding their beloved animals as much a part of the family as their own children and will go as far as to name them in a similar manner.

As pet owners think more seriously about what to call their pets, names such as Ruby, Jack, Charlie and Alfie appear in both the pet and baby top 10’s and all of the top 10 pet names feature in the overall baby name list.

2009 top 10 pet names:

  1. Charlie
  2. Poppy
  3. Molly
  4. Alfie
  5. Max
  6. Jack
  7. Daisy
  8. Ruby
  9. Oscar
  10. Rosie

Petplan’s Alison Andrew says: “We know that pets play a very special role within the family unit and the latest top 10 pet name list reflects this. It’s amazing to see that the list of top 10 pet names is entirely made up of baby names with no traditional pet names making the grade. In fact we often see owners give their pets topical names such as two kittens called Credit and Crunch. Obviously pets have become just as important as any other family member.”

For more facts and figures on popular pet names and the world’s richest pets, visit: www.petraitgallery.co.uk/stats

For more information on Petplan’s National Petrait Gallery please contact:

Name Telephone Email
Kate Mallett 0208 580 8194 kate.mallett@allianz.co.uk

Notes to editors:

About the National Petrait Gallery

Launched in May this year by Petplan, the first ever National Petrait Gallery is an online photo gallery celebrating the nation’s love of pets. The Gallery is also a Guinness World Record attempt aiming to collate over 138,000 pet images.To date, the Gallery has already received over 26,200image uploads. Visit www.petraitgallery.co.uk.

The top 10 pet names has been compiled from the 26,200 pets in the National Petrait Gallery, September 2009.

About Petplan

Petplan is the largest provider of animal health insurance in the world. Established more than 30 years ago, it is part of Allianz Insurance, one of the largest general insurers in the UK.

For more information about Petplan cat insurance, please visit:
http://www.petplan.co.uk/factsheets/why-take-out-cat-insurance.asp

For more information about Petplan dog insurance, please visit:
http://www.petplan.co.uk/factsheets/why-take-out-dog-insurance.asp