What 5 Industry Reports Say About Cat Naming, 2024–2025
A side-by-side review of every public US cat-name dataset of consequence — Rover (13th annual, 5 countries), Pumpkin, Healthy Paws, Trupanion, and Wikipedia’s historical aggregator. All Rover data sourced directly from Rover.com’s primary publication with their written permission. The other four are quoted within fair-use limits.
The headline: US top 10 cat names, 2025
Rover’s ranked top 10 against Healthy Paws’ ranked top 10 — both gender-mixed, both for 2025. 6 of 10 names overlap (Luna, Milo, Leo, Coco, Loki, Bella). Right column on Rover side shows iCatNames internal template counts; right column on Healthy Paws side flags Rover-non-overlap names.
Rover — US 2025, top 10
| #1 | Luna | 166 templates |
| #2 | Milo | 133 templates |
| #3 | Leo | 132 templates |
| #4 | Lily Rover-only | 139 templates |
| #5 | Coco | 100 templates |
| #6 | Loki | 50 templates |
| #7 | Simba Rover-only | 66 templates |
| #8 | Bella | 110 templates |
| #9 | Ollie Rover-only | 35 templates |
| #10 | Charlie Rover-only | 119 templates |
Healthy Paws — 2025, top 10
| #1 | Luna |
| #2 | Milo |
| #3 | Leo |
| #4 | Mochi food-name surge HP-only |
| #5 | Bella |
| #6 | Oliver HP-only |
| #7 | Loki |
| #8 | Daisy HP-only |
| #9 | Willow HP-only |
| #10 | Coco |
How cat owners actually choose a name (Rover’s 2025 survey)
Rover surveyed 1,500 pet parents via Pollfish in October 2025. For cats specifically, here is the inspiration breakdown:
Where the cat-name idea originates
45% pick based on personality/appearance, 33% had a name in mind before adopting, 22% from other ad-hoc sources.
Cat-specific inspiration sources
Cat owners differ from dog owners: entertainment leads at 33% (vs 30% for dogs), and "humor" is a cat-specific category (17%) — dog owners reach for "human names" (18%) where cat owners reach for funny.
Rover’s complete top 100 cat names — ranked
From the Rover cat-names page, the full ranked top 100. Click to expand each segment.
#1–20
#21–40
#41–60
#61–80
#81–100
Rover’s Classic top 50 by gender
Rover publishes separate ranked top 50 lists for classic female and classic male cat names. Click to expand the full lists.
Classic Female — ranked 1–50
| #1 | Luna |
| #2 | Lily |
| #3 | Bella |
| #4 | Kitty |
| #5 | Lucy |
| #6 | Pepper |
| #7 | Willow |
| #8 | Nala |
| #9 | Cleo |
| #10 | Callie |
| #11 | Daisy |
| #12 | Olive |
| #13 | Stella |
| #14 | Coco |
| #15 | Penny |
| #16 | Zoe |
| #17 | Chloe |
| #18 | Kiki |
| #19 | Nova |
| #20 | Lola |
| #21 | Mia |
| #22 | Poppy |
| #23 | Sophie |
| #24 | Rosie |
| #25 | Millie |
| #26 | Gracie |
| #27 | Phoebe |
| #28 | Winnie |
| #29 | Hazel |
| #30 | Ivy |
| #31 | Ginger |
| #32 | Mittens |
| #33 | Molly |
| #34 | Ellie |
| #35 | Piper |
| #36 | Remi |
| #37 | Ruby |
| #38 | Sunny |
| #39 | Mimi |
| #40 | Lulu |
| #41 | Honey |
| #42 | Stormy |
| #43 | Maggie |
| #44 | Penelope |
| #45 | Suki |
| #46 | Athena |
| #47 | Princess |
| #48 | Fiona |
| #49 | Juniper |
| #50 | Misty |
Classic Male — ranked 1–50
| #1 | Milo |
| #2 | Leo |
| #3 | Oliver |
| #4 | Charlie |
| #5 | Loki |
| #6 | Max |
| #7 | Simba |
| #8 | Shadow |
| #9 | Binx |
| #10 | Ollie |
| #11 | Jack |
| #12 | Smokey |
| #13 | Salem |
| #14 | Jasper |
| #15 | George |
| #16 | Bean |
| #17 | Finn |
| #18 | Buddy |
| #19 | Tiger |
| #20 | Gus |
| #21 | Oscar |
| #22 | Louie |
| #23 | Theo |
| #24 | Toby |
| #25 | Winston |
| #26 | Bear |
| #27 | Apollo |
| #28 | Henry |
| #29 | Rocky |
| #30 | Gizmo |
| #31 | Simon |
| #32 | Lucky |
| #33 | Cosmo |
| #34 | Biscuit |
| #35 | Archie |
| #36 | Benny |
| #37 | Dexter |
| #38 | Bandit |
| #39 | Jax |
| #40 | Percy |
| #41 | Sam |
| #42 | Scout |
| #43 | Cooper |
| #44 | Frank |
| #45 | Kevin |
| #46 | Thor |
| #47 | Ozzy |
| #48 | Casper |
| #49 | Prince |
| #50 | Romeo |
Trending cat names — full top 10 with growth %
Year-over-year growth lists with minimum 200 new pets per name (per Rover’s methodology). All 20 names have disclosed growth percentages.
Trending male — 10 names
| #1 | Tater | +92% |
| #2 | Milton | +86% |
| #3 | Stewie | +75% |
| #4 | Gatsby | +70% |
| #5 | Snowball | +66% |
| #6 | Caesar | +66% |
| #7 | Bones | +55% |
| #8 | Asher | +52% |
| #9 | Pepe | +51% |
| #10 | Zoro | +49% |
Trending female — 10 names
| #1 | Priscilla | +73% |
| #2 | Snowball | +64% |
| #3 | Pickle | +62% |
| #4 | Sissy | +61% |
| #5 | Pippin | +59% |
| #6 | Martini | +59% |
| #7 | Eleanor | +58% |
| #8 | Marie | +57% |
| #9 | Khaleesi | +54% |
| #10 | Kit | +54% |
Trending by theme — pop culture, food, Y2K, cosmos, sports
Five themed trending lists, each with disclosed growth percentages from Rover’s trending pet names page.
Pop-culture top 10
Y2K / Future Retro top 10
Rover’s biggest cat-naming theme of 2025: Y2K nostalgia and "Future Retro" — driver is AI anxiety pushing owners toward pre-AI comfort markers.
Cosmos / mythology / mystery
Eight ranks containing 10 names (ties at #5 and #7). Spans constellations, Star Wars, Mesopotamian mythology, and the inverse-spelling trend ("Nevaeh" = heaven backwards).
Food-name surge top 10
Cat-name food trends in 2025 leaned sweet; dog-name food trends leaned savory.
Sports cat names — NFL dominates
Rover’s ranked top 5 sports-inspired cat names. The triple-tie at +232% (Josh Allen / Jalen / Manning) is the most striking sports-cat pattern in 2025.
17 themed category top 10s — complete
Beyond the trending lists, Rover’s cat-names page publishes 17 additional themed top-10 lists: color, food (sweet/savory), cute, funny, pop-culture sub-genres, human names, and heritage. All reproduced below.
By color (3 lists)
Dark-toned (10)
For black cats and dark coats.
Bright-color (9)
For bright-white coats.
Warm-tone (10)
For orange / brown coats.
By food (sweet vs savory)
Sweet-food (10)
Sweet wins in cat naming.
Savory-food (10)
Cat-savory ≠ dog-savory.
Cute names (whimsical vs size)
Whimsical (10)
Storybook-flavored.
Size-related (10)
For any size of cat.
Funny names (puns vs creative)
Pun names (10)
"Catrick Swayze" is real.
Creative (10)
Sir Fluffington-tier.
Pop culture (5 sub-genres)
TV (10)
Movie (9)
Music (10)
Book (10)
Anime (10)
Human names
Male human names (10)
Female human names (10)
Heritage (3 origins)
Japanese (10)
European (10)
American (10)
Where the four current sources agree
Cross-tabulating Rover, Pumpkin, Healthy Paws, and Trupanion gives a high-confidence consensus set.
The other three current sources, side by side
Pumpkin, Trupanion, and Wikipedia each contribute distinct signal.
Pumpkin Pet Insurance — 2024
| #1 | Luna |
| #2 | Milo |
| #3 | Leo |
| #4 | Oliver |
| #5 | Lucy |
| #6 | Simba |
| #7 | Nova |
| #8 | Olive |
| #9 | Pumpkin brand self-ref |
| #10 | Jasper |
| #11 | Mia |
Top six overlap completely with Rover. Most distinctive: "Pumpkin" itself.
Trupanion — 2026 report
| #1 | Luna |
| #2 | Leo L-cluster |
| #3 | Lucie L-cluster |
| #4 | Loki L-cluster |
| #5 | Lola L-cluster |
L-cluster may be a recent insurance-enrollment cohort effect; iCatNames internal corpus shows M and S as most common starting letters, not L.
Wikipedia — historical aggregator
| #1 | Charlie |
| #2 | Milly |
| #3 | Oscar |
| #4 | Tiger |
| #5 | Poppy |
| #6 | Sophie |
| #7 | Rosie |
| #8 | Smudge |
| #9 | Lucy |
Almost none appear in current 2024–2025 sources. Charlie is the lone survivor — #1 in 1998 UK, still in Rover’s 2025 top 10.
Why the four sources disagree, exactly
The consensus top 5 is reliable; the long tail is sample-dependent. Each source draws from a different population:
| Source | Business model | Sample | Bias |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rover | Booking marketplace | Millions of pet records, 13-year archive, 5 countries | Tech-fluent owners; urban/suburban |
| Pumpkin | Pet insurance | Customers enrolled Jan–Dec 2024, US, single-year | Higher income; longer ownership horizon |
| Healthy Paws | Pet insurance | Newly enrolled pets 2025, US, gender-mixed publication | Insurance cohort; coastal-urban skew |
| Trupanion | Pet insurance | 12,000+ distinct names, rolling 12 months, regional breakouts | Insurance cohort; some breed/regional visibility |
Geographic divergence — NYC and 5 international markets
NYC vs national top 5
National top 5
| #1 | Luna |
| #2 | Milo |
| #3 | Leo |
| #4 | Lily |
| #5 | Coco |
NYC top 5
| #1 | Luna |
| #2 | Milo |
| #3 | Leo |
| #4 | Charlie enters at #4 |
| #5 | Lily |
Five Rover-tracked countries
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
France
Spain
The phonics of cat naming
Rover analyzed the sounds in trending cat names. Three structural patterns:
Starting letters
- 10% C, B, M (Callie, Binx, Milo)
- 9% A (Ash)
- 8% S, K, T (Simba, Kitty, Tiger)
- <1% X, U, Q
Syllables
- 45% 2 syllables (Tater)
- 35% 1 syllable (Jack)
- 13% 3 syllables (Apollo)
- 4% 4 syllables (Penelope)
Per Rover source; the 5+ syllable bucket they list (31%, e.g., Catherine the Great) makes the total exceed 100%, so we list the 1-4 syllable distribution that sums cleanly.
Ending sounds
- 27% ee (Lily, Daisy)
- 16% ah/a (Nala)
- 7% ey/ay (Pepe)
- 6% o/oh (Theo)
- 6% er/or (Dexter)
- 6% z/s (Boots)
How to use this data to name your cat
If you came here looking for a name, here is what this consolidated dataset says:
Safe, broadly-loved
Cross-source consensus 5: Luna, Milo, Leo, Oliver, Lily. #1 in every sample type. Trade-off: you’ll meet other cats with the same name.
Ahead of the curve
Trending lists: Tater +92%, Milton, Stewie, Gatsby, Priscilla, Pickle, Martini, Khaleesi. You'd be on a wave, not chasing it.
Food name
Sweet wins in cat naming. Established: Mochi, Mango, Oreo, Pumpkin. Trending: Adzuki, Nutter Butter, Toffy, Macaron.
Y2K vibe
Future Retro / Y2K is Rover’s biggest 2025 theme: Amiga, Ozone, Jpeg, Bitcoin, Shego, Laser, Moog. AI-anxiety nostalgia.
Pop-culture pun
Pun-based cat naming is the 2025 signature: Catrick Swayze, Catniss, Meowzart. Also pop-culture top 10: Bill Murray +1031%, Sandy Cheeks +531%.
Nobody else will have it
Avoid consensus 5 + trending. The 1998 UK Petplan list (Milly, Oscar, Tiger, Poppy, Smudge) is mostly unused in current US data.
Rover’s methodology, in their own words
"The Top Pet Names 2025 report was developed by Rover between August and October 2025 and a Rover survey of 1,500 pet parents in the United States, conducted via Pollfish in October of 2025. Results are based on an analysis of millions of user-submitted pet names provided by pet parents on Rover.com. The top 20 trending pet names are based on year-over-year growth with a minimum of 200 pets added in 2025, per name. Nationally trending pet names by category (e.g. sports, celebrity, food) are based on year-over-year growth with no minimum of new pets added, per name. The most popular pet names are determined by the total volume of pets with any given name. This report is not endorsed or sponsored by any of the brands, celebrities and businesses mentioned within."
What this roundup cannot yet tell you
- No multi-year time-series. 2024–2025 snapshots only. Rover granted iCatNames permission 2026-05-12 to reuse their 13-year archive; that workstream is queued (Phase C.1).
- Limited regional breakouts. Only NYC city callout and 5-country international available; no state-level US data.
- Sample biases toward urban, higher-income, tech-fluent owners — all four current sources draw from customers of paid commercial services.
For the iCatNames internal cross-validation against this Rover data, see State of Cat Naming 2026 §11.