Seattle’s most popular pet names — and ‘doggiest’ neighborhood – The Seattle Times

Shout “Luna” in a crowded Seattle dog park and chances are, several heads will turn.
According to pet-license data from Seattle Animal Shelter, there are nearly 300 dogs named Luna in the city, making it the most popular name. The last time I checked this data, back in 2015, Lucy was the No. 1 dog name. Luna didn’t even make the Top 10. Lucy is now the third-most popular dog name.
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For whatever reason, Luna has really caught on as a dog name — and it’s also the most popular name for cats here, numbering 107. But Luna’s ascendancy is not unique to Seattle. According to the pet-care company Rover, Luna has just become the most popular name nationally for female dogs, with Max remaining the top name for male dogs (Max is just outside the Top 10 in Seattle).
Some folks opt to give their pets more localized names, showing off their Pacific Northwest pride. The most common PNW-inspired name I could find is Rainier, given to 19 dogs and five cats. But we can’t tell from the data whether these pets are named after the mountain or the beer.
Last year, Rover reported on a bizarre trend of pandemic-related dog names, such as Covid, Rona, Fauci and Pfizer. Among registered dogs in Seattle, only one such name popped up: Corona.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any four-legged Covids or Ronas in Seattle. Most people don’t register their pets with Seattle Animal Shelter, even though it is required by law. There are only about 30,500 dogs in the pet-license database, but Seattle Animal Shelter has estimated there are 187,000 dogs in the city.
Folks are even less likely to register their cats — the database only includes 13,000 felines. There are also 30 pet goats and three pigs registered in Seattle.
Even though the data only includes a portion of Seattle’s dogs, it represents a good-sized sample of our canine population.
Labrador retrievers are the most popular breed in Seattle, as they are across the nation. More than 3,400 licenses are issued for dogs with Labrador retriever listed as the primary breed.
But Seattle’s second-most popular breed, the short-haired Chihuahua, is a little more surprising. According to the National Kennel Club, Chihuahuas only rank 37th in popularity across the U.S. But it makes sense Chihuahuas are favored in Seattle, and probably other large cities. They’re among the tiniest dog breeds, and don’t require much space. That makes them well suited to apartment living (although they do tend to bark a lot).
Another revelation in the pet-license data: North and West Seattle are the doggiest parts of town. I used census data to calculate the rate of registered dogs per household for all Seattle ZIP codes. Seven of the top 10 ZIPs are in North and West Seattle.
The highest rate of dog ownership is in North Seattle’s 98117, which includes the northern part of Ballard. There are around 15,000 households in this ZIP code, and more than 2,200 licensed dogs, which pencils out to a rate of 14.4 dogs per 100 households. And it’s a good place for dogs — this ZIP code contains Golden Gardens Park and its 1-acre off-leash dog area.
The next highest rate of dog ownership is in the 98136 ZIP code, which runs along the West Seattle waterfront. That’s followed by Magnolia’s 98199, one of the three doggiest ZIP codes not in North or West Seattle. The other two are 98112 in Central Seattle, which includes the Madison Park neighborhood, and South Seattle’s 98118, which includes Seward Park.
Among the ZIP codes located wholly within Seattle, the lowest rate of dog ownership is in downtown’s 98104, which includes Pioneer Square, the Chinatown International District, and part of First Hill. There are only three licensed dogs for every 100 households in this ZIP code.
The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.

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