Protect Your Bubble
ROVERS RETURN
Dog owners are ditching traditional canine names like Patch, Scamp and Lassie - and naming their pets after soap stars, a study revealed yesterday (Thurs).
Researchers found while the days of dogs being called Shep, Lady or Blackie are long gone, the number of pooches called Roxy, Alfie, Max and Molly is on the rise.
The names Roxy, Alfie and Max are familiar to fans of EastEnders thanks to characters played by Rita Simons, Shane Richie and Jake Wood.
Molly is currently a character in Coronation Street portrayed by Vicky Binns.
The trend emerged from a report carried out by insurance giant www.protectyourbubble.com into the names given to 80,000 over the last 30 years.
Experts at the firm then compared them to names given to dogs in the 1970s.
The results revealed millions of dog lovers are taking the 'man's best friend' tag a step too far by humanising their animals with popular kids' monikers.
Yesterday Stephen Ebbett of protectyourbubble.com said: ''Naming a dog Millie, Daisy or Oscar does seem surprising, particularly as these sorts of names appear in the top 100 baby names for children in the UK.
''It is getting to the point where naming a child will get harder and harder, as parents struggle not to give their little ones the same name as the family dog.
''This survey reinforces the fact that dogs really are a man's best friend.
''It is therefore understandable that dog owners seem to agonise over the name of their new puppy as they would a new child.''
The data showed a distinct difference between the names given to dogs in the seventies and eighties compared to today.
Other names preferred years ago - and more associated with dogs than people - include Buster, Prince and Lucky. Sandy and Bonnie were also favoured in the 70s.
The study found nearly half of today's dog owners choose current or contemporary names for their puppies rather than traditional ones.
The main inspiration for four out of ten dog owners was the appearance of the dog, while 40 per cent said they drew ideas from television shows - or the characters in them.
A further 27 per cent name their pooch after their favourite pop star, 16 per cent look to children's movies for ideas and 25 per cent of dogs have been named after TV pets.
Incredibly, 21 per cent of dog owners reckon it is just as hard choosing a name for a dog as it is a child.
And one in 20 people take the name of their dog so seriously they have changed it after a few weeks feeling that it simply didn't suit their character or roll off the tongue properly.
It also emerged many parents find it confusing at the park when dog owners yell at a pet which has the same name as their child.
