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Izzy McAteer was 12 when she became entranced by the wizarding world of Harry Potter and, in particular, one clever and whimsical witch.<\/p>\n
So, when she and her mum, Lyndal, rescued a foster kitten in 2017, Izzy made it clear that Luna would be the name for their newest furry family member \u2013 after the Potter character Luna Lovegood.<\/p>\n
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Luna has been the most popular cat and dog name in Australia for five consecutive years.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Simon Schluter<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a good name because it\u2019s not really a human name, but it\u2019s not a traditional pet name either,\u201d says Lyndal. \u201cIt\u2019s easy, it\u2019s short, you know, you can call a dog Luna out at the park.\u201d<\/p>\n They were not alone. Luna has eclipsed all other pet names to be the most popular name of Australian cats and dogs for five consecutive years, data shows.<\/p>\n Loved for its romantic origin, with a Latin origin meaning moon (and because of the Harry Potter<\/em> series), the name Luna is reflective of a wider trend: human names for pets that rise and fall depending on the name\u2019s popularity among humans.<\/p>\n You can track the rankings over time of some of the most popular pet names using the interactive graph below:<\/p>\n Coco ranked as the second most popular name of registered pets and has been shooting up the rankings over the past decade. In 2013, it was the seventh most popular name.<\/p>\n Daisy, meanwhile, first appeared in the top 10 in 2020 and has since become the third most popular pet name.<\/p>\n The rankings are from pet insurance company PetSure \u2013 based on its database of more than 700,000 pets.<\/p>\n The data show that the 2020s have not been kind to Bella, Max and Ruby.<\/p>\n Christina Qazi with her cavoodle Luna.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Louise Kennerley<\/cite><\/p>\n Bella was the most popular name between 2013 and 2018, but has since fallen to seventh place.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n It\u2019s bounced back a little and now sits in 10th place.<\/p>\n The decline of Max and Ruby and the rise of Luna as pet names may correlate with trends in names for human babies.<\/p>\n Max was the 26th most popular boy\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n PetSure chief marketing officer Jenny Williams said Luna\u2019s number one spot for both dogs and cats was not only because of its Harry Potter<\/em> association, but the fact that numerous celebrity couples (including Chrissy Teigen and John Legend) chose the name for their children.<\/p>\n \u201cNames 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,\u201d Williams said, attributing this to owners wanting more \u201chuman\u201d names for their animals.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n