When it comes to naming America’s four-legged friends, some names are clearly top dogs.
The latest U.S. News & World Report study on America’s 100 most popular dog names deems Bella the No. 1 moniker. Luna takes the No. 2 spot, while Max rounds out the top three, according to the 2026 rankings.
Bella and Luna have traded the No. 1 and No. 2 spots since 2023, possibly because of the influence of multilingual households: “Bella” means beautiful or pretty in Italian and Spanish, while “Luna” means moon.
Max climbed into the No. 3 spot, up from fourth in 2025 and matching its 2023 ranking. Pop culture may have something to do with Max’s popularity, too. The name belongs to several well-known fictional dogs, including Prince Eric’s Old English sheepdog in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” Goofy’s son and the Grinch’s loyal canine companion in Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
Rounding out the top five are Coco and Daisy, two longtime favorites. Coco returns to the top five for the first time since 2023, rising to No. 4 after previously falling from sixth to seventh place. Daisy remains among the nation’s most popular choices as well, proving that classic picks still have plenty of staying power.
Both names also have plenty of pop-culture history behind them. Coco has long been associated with poodles on TV, from the fluffy giant poodle featured on “The Donna Reed Show” in the 1960s to the tiny pink poodle currently in the children’s animated series “Bluey.”
Daisy, meanwhile, has been a popular pup name for decades. It dates back to the late 1930s, when a dog named Daisy appeared in the “Blondie” film series, and the name later popped up for the beagle in the first “John Wick” movie in 2014, and a Shih Tzu in 2019’s “The Secret Life of Pets 2.”
To compile the latest rankings, researchers analyzed more than 500,000 dog-name records provided by a third-party pet insurance industry partner, according to U.S. News & World Report. The data, analyzed in June, covered dogs registered between January 2022 and June 2026. Researchers looked at each dog’s name and state of residence to track naming trends nationwide, then broke down the data by state to determine the most popular names in each one. Those state-by-state breakdown can be found here.
The 25 most popular dog names in America for 2026 are as follows:
- Bella
- Luna
- Max
- Coco
- Daisy
- Milo
- Buddy
- Lucy
- Charlie
- Lola
- Bear
- Rocky
- Teddy
- Cooper
- Molly
- Bailey
- Sadie
- Nala
- Toby
- Mia
- Bruno
- Chloe
- Maggie
- Zeus
- Leo
