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Posted: 2023-10-06 04:51:14

The rankings are from pet insurance company PetSure – based on its database of more than 700,000 pets.

The data show that the 2020s have not been kind to Bella, Max and Ruby.

Christina Qazi with her cavoodle Luna.

Christina Qazi with her cavoodle Luna.Credit: Louise Kennerley

Bella was the most popular name between 2013 and 2018, but has since fallen to seventh place.

Max was a name at its maximum power when it ranked third in 2017, but new Maxes have become so rare that the name tumbled out of the top 10 this year.

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Ruby shined bright in 2013 when it was the third most popular name for pets, but sank like a stone in the latter half of the last decade and dipped out of the top 10 list.

It’s bounced back a little and now sits in 10th place.

The decline of Max and Ruby and the rise of Luna as pet names may correlate with trends in names for human babies.

Max was the 26th most popular boy’s name in NSW last year and the 16th most popular in Victoria, while Ruby was the 24th most popular name among newborn girls in NSW in 2022 and ranked 19th in Victoria.

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PetSure chief marketing officer Jenny Williams said Luna’s number one spot for both dogs and cats was not only because of its Harry Potter association, but the fact that numerous celebrity couples (including Chrissy Teigen and John Legend) chose the name for their children.

“Names like Scruffy, Spot and Socks are half as popular as they were in the early 2000s. Over the same period, more human-like names like Luna, Ruby and Charlie have soared in popularity as pet names,” Williams said, attributing this to owners wanting more “human” names for their animals.

Analysis of microchip registry data by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age earlier this year also revealed the most popular dog breeds in each state.

In NSW, labradors were the most popular breed, followed by Staffordshire bull terriers and Jack Russell terriers, but Cavoodles emerged as top dog in much of inner Sydney.

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