Bella and Max claim the title of most popular dog names in New York City in 2015, the Health Department announced Wednesday.
This is the seventh year in a row that Bella tops the list, having overtaken Max in 2008. (The city hypothesizes that the "Twilight" series —the fourth and final book of which came out that year — explains the popularity of its protagonist's name. We mistakenly believed New Yorkers had better taste.)
Dog license records kept by the Health Department show that dog owners in the Big Apple registered 1,127 Bellas and 1,073 Maxs in 2015.
A map of the most popular dog names across the five boroughs (Credit: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene)
Records also show that the greatest proportion of the city's licensed canines, 35 percent, make their home in its most densely inhabited borough, Manhattan. Brooklyn comes up second, with 25 percent of the Big Apple's pup population. It may, however, be the case that dog owners in the other three boroughs have neglected to register their pets.
New York state law requires that all owners register their dogs for a license. The city health code stipulates that dogs wear a license tag on their collars when they're in public; caught without one, their owners may be fined for a violation.
A license costs $8.50 per year for a pooch that has been spayed or neutered and $34 per year for one that has not been fixed.
Among the other fascinating trends that city Health Department data reveals:
► Yorkshire terrier owners like naming their long-haired dogs after luxury brands: Chanel and Gucci are the most popular names for female and male Yorkies respectively.
► We're pretty sure that every dachshund owner who calls his dog Frank, the breed's most popular male name, tells a lot of dad jokes.
► Jack Russell terrier owners could stand to be more creative. They most commonly name their male dogs Jack, their female dogs Jackie.
► "Xena" may have ended its run in 2001, but the show's warrior princess lives on, her name reincarnated as the most popular among the city's English bulldog population.
► Staten Islanders in New Dorp are more likely to name their dogs Guinness than any other New Yorkers.
► The way to make anything cooler, Cypress Hills residents know, is to slap the word "Brooklyn" on it. Dog owners in the neighborhood show a unique preference for that name.
► Queens residents like to name to their dogs after gods, whether they're from the Norse or Greek pantheons. Dog owners in Laurelton tend to name their mutts Thor, but owners in Jamaica are more inclined to Zeus.
► Dog owners in Flushing and New Brighton have a propensity to name their dogs after sweets: Mochi and Bosco, as in the chocolate syrup, are uniquely popular names in those neighborhoods.
► Clinton residents feel the need to give their hounds the pretentious, decidedly un-cuddly name Onyx more than any other New Yorkers.
► Dog owners in Claremont Village in the Bronx and Coney Island in Brooklyn like to pay homage to the former wrestler Peter "Taz" Senerchia when they name their pooches.
